title: Remote ophthalmology services: cost comparison of telemedicine and alternative service delivery options.
abstract: We calculated the cost of an established tele-ophthalmology service, from a health-provider's perspective, and compared this with the cost of three other existing eye-care service delivery options. During a 12-month study period, 118 persons took part in the tele-ophthalmology consultations between a rural clinic located approximately 900 km from the Lions Eye Institute in Perth. The variable costs of tele-ophthalmology were 166.89 dollars(Australian dollars) per patient, and the alternatives cost 445.96 dollars, 271.48 dollars and 665.44 dollars per patient. Tele-ophthalmology incurred a set-up cost of 13,340 dollars. The threshold at which tele-ophthalmology became cheaper than any of the alternative options occurred at a workload of 128 patients. Tele-ophthalmology offers a viable alternative to conventional eye-care service in rural and remote areas.
authors.affiliation: Centre of Excellence in e-Medicine, University of Western Australia, Australia. sajeesh@cyllene.uwa.edu.au
authors.forename: Sajeesh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Mei-Ling
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Tay-Kearney
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chaves
authors.forename: Ian J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Constable
authors.forename: Kanagasingam
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yogesan
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy*; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D019114:Remote Consultation / Q000191:economics* / Q000295:instrumentation; D012423:Rural Health; D016526:Workload