title: A tele-obstetric broadband service including ultrasound, videoconferencing and cardiotocogram. A high cost and a low volume of patients.
abstract: We established a tele-obstetric service connecting the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Nordland Hospital in Bodø to the delivery unit at the Nordland Hospital in Lofoten. The telemedicine service included a videoconferencing link (3 Mbit/s) for transmission of ultrasound scans and a low-speed data link (telephone modem) for transmission of cardiotocograms (CTGs). One hundred and thirty pregnant women entered the antenatal clinic in Lofoten during the eight-month study period. A total of 140 CTGs were recorded. The tele-ultrasound service was used in five cases (4%). The cases were serious malformation, Down's syndrome, breech presentation, vaginal bleeding during pregnancy and triplets. Analysis showed that the cost of patient travel was NOK 2460 per transfer. The variable cost of videoconferencing was NOK 250 per consultation. However, the total investment costs for the telemedicine service, including the broadband infrastructure, was NOK 1.7 million (Euro 212,000). The telemedicine service was not cost saving at annual workloads below 208. We conclude that the installation has to be used by other medical specialities to make it cost-effective.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, Norway. jan.norum@telemed.no
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Norum
authors.forename: Trine S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Bergmo
authors.forename: Bjørn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Holdø
authors.forename: May V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Johansen
authors.forename: Ingar N
authors.initials: IN
authors.lastname: Vold
authors.forename: Elisabeth E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Sjaaeng
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jacobsen
mesh_terms: D015148:Cardiotocography / Q000191:economics; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009774:Obstetrics / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011247:Pregnancy; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D049269:Videoconferencing / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data