ABSTRACT
The article examines the effectiveness of remote monitoring and the evaluation of facts about patients with hematologic malignancies using telemedicine based on SMART technologies. The project was carried out in the Department of Haematooncology of the University Hospital Ostrava. Its objective was to test the efficacy of telemedicine in the treatment of patients with blood cancer. The cost-benefit analysis method was used to evaluate effectiveness, which also confirmed the feasibility of using this method to evaluate the costs and benefits of implementing specific medical projects. The conducted analysis demonstrated the effectiveness of using telemedicine procedures in the treatment of these patients, both in terms of quantifiable and non-quantifiable impacts on the Czech Republic's health system. This was mainly due to a large shortening of the length of the hospitalisation period for patients with problems whose deterioration was discovered by remote monitoring and their treatment could begin promptly. The shortening of the hospitalization period was achieved by around 40%. As a result, the complexity of treatment has been greatly reduced, benefiting both the hospital and, most importantly, the patient. With this prevention, the patient's chances of dying are reduced, as he or she is less likely to develop severe septic diseases. The total average financial savings of the Czech Republic's entire health care system for a patient who does not become septic due to a delayed response to deteriorating health only in hospitalisation, treatment, and medications is approximately USD 2,800.
Subject(s)
Telemedicine , Female , Humans , Cost-Benefit Analysis , HospitalizationABSTRACT
Healthcare, like other industries, is increasingly using smart technologies, which also include intelligent/smart wayfinding navigation. The focus of this article, as part of the research project (its second step), was to analyze the economic effectiveness of the introduction of the wayfinding system in a local hospital in the Czech Republic. In the first phase/step of the project, possible variants of the solution were identified, verification of possible functioning, and a questionnaire survey was conducted among employees and patients regarding the waste of time in search of destination and preferences of various forms of navigation. Based on the above, it was decided to develop our own mobile application. To determine the effectiveness of this method of implementation of the new system, economic verification was used by the cost-benefit analysis method. Although the use of this method has not been required in the implementation of funded projects within the European Union since 2021, it was chosen for clarifying the pros and cons in many both investment and non-investment projects. In addition to the net present value calculation, the benefit cost ratio, profitability index, and payback period were used for evaluation. The time saving of medical staff, calculated on the basis of a questionnaire survey in the hospital (the first step of the project), was used as a benefit. The costs used were the salaries paid out in the research project, the investment, and the operating costs over the lifetime of the navigation system, which is estimated at eleven years. Using the above indicators, the implementation of the navigation system was found to be effective, despite the initial high costs. Based on these results, as part of the third step of the project, the navigation system will be implemented in the given hospital-the testing phase was taking place in the last quarter of 2021, and the full implementation is expected during the 2022.
