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An economic analysis of the EHAS telemedicine system in Alto Amazonas

dc.contributor.authorMartínez Fernández, A
dc.contributor.authorVillarroel Ortega, Valentín
dc.contributor.authorPuig Junoy, Jaume
dc.contributor.authorSeoane Pascual, Joaquín
dc.contributor.authorPozo Guerrero, Francisco del
dc.date.accessioned2009-07-08T09:12:33Z
dc.date.available2009-07-08T09:12:33Z
dc.date.issued2009-07-08T09:12:33Z
dc.identifier.issn1357-633X
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10115/2345
dc.description.abstractTelemedicine systems providing voice communication and email by radio were installed at seven health centres (HCs) and 32 health posts (HPs) in the Alto Amazonas province of Peru during 2001. A cost analysis was performed to estimate the net effect on direct resource consumption from the perspective of society. Prior to the availability of the EHAS telemedicine system, there was a mean of 11.1 urgent patient referrals per year from the HPs and 14.0 referrals per year from the HCs. After the implementation of telemedicine, patient referrals fell to 2.5 per year from the HPs (P=0.03) and to 8.4 per year from the HCs (P=0.17). The net economic effect of the telemedicine programme over a four-year period was clearly positive, amounting to annual net savings of US$320,126 (using a 5% discounting rate). A one-way sensitivity analysis using a range of values for the discounting rate, and the number of urgent referrals, confirms that the programme was efficient (i.e. it made net financial savings) in all cases. From the restricted budgetary perspective of the health network, the results also demonstrate that the additional operational costs (telephone and maintenance) introduced by the telemedicine system were lower than the direct cost-savings produced for the health-care network.es
dc.language.isoenes
dc.rightsAtribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 3.0 España*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/*
dc.subjectTelecomunicacioneses
dc.titleAn economic analysis of the EHAS telemedicine system in Alto Amazonases
dc.typeinfo:eu-repo/semantics/articlees
dc.rights.accessRightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesses
dc.subject.unesco3325 Tecnología de las Telecomunicacioneses
dc.description.departamentoTeoría de la Señal y Comunicaciones


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Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 3.0 EspañaExcept where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 3.0 España