title: Evaluating the Economic Impact of Smart Care Platforms: Qualitative and Quantitative Results of a Case Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In response to the increasing pressure of the societal challenge because of a graying society, a gulf of new Information and Communication Technology (ICT) supported care services (eCare) can now be noticed. Their common goal is to increase the quality of care while decreasing its costs. Smart Care Platforms (SCPs), installed in the homes of care-dependent people, foster the interoperability of these services and offer a set of eCare services that are complementary on one platform. These eCare services could not only result in more quality care for care receivers, but they also offer opportunities to care providers to optimize their processes.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of the study was to identify and describe the expected added values and impacts of integrating SCPs in current home care delivery processes for all actors. In addition, the potential economic impact of SCP deployment is quantified from the perspective of home care organizations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Semistructured and informal interviews and focus groups and cocreation workshops with service providers, managers of home care organizations, and formal and informal care providers led to the identification of added values of SCP integration. In a second step, process breakdown analyses of home care provisioning allowed defining the operational impact for home care organization. Impacts on 2 different process steps of providing home care were quantified. After modeling the investment, an economic evaluation compared the business as usual (BAU) scenario versus the integrated SCP scenario.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The added value of SCP integration for all actors involved in home care was identified. Most impacts were qualitative such as increase in peace of mind, better quality of care, strengthened involvement in care provisioning, and more transparent care communication. For home care organizations, integrating SCPs could lead to a decrease of 38% of the current annual expenses for two administrative process steps namely, care rescheduling and the billing for care provisioning.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although integrating SCP in home care processes could affect both the quality of life of the care receiver and informal care giver, only scarce and weak evidence was found that supports this assumption. In contrast, there exists evidence that indicates the lack of the impact on quality of life of the care receiver while it increases the cost of care provisioning. However, our cost-benefit quantification model shows that integrating SCPs in home care provisioning could lead to a considerable decrease of costs for care administrative tasks. Because of this cost decreasing impact, we believe that the integration of SCPs will be driven by home care organizations instead of the care receivers themselves.
authors: Internet Based Communication Networks and Services research group (IBCN), Department of Information Technology (INTEC), Ghent University - iMinds, Ghent, Belgium.
authors: Frederic
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4507-5076
authors: F
authors: Vannieuwenborg
authors: Studies on Media, Information & Telecommunication (SMIT), Vrije Universiteit Brussel - iMinds, Brussel, Belgium.
authors: Thomas
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7446-0593
authors: T
authors: Van der Auwermeulen
authors: Internet Based Communication Networks and Services research group (IBCN), Department of Information Technology (INTEC), Ghent University - iMinds, Ghent, Belgium.
authors: Jan
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1645-3074
authors: J
authors: Van Ooteghem
authors: Studies on Media, Information & Telecommunication (SMIT), Vrije Universiteit Brussel - iMinds, Brussel, Belgium.
authors: An
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7178-0185
authors: A
authors: Jacobs
authors: Internet Based Communication Networks and Services research group (IBCN), Department of Information Technology (INTEC), Ghent University - iMinds, Ghent, Belgium.
authors: Sofie
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4674-8693
authors: S
authors: Verbrugge
authors: Internet Based Communication Networks and Services research group (IBCN), Department of Information Technology (INTEC), Ghent University - iMinds, Ghent, Belgium.
authors: Didier
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1428-0301
authors: D
authors: Colle
keywords: ambulatory care information systems; cost-benefit analysis; evaluation studies as topic; home care services; medical informatics applications