scholarly journals Cost and Potential Savings of Electronic Consultation and Its Relationship with Reduction in Atmospheric Pollution

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 12436
Author(s):  
Daniel Rey Aldana ◽  
Francisco Reyes Santias ◽  
Pilar Mazón Ramos ◽  
Manuel Portela Romero ◽  
Sergio Cinza Sanjurjo ◽  
...  

Background: Telemedicine has been incorporated into daily clinical practice. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the economic impact of electronic consultation as a means of referring patients between Primary Care (PC) services and the referral Cardiology Service (CS) of a tertiary hospital, in particular, the cost of reduced air pollution. Methods: The direct and indirect costs associated with all the interconsultations between PC and a CS of a tertiary hospital were analyzed under a universal single act model versus a prior e-consultation model that selected patients who would later attend the single-act consultation. The cost of pollution from private motor vehicle travel by road has been analyzed with a Cobb–Douglas cost function. Results: The total cost per patient, including the costs associated with death, represented a saving in the model with e-consultation of 25.6%. The economic value for the reduction of contamination would be EUR 12.86 per patient. Conclusions: The introduction of e-consultation in the outpatient management of patients referred from PC to a CS, helps to reduce direct and indirect costs for the patient and the Health Care System. The cost of pollution associated with the trips explains the total cost to a greater extent, except for the first face-to-face consultation.

Crisis ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brendan Kennelly

Abstract. Objective: To calculate the costs of suicide in Ireland. Method: The paper identifies all episodes of suicide in Ireland in 2001 and 2002, and projects the economic costs arising from these episodes over subsequent years. All prices have been converted to 2001 euros. Both direct and indirect costs were calculated. Indirect costs included both the cost of lost output and human costs. Results: The total cost of suicide is estimated at over Euro 906 million in 2001, and over Euro 835 million in 2002 (in 2001 prices). This is equivalent to a little under 1% of the gross national product in Ireland for those years. Conclusions: The results show that investment in health education and health promotion can be justified on the basis of the costs associated with suicide in Ireland. These costs fall on individuals, families, and society. The huge human cost of suffering associated with suicide can also be prevented through appropriate intervention to prevent death occurring. It is important that any suicide prevention strategy should include an evaluative framework to ensure that investment occurs in the areas most likely to generate the highest returns in term of suicides prevented and lives saved.


1994 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 274-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Blumenthal ◽  
Simon Wessely

There has been a substantial increase in the number of Mental Health Review Tribunals (MHRTs) and hence the cost of administering the tribunal system. We report an estimate of the cost of MHRTs taking account, for the first time, of both direct and indirect costs to the various government departments. We estimate that the total cost is currently £12,274,380 per annum.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Addisu Bogale ◽  
Teferi Daba ◽  
Dawit Wolde Daka

AbstractBackgroundHypertension is a common vascular disease and the main risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. The impact of hypertension is on the rise in Ethiopia, so that, it is predictable that the cost of healthcare services will further increase in the future. We aimed to estimate the total cost of hypertension illness among patients attending hospitals in Southwest Shewa zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia.Patients and methodsInstitution based cross-sectional study was conducted from July 1-30, 2018. All hypertensive patients who were on treatment and whose age was greater than eighteen years old were eligible for this study. The total cost of hypertension illness was estimated by summing up the direct and indirect costs. Bivariate and multivariate linear regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with hypertension costs of illness.ResultsOverall, the mean monthly total cost of hypertension illness was US $ 22.3 (95% CI, 21.3-23.3). Direct and indirect costs share 51% and 49% of the total cost, respectively. The mean total direct cost of hypertension illness per patient per month was US $11.39(95% CI, 10.6-12.1). Out of these, drugs accounted of a higher cost (31%) followed by food (25%). The mean total indirect cost per patient per month was US $10.89(95% CI, 10.4-11.4). Educational status, distance from hospital, the presence of companion and the stage of hypertension were predictors of the cost of illness of hypertension.ConclusionThe cost of hypertension illness was very high when compared with the mean monthly income of the patients letting patients to catastrophic costs. Therefore, due attention should be given by the government to protect patients from financial hardships.


Author(s):  
Federico Solla ◽  
Eytan Ellenberg ◽  
Virginie Rampal ◽  
Julien Margaine ◽  
Charles Musoff ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective: To analyze the cost of the terror attack in Nice in a single pediatric institution. Methods: We carried out descriptive analyses of the data coming from the Lenval University Children’s Hospital of Nice database after the July 14, 2016 terror attack. The medical cost for each patient was estimated from the invoice that the hospital sent to public insurance. The indirect costs were calculated from the hospital’s accounting, as the items that were previously absent or the difference between costs in 2016 versus the previous year. Results: The costs total 1.56 million USD, corresponding to 2% of Lenval Hospital’s 2016 annual budget. Direct medical costs represented 9% of the total cost. The indirect costs were related to human resources (overtime, sick leave), revenue shortfall, and security and psychiatric reinforcement. Conclusion: Indirect costs had a greater impact than did direct medical costs. Examining the level and variety of direct and indirect costs will lead to a better understanding of the consequences of terror acts and to improved preparation for future attacks.


2005 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 435-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soo Jin Seung ◽  
Nicole Mittmann

It has been more than a decade since Krahn evaluated the direct and indirect costs of asthma in Canada. Asthma is often uncontrolled and the cost of providing urgent care has not been determined. Hospitalizations, unscheduled physician visits, emergency department visits, drug treatments and ambulance rides are resources used by the uncontrolled asthmatic population, resulting in $162 million in costs annually. Improved control of asthma could decrease these costs.


1964 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. L. Nestel

The cost of developing and maintaining pangola grass pastures has been examined under a range of conditions. The direct cost of improving pastures to the stage where they were established as 5–10 acre, fenced, watered units of pangola grass was about £30 per acre. Under favourable conditions this cost could be reduced to £20, but with difficult land or poor techniques the cost could rise to £40 or more per acre. In addition to the direct cost of establishment there was an indirect cost due to land being out of use or stock numbers having to be reduced. This indirect cost appeared to be highest on lands where planting costs were least. It was suggested that there might be an inverse relationship between direct and indirect costs which tended to narrow the total range of establishment costs.


2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kee Jim

AbstractThe costs of bovine respiratory disease (BRD) to the beef producer can be estimated by identifying and summing the direct and indirect costs associated with the disease. The major direct costs are attributable to the cost of the feeder, production costs and carcass disposal. The indirect costs are mainly associated with infrastructure and labour.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A T Timoteo ◽  
M Gouveia ◽  
C Soares ◽  
R C Ferreira

Abstract Introduction Cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death in Portugal. The high incidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is also a major problem, particularly due to the economic burden caused by productivity losses (indirect costs) associated with temporary absence from work, not yet sufficiently studied in Portugal. Our objective was to quantify the indirect costs of AMI in the first year after admission. Methods All consecutive patients admitted in a single center with <66 years (official retirement age) during one year that survived to discharge were included in the present study. Employment status on admission was assessed in every patient. For each employed patient, working at the time of admission, the monthly wage was estimated from market wage rates from national public sources (grossed up by social security contributions) according to gender and age. A day-cost was calculated to assess the cost of temporary absence from work. A half-day absence was considered for Cardiology medical appointments and exams. The duration of temporary absence from work was assessed by a first follow-up contact at 30-day and a second follow-up evaluation up to one-year after admission. The cost of temporary absence from work per episode was calculated in this sample and results were applied to the total number of MI in Portugal during the year 2016 (last available national data) and separately according to ST-elevation AMI (STEAMI) or non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTACS). Results We included 219 patients (54±7 years, 83% males), from which, 66.2% were working, 16.4% early-retired, 11.9% unemployed and 5.5% in long-term exit from work due to non-cardiac disease. During the one-year follow-up there were no changes in employment status. In our sample, mean monthly labor cost was 1802 euros (69 euros/day). Median number of days absent from work were 34 days (31 days in men and 52 days in women) and a median of 2 half-days were also obtained for Cardiology appointments / exams. We obtained a total cost of 760.521,55 euros. We used available data from 2016 to estimate indirect costs at a national level. There were 4133 patients with <66 years admitted in Portugal due to AMI that survived to discharge. We performed an analysis, using the proportions of 41% of cases with STEAMI and 59% with NSTACS that came out of the Portuguese Registry on Acute Coronary Syndromes and the working patient's proportions in each group. Costs were higher in patients with STEAMI. We estimate an indirect total cost in Portugal of € 10.12 million in the first year after MI. Conclusions In Portugal, the costs to society of disability generated losses of productivity are over ten million euros during the first year after AMI. Strategies to improve time of return to work are very important to lower these costs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 172 ◽  
pp. 21008
Author(s):  
Klodian Gradeci ◽  
Berit Time ◽  
Lars Gullbrekken

The objective of placing moisture sensors in roof constructions is to warn about leakage events, and thus avoid undesirable consequences. However, considering that placing an additional sensor is directly related to increasing the total cost of the solution, the distribution and placement of the sensor system should be sought as a risk-based problem seeking for the most optimal solution. This paper conceptualises a risk-based optimization methodology that seeks the optimal solution for the sensor system in roof constructions as the one that maximises the return of investment. The latter is sought as a function of the leakage risk, which is derived as a multiplication of the likelihood that leakage events may occur in a roofing system, and their consequences, defined as the amount of direct (and indirect) costs in case a leakage event occurs. The optimal solution is expressed as the total number of sensors and their geometrical distribution. This conceptual study intends to foster innovative usage of sensor systems within the construction sector to allow owners and contractors to identify and avoid consequences of leakage events in roofing systems.


Geosciences ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 444
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Ochałek ◽  
Wojciech Jaśkowski ◽  
Mateusz Jabłoński

The hoist assembly based on the Koeppe friction is a commonly used solution in mining. However, it has some disadvantages. A few centimeters offset of the groove axis can lead to excessive abrasion of linings on the Koeppe friction and pulleys. As a consequence, the mines are forced to bear the direct and indirect costs of replacing the linings such as the cost of materials and service as well as the cost of extended machine and shaft downtime. Last year, the authors undertook a geodetic inventory of the condition of two hoisting machines with a Koeppe winder. Terrestrial laser scanning enhanced with precision total station measurements were performed. Additionally, elements particularly important for the performed analysis (inclination of hoisting machine and rope wheels shafts) were determined by the precision leveling technique. Obtained results were verified using measurements on Szpetkowski’s tribrach. Appropriate selection of the measurement methods in both analyzed examples allowed us to determine the causes of destruction of each hoist assembly component. Based on precise geodetic data, guidelines have been defined for rectification (twisting and shifting the rope pulleys), which seems unavoidable despite the lack of unambiguous legal regulations.


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