OBJECTIVES:

Self-applied remote fetal monitoring allows mothers with risky and complicated pregnancies to check maternal and fetal well-being at home while an obstetric specialist remotely monitors the results.

This economic evaluation aimed to estimate a potential increment in revenues and savings for a US obstetrics clinic that would result from implementing remote fetal monitoring.

METHODS:

A cohort-based model considered a hypothetical group of 300 mothers and analyzed the change in hospital revenues and savings by comparing the standard of care with allocating the cohort to the new hybrid model of care in which part of the cohort is monitored remotely. This also allowed the enrolment of lower-risk mothers.

Clinical inputs on the proportion of patient allocation were informed by an international survey of obstetric specialists. Cost inputs were sourced from US administrative databases. Healthcare resource use estimates were extracted from the literature and clinical guidelines and assumptions were validated by clinical experts.

RESULTS:

The model of care that involves the remote monitoring modality resulted in an estimated increase of hospital revenues by $332,903 and savings by $84,225.

Remote fetal monitoring reduced nurse workload allowing for high-risk patients from the waiting list to get treated in inpatient and outpatient settings, generating $177,940 and $99,470 revenues, correspondingly. In addition, a $25,480 increase in outpatient revenues was driven by lower-risk mothers eligible for remote fetal monitoring. The improved visit compliance among remotely monitored mothers contributed to an increase of $30,013 in hospital revenues.

Finally, remote monitoring was associated with $55,441 savings resulting from decreased maternal hospitalization rates and $28,784 savings caused by fewer admissions to neonatal intensive care units.

CONCLUSIONS:

Remote fetal monitoring as part of hospital obstetric care may be associated with the ability to monitor more patients with the same hospital resources, increased hospital revenues, and cost savings when compared to conventional hospital obstetric care.