0320/2019 - Economic Evaluation of a Telemedicine Service for the Expansion of Primary Health Care in Rio Grande do Sul: The TeleOftalmo Project micro-funding.
Avaliação Econômica de um Serviço de Telemedicina para ampliação da Atenção Primária à Saúde no Rio Grande do Sul: O microcusteio do Projeto TeleOftalmo.
Publicado
Author:
• Bruna Stella Zanotto - Zanotto, B.S - <brunaszanotto@gmail.com>ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4012-1395
Co-author(s):
• Ana Paula Beck da Silva Etges - Etges, A. P. B. S - <anabsetges@gmail.com, aetges@hcpa.edu.br>ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6411-3480
• Ana Célia Siqueira - Siqueira, A.C - <anacelia.siqueira@telessauders.ufrgs.br>
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0703-9023
• Rodolfo Souza da Silva - Silva, R.S - <rodolfo.souza@ufrgs.br>
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6848-3385
• Cynthia Bastos - Bastos, C - <cynthia.bastos@telessauders.ufrgs.br>
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2504-2915
• Aline Lutz de Araujo - Araujo, A.L - <aline.araujo@telessauders.ufrgs.br>
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6009-1069
• Taís de Campos Moreira - Moreira, T.C. - Porto Alegre, RS - <taiscmoreira@gmail.com>
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0968-9599
• Lucas Matturro - Matturro, L - <lucasmatturro@gmail.com>
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1905-6357
• Carisi Anne Polanczyk - Polanczyk, C.A - <cpolanczyk@hcpa.edu.br>
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2447-2577
• Marcelo Rodrigues Gonçalves - Gonçalves, M. R. - <marcelo.goncalves@telessauders.ufrgs.br, marcelorog@gmail.com>
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8516-8547
Abstract:
Introduction: Telemedicine services are a frequent alternative in health worldwide. However, economic evaluation studies of these services are scarce. This study evaluated the cost of a public telediagnostic service in ophthalmology.Method: The time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) was adopted as the costing method. Dataone year of telediagnostics were considered. The perspective of analysis was for the Brazilian public health system.
Results: The standard cost calculated by teleophthalmology diagnosis was R$ 119, considering 1,080 tele-eye reports issued per month. An imbalance between activities was identified, suggesting the TDABC’s ability to guide management actions and to improve resource allocation. Over the course of one year of follow-up, the actual unit cost decreasedR$ 783 to R$ 283, with perspective to be closer to the estimated standard cost.
Conclusions: Economic studies in telemedicine services are essential to better support the incorporation of these services. This study is unprecedented in Brazil in assessing actual costs of a telemedicine service. TDABC merits prominence, as it enables more accurate information on the cost of technology, improving the scalability and management capacity of the healthcare system.
