A health system's outpatient telemedicine program had a demonstrably positive impact on patient travel time, travel costs and even the environment, according to a study published in the Value in Health journal.
Researchers retrospectively analyzed the telemedicine consultation database at Sacramento-based UC Davis Health System, between July 1996 and December 2013. In that time period, there were 19,246 consultations inclusive of 11,281 unique patients.
Overall, telemedicine visits helped save nearly 5.34 million miles, which is around 4.71 million minutes. The visits resulted in travel-related cost-savings amounting to $2.88 million. The mean per-consultation round-trip distance savings were 278 miles, averaging travel time savings of 245 minutes and average cost savings of $156.
Additionally, the telemedicine visits helped reduce 1,969 metric tons of carbon dioxide, 50 metric tons of carbon monoxide, 3.7 metric tons of nitrous oxides and 5.5 metric tons of volatile organic compounds.