Patient-Centered Cost Saving and Positive Environmental Impact With the Introduction of Telehealth Services at a Single Center.

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study was to establish the patient-specific cost and time savings associated with telemedicine with the secondary environmental benefits of virtual visits within a tertiary referral center subspecialty urology clinic.

Methods: An electronic health record query was made of all urology telehealth visits that have occurred between April 10, 2020, and October 10, 2020, at a single academic center. We evaluated the cost of travel for an in-person visit based on zip code data. To adjust for productivity loss, the cost of missed work was added as either full-day or half-day-based distance and average compensation per day based on zip code data. Environmental impact was calculated using average CO₂ emissions per mile not traveled.

Results: There were 6444 patients seen in the urology clinic through telehealth during the 6-month period. Urology patients traveled on average 69 ± 148 miles round trip for an appointment. The average cost savings per patient including the cost of gas and time away from work was $152.78 ± $105.90. Overall, over a 6-month period, the total cost savings was $984,534.73 for the 6444 patients seen through telemedicine. There was also a significant environmental impact of the decreased travel burden with 153.36 metric tons of CO₂ emissions eliminated.

Conclusions: With the implementation of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, patients have been able to save a substantial amount of time and money primarily driven by the decreasing work hours lost and cost of travel.