Background Chronic heart failure accounts for approximately 1%-2% of health care expenditures in most developed countries. These costs are primarily driven by hospitalizations and comorbidities. Telemonitoring has been proposed to reduce the number of hospitalizations and decrease the cost of treatment for patients with heart failure. However, the effects of telemonitoring on health care utilization remain unclear. Objective This systematic review aims to study the effect of telemonitoring programs on health care utilization and costs in patients with chronic heart failure. We assess the effect of telemonitoring on hospitalizations, emergency department visits, length of stay, hospital days, nonemergency department visits, and health care costs. Methods We searched PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science for randomized controlled trials and nonrandomized studies on noninvasive telemonitoring and health care utilization. We included studies published between January 2010 and August 2020. For each study, we extracted the reported data on the effect of telemonitoring on health care utilization. We used P<.05 and CIs not including 1.00 to determine whether the effect was statistically significant. Results We included 16 randomized controlled trials and 13 nonrandomized studies. Inclusion criteria, population characteristics, and outcome measures differed among the included studies. Most studies showed no effect of telemonitoring on health care utilization. The number of hospitalizations was significantly reduced in 38% (9/24) of studies, whereas emergency department visits were reduced in 13% (1/8) of studies. An increase in nonemergency department visits (6/9, 67% of studies) was reported. Health care costs showed ambiguous results, with 3 studies reporting an increase in health care costs, 3 studies reporting a reduction, and 4 studies reporting no significant differences. Health care cost reductions were realized through a reduction in hospitalizations, whereas increases were caused by the high costs of the telemonitoring program or increased health care utilization. Conclusions Most telemonitoring programs do not show clear effects on health care utilization measures, except for an increase in nonemergency outpatient department visits. This may be an unwarranted side effect rather than a prerequisite for effective telemonitoring. The consequences of telemonitoring on nonemergency outpatient visits should receive more attention from regulators, payers, and providers. This review further demonstrates the high clinical and methodological heterogeneity of telemonitoring programs. This should be taken into account in future meta-analyses aimed at identifying the effective components of telemonitoring programs.

Background Indonesia has one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in Asia, which mainly concentrates within risk groups. Several strategies are available to combat this epidemic, like outreach to Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) and transgender, Harm Reduction Community Meetings (HRCMs) for Injecting Drug Users (IDUs), and Information, Education and Communication (IEC) programs at Maternal & Child Health Posts (MCHPs). Reliable cost data are currently not present, hampering HIV/AIDS priority setting. The aim of this study thus is to assess the societal costs of outreach programs to MSM and transgender, HRCMs for IDUs and IEC at MCHPs in Bandung, Indonesia in 2016. Methods The societal costs were collected in Bandung from April until May 2017. Health care costs were collected by interviewing stakeholders, using a micro-costing approach. Non-health care costs were determined by conducting surveys within the target groups of the interventions. Results The societal costs of the outreach program were US$ 347,199.03 in 2016 and US$ 73.72 per reached individual. Moreover, the cost of HRCM for IDUs were US$ 48,618.31 in 2016 and US$ 365.55 per community meeting. For the IEC program at MCHPs, US$ 337.13 was paid in 2016 and the cost per visitor were US$ 0.51. Conclusion This study provides valuable insights in the costs of outreach to MSM and transgender, HRCMs for IDUs and IEC at MCHPs. Policy makers can use these results in setting priorities within Indonesia. Data on effectiveness of interventions is necessary to make conclusive statements regarding cost-effectiveness and priority of interventions.

INTRODUCTIONCare integration is a promising strategy to achieve sustainable health‐care systems. With DementiaNet, a 2‐year program, we facilitated collaboration between primary health‐care professionals. We studied changes in primary dementia care integration during and after DementiaNet participation.METHODSA longitudinal follow‐up study was performed. Networks started between 2015 and 2020; follow‐up ended in 2021. Quantitative and quantitative data were collected annually to assess quality of care, network collaboration, and number of crisis admissions. Growth modeling was used to identify changes over time.RESULTSThirty‐five primary care networks participated. Network collaboration and quality of care of newly formed networks increased significantly in the first 2 years (respectively, 0.35/year, P < .001; 0.29/year, P < .001) and thereafter stabilized.CONCLUSIONPrimary care networks improved their collaboration and quality of care during DementiaNet participation, which persisted after the program ended. This indicates that DementiaNet facilitated a sustainable transition toward integrated primary dementia care.

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