Patient-Centered Cost Saving and Positive Environmental Impact With the Introduction of Telehealth Services at a Single Center.

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this study was to establish the patient-specific cost and time savings associated with telemedicine with the secondary environmental benefits of virtual visits within a tertiary referral center subspecialty urology clinic.

METHODS

An electronic health record query was made of all urology telehealth visits that have occurred between April 10, 2020, and October 10, 2020, at a single academic center. We evaluated the cost of travel for an in-person visit based on zip code data. To adjust for productivity loss, the cost of missed work was added as either full-day or half-day-based distance and average compensation per day based on zip code data. Environmental impact was calculated using average CO emissions per mile not traveled.

RESULTS

There were 6444 patients seen in the urology clinic through telehealth during the 6-month period. Urology patients traveled on average 69 ± 148 miles round trip for an appointment. The average cost savings per patient including the cost of gas and time away from work was $152.78 ± $105.90. Overall, over a 6-month period, the total cost savings was $984,534.73 for the 6444 patients seen through telemedicine. There was also a significant environmental impact of the decreased travel burden with 153.36 metric tons of CO emissions eliminated.

CONCLUSIONS

With the implementation of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, patients have been able to save a substantial amount of time and money primarily driven by the decreasing work hours lost and cost of travel.