Key result
SCAD telemonitoring linked to an ~18% reduction in total health expenditure vs prior year.
Why the study?
To describe the profile of patients using the SCAD telemonitoring program and assess its medico-economic impact after an acute heart failure episode.
Does a 3-month telemonitoring program reduce direct healthcare costs in patients with heart failure?
Cohort (n=528)
Yes
Does a 3-month telemonitoring program reduce direct healthcare costs in patients with heart failure?
A 3-month telemonitoring program for heart failure patients significantly reduced direct healthcare costs in the year following implementation compared to the prior year.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Captured external expert commentary on this paper, strongest first. Original sources are linked where available.
“We have shown that distance monitoring reduces re-hospitalisations for heart conditions by 56%.”
“When you have a chronic illness, you can quickly deteriorate and find yourself at A&E if you don't watch out, maybe even after a too-salty meal. So thanks to this tool, medical teams can react at the smallest alert, and advise me remotely.”
Suggests telemonitoring may offer substantial cost savings; leaves open whether these observational economic benefits.
Background SCAD is a 3-month telemonitoring program for HF patients, associated with therapeutic education, proposed after an acute HF episode. SCAD is based on an interactive algorithm allowing to generate educative messages and alarms based on patients' responses registered on a digital tablet. It is funded by the French Health Insurance through a pilot program: ETAPES (470€/patient). Purpose To describe the profile of patients using SCAD & assess the medico-economic impact of the SCAD system. Methods Multicenter retrospective cohort study using SCAD data matched with French Health Insurance data. All patients telemonitored by SCAD in 7 centers have been included, since 01/01/2010 to 12/31/2016. Only direct costs were considered, estimated from a societal perspective limited to reimbursements. Analyses were performed to assess the difference in healthcare consumptions and costs between the year before and the year after inclusion in the SCAD program. Patients who died in the 12 months after SCAD initiation were excluded. Results 627 patients benefited from SCAD program between 01/01/2010 and 12/31/2016 and were retrieved in French Health Insurance data through probabilistic matching. Out of the 627 patients, 99 died in the 12 months after SCAD initiation. Analyses were performed on 528 patients.72.2% were male, mean age was 66.0 years old and mean BMI 28.2. HFrEF represented 51.9% of patients, HFmrEF 25.9% and HFpEF 22.2%. 58.0% were in NYHA class 2 at baseline, 29.2% in class 3, 8.5% in class 1 and 4.3% in class 4. Mean Charlson Comorbidity Index score was 2.6 at baseline. Patients reported their level of fatigue (10 representing significant fatigue) and morale (10 = good morale) at baseline: mean fatigue=4.0/10 & mean morale=7.4/10. Medico economic results are presented in table 1 and show an important & significant decrease of hospitalizations costs and some transfer of cost toward ambulatory care. Conclusion On the year following remote monitoring, total health expenditure has been reduced by 18% on average (mean=3 210€/patient) and 42% in median (5 500€/patient) vs 12 months before. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: Private company. Main funding source(s): This analysis has been funded through an institutional grant from Amgen
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Sabatier et al. (2020) conducted a cohort in Heart failure (n=528). SCAD telemonitoring program vs. 12 months prior to inclusion was evaluated on Difference in healthcare consumptions and costs (18% average reduction). The SCAD telemonitoring program reduced total health expenditure by an average of 18% (3,210€/patient) and a median of 42% (5,500€/patient) in the year following inclusion.
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