Long-term cost-utility analysis of remote monitoring of older patients with pacemakers: the PONIENTE study

BMC Geriatrics

Table 1 Variables definition and costs included in the study

Perspective	Variables	Unitary cost (UC)	Monitoring^c	Cost per patient model^d
Public Health System^a	Physician labor costs	€0.54/min	CM	NVH x PTH x UC
	Physician labor costs	€0.54/min	RM	NRT x PTR x UC
	Administrative labor costs	€0.27/min	CM	NVH x ATH x UC
	Administrative labor costs	€0.27/min	RM	NTH x ATR x UC
	Consultation-room	€0.029/min	CM	NVH x PTH x UC
	Consultation-room	€0.029/min	RM	NVH x PTH x UC
	Ambulance	€1.13/km	CM	NVHA x UC
	Ambulance	€1.13/km	RM	NVHA x UC
Patients and relatives^b	Transportation (round trip)	Taxi (ranged from €14.50 to €142.10); Bus (ranged from €2.60 to €7.43); Private car (€0.19/km)	CM	(NVH – NVHA) x UCIT
	Transportation (round trip)		RM	(NVH – NVHA) x UCIT
	Lost income costs for hospital visits [20]	€5.05/h of home help service	CM	NVH x TVH x UC
	Lost income costs for hospital visits [20]	€5.05/h of home help service	RM	NVH x TVH x UC

^a Cost information was provided by the Cost Accounting Unit of Poniente Hospital
^b Data collected through questionnaires by participants in every visit to Poniente Hospital
^C CM = Conventional Monitoring; RM = Remote Monitoring
^d NVH number of visits to hospital; PTH time by physician per visit at hospital; UC unitary cost; NRT number of remote transfers to hospital; PTR time by physician per remote transfer; ATH time by administrative staff per visit at hospital; ATR time by administrative staff per remote transfer; NVHA number of visits to hospital by ambulance; UCIT unitary cost of informal transport; TVH unitary time spent by visit to hospital

ISSN: 1471-2318