The costs and benefits of technology-enabled, home-based cardiac rehabilitation measured in a randomised controlled trial

• Published in: Journal of telemedicine and telecare Vol. 20; no. 7; p. 419
• Main Authors: Whittaker, Frank, Wade, Victoria
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01.10.2014
• Subjects: Aged; Cardiac Rehabilitation; Cardiovascular Diseases - economics; Cell Phone; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Exercise; Health Care Costs; Health Services Accessibility - economics; Home Care Services - economics; Home Care Services - organization & administration; Humans; Life Style; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Social Support; Telemedicine - economics; Telemedicine - methods
• ISSN: 1758-1109
• DOI: 10.1177/1357633X14552376

We conducted a cost benefit analysis of a home telehealth-based cardiac rehabilitation programme compared to the standard hospital-based programme. A total of 120 participants were enrolled in a trial, with 60 randomised to the telehealth group and 60 randomised to usual care. Participants in the telehealth group received a mobile phone, Wellness Diary and a Wellness web portal, with daily text messaging. Participants in the usual care group received the standard 6-week hospital-based outpatient cardiac rehabilitation programme, including gym sessions. The cost of delivery by telehealth was slightly lower than for patients attending a rehabilitation service in person. From the provider's perspective, the telehealth intervention could be delivered for $1633 per patient, compared to $1845 for the usual care group. From the participant's perspective, patient travel costs for home rehabilitation were substantially less than for hospital attendance ($80 vs $400). Cardiac rehabilitation by telehealth offers obvious advantages and the option should be available to all patients who are eligible for cardiac rehabilitation.