OBJECTIVES

: The global telemedicine solution allows patients to consult a physician from a distance in the same conditions as a visit in a traditional office: the physician talks with the patient and provides clinical health care, such as monitoring medical measurement or delivering prescriptions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the budget impact of the global telemedicine solution for the French social security.

METHODS

: Two scenarios were compared: the first scenario before the reimbursement of global telemedicine consultations and the second in which patients could use the global telemedicine solution to consult a general practitioner. The base case hypothesis was the installation of 100 booths in the first year, 150 more in the second year and 250 more in the third year to reach a total of 500 booths in 2020.

RESULTS

: Some savings could be generated for several reasons: by transferring some patients (patients in nursing home or patients who did not have access to a general practitioner) from emergency care in hospital to using the booth (estimated savings: year 1: €8,6 M, year 2: €21.6 M, year 3: €43.3 M) and by avoiding medical complications linked to reduced access to general practitioners (estimated savings: year 1: €0.9 M, year 2: €2.4 M, year 3: €4.8 M). Some of the savings would be balanced by the increase in the number of consultations (year 1: +€3.6 M, year 2: +€9.16 M, year 3: +€18.32 M). The cost of the global telemedicine solution (installation and maintenance) for the community will be about €14.6 M the first year, €23.8 M the second year and €41.4 M the third year.

CONCLUSIONS

: Reimbursement of the global telemedicine solution could save for the French social security about €5.9 M the first year, €14.9 M the second year and €29.8 M the third year.