Report finds telehealth services are cost effective, clinically successful

Studies of healthcare systems in the U.S. and abroad show providers have achieved financial and clinical success with implementing telehealth services, according to a report by the healthcare research arm of Computer Sciences Corp.

The four-page report reviews telehealth studies in Germany, the UK, as well as the US. While there remain problems with properly quantifying the return on investment in telehealth programs, “the evidence shows that, implemented properly, telehealth can be cost-effective, with benefits accruing across the whole healthcare system, not just acute care providers,” the report authors said. And while “(i)solating and evaluating the net benefit of a telehealth program can, under some circumstances, be challenging,” the report authors advise the best way to measure the value of telehealth “takes into consideration not just clinical effectiveness and cost effectiveness, but also factors such as service utilization, patient satisfaction and patient reported outcomes.”