1. Sharon CampbellHealth Planning and Evaluation 584

2. Planned introduction of telehealth servicesfunding for eligible veterans located inremote, regional and outer metropolitanareas of Australia. Will address the barriers in accessing healthcare in these areas. Will negate the need for long distancetravelling for patients. 3 year trial of in home telemonitoring. 3. What is Telehealth? Telehealth technology is used toincrease the level of health careaccess for consumers who live in arural or remote environment. Telehealth offers a practical solutionfor both consumers andpractitioners. 4. Who is the evaluation for?The evaluation is for DVA in relationto the introduction of trial telehealthprograms for DVA clients throughthe use of in home telemonitoring. 5. Stakeholders Patients Practitioners Wider community DVA Australian Government 6. Evaluation Questions1.Why has the program been established?2.Target Groups3.Aims and Objectives1. Hospitalisation rates and other health costs2. Informal care burden and transport costs3. Admission to residential aged care and impacts on formal sector community care services4. Cost effectiveness of intervention. 7. Evaluation Questions continued4. What resources are involved5. What is the programs stage of development6. What aspects of the programs operating environment i.e. politics, social, environment are important? 8. Evaluation perspective Economic perspective A review of the resources usedthrough the telehealth program. Will there be an impact on theefficiency and the cost of medicalcare? 9. Evaluation DesignRandomised controlled experimental design Subjects-DVA Veterans with specific conditions in abroadband accessible area. Control group-DVA Veterans with specificconditions in a non-broadband available area(control group) 10. Data Gathering Methods The inclusion criteria for both the targetpopulation and the control group include havingthe following conditions and being over the ageof 65 (as well as being a veteran): cardiovascular disease (CVD), with a prevalenceof 22.8% in the 65+ population; diabetes, with a prevalence of 9.31% in the 65+population; and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),with a prevalence of 17.63% in the 65+population (Pezzullo, Mitchell, Brown 2010). 11. Timelines Will run over a three year period commencing in 2012. DVA will receive 3 monthly snapshots of data analysis. 12. Resources Estimated costs of InterventionComponent Net Present 2012-13 2013-14ValueCoordination3393.00 2070.00 1670.00Telemonitoring2803.74 3000.00Data Management 2169.00 1200.00 1200.00Videoconferencing 46.00 50.00Data/Voice Cost 865.00478.00478.00 13. Practical, ethical, political and other issues Financial issues. Training and education of physicians. Infrastructure Support for coordinators Change management 14. Strategies for maximising utilisation of theevaluation Stakeholder and Focus group meetings Feedback to the sponsor 15. Strengths and weaknesses of proposal Strength- this evaluation will form the basis for a reliable blueprint for measuring program costs. Weaknesses- hard to generalise about fixed and variable costs across sites. Limited information regarding benefits of telehealth at this stage from a health improvement view. 16. Is the evaluation proposal worth backing? 17. Australian Medical Association. 2006. On-line and other Broadband ConnectedMedical Consultations. Available at: http://ama.com.au/node/2508 Cornfield, T. Klecun-Dabrowska,E. 2001. Ethical Perspectives in Evaluation ofTelehealth. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics. 10, 161169 Department of Health and Ageing. 2012. Telehealth Technical Standards PositionPaper. Commonwealth of Australia. Dillon,E. Loermans, J. Davis, D. Xu,C. 2005. Evaluation of the Western AustralianDepartment of Health telehealth project. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare.11.19-21. Fitzsimmons,D. Thompson,J. Hawley,M. Mountain,G. 2011. Preventative tele-health supported services for early stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: aprotocol for a pragmatic randomized controlled pilot trial. Trials Journal. 12(6). 1-9. Gagnon, M. Lamothe,L. Fortin,J. Cloutier,A. Godin,G.Gagne,C. Reinharz,D. 2005.Telehealth adoption in hospitals: an organisational perspective. Journal of HealthOrganisation and Management. 19(1).32-54. Johnston, B. Kidd, L. Wengstrom, Y. Kearney, N. 2011. An evaluation of the use ofTelehealth within palliative care settings across Scotland. Palliative Medicine.26(2). 152-161. Lancaster, P. Krumm, M. Ribera, J. Klich, R. 2008. Remote hearing screenings viatelehealth in a rural elementary school. American Journal of Audiology. 17(2).114-122. 18. Melanson, L. 2008. Economic analysis of geriatric telehealth services in Alberta.Proquest Dissertations and Theses. Moffatt,J. Eley,D. 2010. The reported benefits of telehealth for rural Australians.Australian Health Review. 34. 276-281. Ovretveit,J. 2010. Evaluating Health Interventions. Open University Press.Berkshire, England. Paget, T. Jones,C. Davies,M. Evered, C. Lewis,C. 2010. Using home telehealth toempower patients to monitor and manage long term conditions. Nursing Times.106 (45). 17-19. Persaud, D. Jreige, S. Skedgel, C. Finley, J. Sargeant, J and Hanlon, N. 2005. Anincremental cost analysis of telehealth in Nova Scotia from a societal perspective.Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare. 11(2). 77-84. Pezzullo,L.Mitchell,S.Brown,H. 2010. Telehealth for veterans. Access Economics. Shore, J. Brooks,E. Savin,D. Manson,S. Libby,A. 2007. An economic evaluation ofTelehealth Data Collection with Rural Populations. Psychiatric Services. 58(6). 830-835 Wade, V. Karnon,J. Elshaug, A. Hiller,J. 2010. A systematic review of economicanalyses of telehealth services using real time video communication. BMC HealthServices Research. 10.233.