Author : Jeff Pyne
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (137 download)
Book Synopsis Cost Effectiveness Analysis of Rural Telemedicine Intervention for Depression by : Jeff Pyne
Download or read book Cost Effectiveness Analysis of Rural Telemedicine Intervention for Depression written by Jeff Pyne and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rationale: Existing methods for detecting and treating depression are effective and relatively inexpensive. Collaborative care for depression has been shown to be cost-effective in urban primary care settings. Implementing collaborative care for depression in small rural primary care practices without on-site psychiatrists presents unique challenges. We adapted the collaborative care model using telemedicine (e.g., telephone, interactive video, electronic medical records) to support antidepressant therapy initiated by PC providers in small rural practices. The Telemedicine Enhanced Antidepressant Management (TEAM) collaborative care intervention was implemented by offsite personnel and all intervention components were implemented using telemedicine technologies. Objective: One of the objectives of this study was to determine the cost-effectiveness of the TEAM intervention relative to usual care. Methodology: This study was conducted in seven community-based outpatient clinics in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) located across four US south-central states. Eligible clinics treated 1,000 to 5,000 unique veterans, had no on-site psychiatrists, and had interactive video equipment. Matched clinics were randomized to receive the intervention or usual care. Of the 24,882 clinic patients, 73.6% (n=18,306) were successfully screened and 6.9% screened positive for depression (PHQ9 ≥12). Of those eligible for the study, 91.3% agreed to participate, and 91.9% of those attended their appointment and were consented. Over an 18-month period, 395 patients were enrolled, 91.1% (n=360) completed six-month follow-up interviews, and 85.1% (n=336) completed twelve-month follow-up interviews. Effectiveness was tested using an intent-to-treat analysis. Main analysis costs included intervention, outpatient encounter, emergency room, and medication costs. Quality adjusted life years (QALYs) were calculated using the Quality of Well Being scale. Sensitivity analyses included main cost plus depression-related inpatient cost and main cost plus all inpatient cost. Backward elimination regression methods were used to select covariates. Multiple imputation methods were used to adddress missing data. Boostrap sampling with replacement methods were used to generate acceptability curves. Results: In the main analysis, intervention patients had significantly higher total costs than usual care patients ($1,060, p=0.001) and significantly higher QALYs (0.017, p=0.046). The mean incremental cost effectiveness ratio for the intervention was $62,353 per QALY. Intervention costs averaged $794 per patient. Sensitivity analyses resulted in incremental cost effectiveness ratios from $37,353 per QALY (all cost) to $96,941 per QALY (depression-related cost). Conclusions: Using the commonly cited cost-effectiveness threshold of $50,000 per QALY, the TEAM intervention is less cost-effective than this threshold. Adjusting the common threshold for inflation, the cost effectiveness ratio remains near the upper limit. Our findings suggest that collaborative care for depression using telemedicine technologies is less cost-effective for rural VHA patients than patients in other sectors. Future research should focus on improving the effectiveness of rural telemedicine interventions and/or lowering the cost. The cost of the TEAM intervention could potentially be lowered by streamlining the off-site depression care team or improving the efficiency of the informatics support to the nurse care manager. The effectiveness of the TEAM intervention could potentially be improved by targeting common comorbidities such as pain, anxiety, and substance abuse and providing access to telephone-based psychotherapy.