Trott P, Blignault I
Cairns Base Hospital, Queensland.
J Telemed Telecare. 1998;4 Suppl 1:66-8. doi: 10.1258/1357633981931515.
We conducted a simple comparison of the costs associated with delivering a mental health service by telepsychiatry and by conventional methods. The telepsychiatry rural outreach service was delivered to a mining town 900 km from the regional hospital in Townsville. When the telemedicine service was well established, 40 cases a month were seen for general adult psychiatry, four for child and adolescent mental health, four for psychology and two for forensic services. Costs and quality-of-life issues were considered. The savings to the health authority were estimated to be $85,380 in the first year and $112,790 in subsequent years, not allowing for maintenance and equipment upgrading. We also estimated a 40% reduction in patient transfers due to the introduction of telemedicine. Based on the previous year's figures of 27 transfers at $8920 each, this would produce an annual saving of $96,336 for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The results of the study showed considerable savings from reduced travel by patients and health-care workers.
我们对远程精神病学和传统方法提供心理健康服务的相关成本进行了简单比较。远程精神病学农村外展服务被提供给了一个距离汤斯维尔地区医院900公里的矿业小镇。当远程医疗服务成熟后，每月普通成人精神病学诊疗40例，儿童和青少年心理健康诊疗4例，心理学诊疗4例，法医服务诊疗2例。研究考虑了成本和生活质量问题。在不考虑维护和设备升级的情况下，预计第一年卫生当局可节省85380美元，后续年份可节省112790美元。我们还估计，由于引入远程医疗，患者转诊减少了40%。根据上一年27次转诊、每次8920美元的数字，这将为皇家飞行医生服务每年节省96336美元。研究结果表明，患者和医护人员减少出行带来了可观的节省。
