Telemedicine

CONCURRENT ORAL PRESENTATIONS ABSTRACTSprovider assessments on a case-by-case basis on the impact of care on patienttravel with an accurate assessment of patient locations and ‘‘intended’’ traveldestinations for care. An earlier pilot study conducted in 2009 that reviewedapproximately 6,000 cases revealed savings of $11.50 to the Medicaid programfor every $1 spent on reimbursement, with the added benefit of preventing4,777 lost days at work and 1,444 lost days at school for children. Thecurrent study extends the analysis through 2012 and further supports therationale for state Medicaid programs to reimburse for store and forwardTelemedicine.Objectives:1. Understand the impact of telehealth on patient travel.2. Understand an accurate model for predicting travel savings of telehealth.3. Implement a methodology to measure travel savings from store-andforwardtelehealth11:00 am–12:00 pm Monday, May 6, 2013INDIVIDUAL ORALSession Number: 002Session Title: SUCCESSFUL TELEMEDICINE BUSINESSENTERPRISESTrack: Finance and Operations IBallroom EMODERATOR: Thomas S. Nesbitt, MD, MPH, Associate Vice Chancellor.UC Davis Health System, Sacramento, CA, USA.696 THE LONG-TERM EFFECT OF TELECARE ON MEDICALEXPENDITURES: NINE-YEAR EXPERIENCE OF A JAPANESE TOWNMasatsugu Tsuji, PhD, Professor 1,2 , Yuji Akematsu, PhD 3 .1 University of Hyogo, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, 2 National Cheng Kung University,Tainan, Taiwan, 3 Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan.Although the economic effect of telemedicine is mostly desired and expected,very few succeeded in demonstrating this. Accordingly, long-termeffects are not obtained so far. This paper aims to examine the long-termeffect of telecare (e-Health) on medical expenditures and treatment days in aproject of Nishi-aizu Town, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan from 2002–2010,which has been implementing the project to maintain the health of the elderlyor patients at home. In addition, this paper attempts to identify howtelecare reduces medical expenditures in the long-run and which chronicdiseases reduced medical expenditures or treatment days largely by telecareuse.Materials and Methods: The method of analysis is to compare the aboveoutcomes of two groups, namely users (treatment) and non-users (control) ofthe system based on the receipt data issued by National Health Insurance usingrigorous statistical analysis. Our previous papers used five-year data from2002 to 2006, and this paper expands the period of analysis to four more years.The samples in this analysis are the same as those in the previous analysis, butthe number of samples used here is reduced sharply, namely 90 of users and118 of non-users.Results: The results obtained so far are as follows: outpatients medical expendituresof all diseases and treatment days are almost the same in bothgroups, while if diseases are restricted to chronic diseases such as heart diseases,stroke, diabetes, and hypertension, then above two variables of thetreatment group are smaller than those of the control groups. In this nine yearsdata, the almost same results are obtained, and this paper analyzes how thislong-term effects are obtained. In particular, we focus on how four-year agingaffected their medical expenditures, and whether there was any change intheir telecare use such as frequency of use and their subjective beliefs of healthcondition.Conclusion: This paper demonstrates the role and effect of telecare or e-Health, which will provide the economic foundation or a basis of reimbursementfrom medical insurance. Some obstacles for telemedicine and howto promote it are also discussed.Objectives:1. Effect of telemedicine in medical expenditures2. How telecare reduces medical expenditures in the long-run3. Situations of telecare in Japan316 THE VIRTUAL VISIT PROVIDER: A NOVEL PRIMARY CARECAREER PATHPRESENTERS AND CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS:Benjamin Green, MD, Medical Director.Carena, Inc, Seattle, WA, USA.The future of Primary Care as a career is grim-medical students areflocking to specialty fields for the buzz, lifestyle, and compensation. Notenough new providers are choosing Primary Care as a career path, leavingtoo few providers struggling to carry the torch. This is bad for the providersleft in the field, and for the patients trying to get care. Primary Care viatelemedicine may be a solution to this problem. For the provider, providingcare via telemedicine has some real advantages in quality of life and workthat make its attractiveness begin to rival specialty care as a career option.‘‘Virtual’’ physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants can be avery real piece to the puzzle of solving the national Primary Care shortagecrisis by drawing more individuals back into the field. Real world case study:Primary Care providers at Carena Medical Providers of Seattle, WA haveembraced telemedicine as a full-time career, realizing a favorable lifestyle,professionally rewarding practice, and leadership within their field. Additionally,these providers have provided much needed support to their fellowcommunity PCPs, creating a symbiotic relationship that can helpdisprove the demise of Primary Care as a career. Most encouraging, ProviderSatisfaction metrics among this group are quite remarkable, offering tremendouspromise for the future. Who are these providers and how do wedevelop more? Why were they attracted to this care delivery model? How dolocal, office-based PCPs benefit?This individual oral presentation will:- Describe the challenges of sustaining primary care as an attractive careerpath- Present Telemedicine as a novel career option for the PCP- Discuss opportunities for supporting the existing office-based PCP- Present a real world Medical Group employing PCPs on a fulltime basis todeliver Telemedicine- Offer promising Provider metrics related to professional fulfillment,lifestyle satisfaction, and compensationObjectives:1. Present the promise of Telemedicine as a novel career option for thePrimary Care Provider2. Present a real world Medical Group employing Primary Care Providerson a Full Time Basis to deliver Telemedicine3. Offer promising Provider metrics related to professional fulfillment,lifestyle satisfaction, and compensationª MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC. 2013 TELEMEDICINE and e-HEALTH A-31