Cost-Effectiveness of Telemedicine in Asia: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Background In the area where there is a lack of medical experts, telemedicine gives a lot of benefits to deal with the distance and limited public infrastructure. Objective This study aimed to review the literature on the cost-effectiveness of telemedicine in Asian countries and possibly to provide recommendations on implementing telemedicine in this region. Methods Articles were independently screened in two selected databases (PubMed and EBSCO). The framework of patient, intervention, comparison, and outcome (PICO) was applied by considering Asian population, the intervention of telemedicine, current situation (without telemedicine) as the comparator, and cost per QALY gained as the major outcome. Results A total of 870 articles were identified from two databases: PubMed (n = 689 articles) and EBSCO (n = 181 articles). After removing 181 duplicates, 689 articles were screened by title and abstract, excluding 665 records. After the full-text screening on 24 articles, 8 articles were selected for further analysis. Various perspectives were applied in the included studies, such as societal, healthcare, and program perspectives. All studies applied different time horizons, such as 3-month, 25-year, 40-year, and lifetime. Among all included studies, several studies applied mathematical modeling. Conclusion The implementation of telemedicine in Asia can be a promising intervention since it can enhance the effectiveness of health services by saving time and travel costs. It also can reduce the overall costs of treatment, improve patients’ quality of life, and expand access to essential health services.

Designing Telemedicine for Older Adults With Multimorbidity: Content Analysis Study

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Cost-effectiveness of a direct to beneficiary mobile communication programme in improving reproductive and child health outcomes in India

“…9 Evidence on the cost-effectiveness of the Kilkari programme, however, remains outstanding. Evidence reviews of the cost-effectiveness and costutility of digital health solutions is emerging for mobile health solutions which target older adults, 10 behaviour change communication apps, 11 telemedicine in Asia 12 and mHealth solutions more broadly. 13 However, less is known about the value for money of direct to beneficiary mobile health programmes operating at scale.…”

Metaverse and Virtual Health Care in Ophthalmology: Opportunities and Challenges

“…Secondly, telemedicine is an effective tool to reduce burden on the health care system by helping to screen and triage patients, that can be coupled with automated AI analysis, which in turn may reduce unnecessary referrals to tertiary care settings 13 . Furthermore, telemedicine is an alternative modality to monitor stable patients who do not require management in tertiary care, and this potentially reduces cost of attending hospital or clinic-based appointments 14 . Lastly, waiting times can be reduced through increased capacity and access to care by overcoming physical barriers.…”

“…13 Furthermore, telemedicine is an alternative modality to monitor stable patients who do not require management in tertiary care, and this potentially reduces cost of attending hospital or clinic-based appointments. 14 Lastly, waiting times can be reduced through increased capacity and access to care by overcoming physical barriers.…”