Is telehealthcare for heart failure patients cost-effective? An economic evaluation alongside the Danish TeleCare North heart failure trial

Abstract

ObjectiveThis study aimed to assess the cost-effectiveness of telehealthcare in heart failure patients as add-on to usual care.DesignA cost-utility analysis was conducted from a public payer perspective alongside the randomised controlled TeleCare North trial.SettingThe North Denmark Region, Denmark.ParticipantsThe study included 274 heart failure patients with self-reported New York Heart Association class II-IV.InterventionsPatients in the intervention group were provided with a Telekit consisting of a tablet, a digital blood pressure monitor, and a scale and were instructed to perform measurements one to two times a week. The responsibility of the education, instructions and monitoring of the heart failure (HF) patients was placed on municipality nurses trained in HF and telemonitoring. Both groups received usual care.Outcome measuresCost-effectiveness was reported as incremental net monetary benefit (NMB). A micro-costing approach was applied to evaluate the derived savings in the first year in the public health sector. Quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) gained were estimated using the EuroQol 5-Dimensions 5-Levels questionnaire at baseline and at a 1-year follow-up.ResultsData for 274 patients were included in the main analysis. The telehealthcare solution provided a positive incremental NMB of £5164. The 1-year adjusted QALY difference between the telehealthcare solution and the usual care group was 0.0034 (95% CI: −0.0711 to 0.0780). The adjusted difference in costs was -£5096 (95% CI: −8736 to −1456) corresponding to a reduction in total healthcare costs by 35%. All sensitivity analyses showed the main results were robust.ConclusionsThe TeleCare North solution for monitoring HF was highly cost-effective. There were significant cost savings on hospitalisations, primary care contacts and total costs.Trial registration numberClinicalTrials.gov:NCT02860013.