title: The family costs of attending hospital outpatient appointments via videoconference and in person.
abstract: We compared the costs incurred by families attending outpatient appointments at the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) in Brisbane with those incurred by families who had a consultation via videoconference in their regional area. In each category 200 families were interviewed. The median time spent travelling for videoconferences was 30 min compared with 80 min for face-to-face appointments. Families interviewed in the outpatient department had travelled a median distance of 70 km, while those who had a videoconference at the local hospital had travelled only 20 km. It cost these families much more to attend an appointment at the RCH than to attend a videoconference. Ninety-six per cent of families (193) reported at least one of the following types of expense: 150 families had expenses related to parking (median A 10 dollars), 156 had fuel expenses (median A 10 dollars) and 122 reported costs related to meals purchased at the RCH (median A 10 dollars). Only 21 families who had their appointment via local videoconference reported any additional costs. Specialist appointments via videoconference were a more convenient and cheaper option for families living in regional areas of Queensland than the conventional method of attending outpatient appointments at the specialist hospital in Brisbane.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Online Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. a.smith@pobox.com
authors.forename: Anthony C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Youngberry
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Christie
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Isles
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McCrossin
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Jasper
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van der Westhuyzen
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wootton
mesh_terms: D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000191:economics*; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005190:Family; D006801:Humans; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000191:economics; D011793:Queensland; D019114:Remote Consultation / Q000191:economics*