By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    HIPPA compliance
    How Medical Office Staff Can Make Your Practice HIPAA Compliant
    October 29, 2021
    Everything you need to know about hyaluronic acid treatment
    Everything you need to know about hyaluronic acid treatment
    February 10, 2022
    Which Mushroom Capsules Are Good for Your Health?
    May 5, 2022
    Latest News
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    August 3, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    hearing aid market
    Can You Hear Me Now? Another Health Market that Really Works
    November 21, 2013
    Food Biotechnology – Genetically Modified Food Controversies and Health
    February 27, 2018
    Bioethics Commission Calls for More Communication, Proactivity When Dealing with Incidental Findings
    December 14, 2013
    Latest News
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 20, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 20, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 20, 2025
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Small Hospitals Realize Financial Benefits from Telemedicine
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > eHealth > Small Hospitals Realize Financial Benefits from Telemedicine
eHealth

Small Hospitals Realize Financial Benefits from Telemedicine

rdowney14
rdowney14
Share
4 Min Read
SHARE

Return on Investment (ROI) on telemedicine programs is today’s “needle in a haystack.”

Return on Investment (ROI) on telemedicine programs is today’s “needle in a haystack.”

Often the closest that we can come to real money is cost-effectiveness.  A new report by the Mayo Clinic suggests that telestroke programs, like the ones it operates, are “cost-effective” for rural hospitals that don’t have the specialty.  The research is in the latest issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.  Other studies have already shown that they are cost-effective in terms of preserving patients’ quality of life even though the costs and benefits from the small hospitals in the stroke networks have never been fleshed out.

Some skeptics in medicine have perpetuated a myth that a telestroke network becomes a financial burden for a hospital.  However, the Mayo study revealed a telestroke program was likely to save the hospital money while improving patient outcomes and discharging them sooner.  Even if telestroke coverage costs a hospital a couple thousand dollars more to save a patient’s quality of life, Dr. Bart Demaerschalk at Mayo says, “It’s a bargain really.”

More Read

How Wearable Tech Insights Are Improving Healthcare
How Wearable Tech Insights Are Improving Healthcare
Flipping the Clinic Visit
Health Information Technology: Whistling by the Graveyard
Sobering Report for Health of 40+
Mobile Health Around the Globe: Monitoring Melanoma with a Mobile

A story about the study, titled “Telestroke is Cost-Effective for Hospitals, Mayo Clinic Researchers Show, is available on the Mayo Clinic Web site.

Here’s where the ROI comes in.  Data supplied by the Mayo Clinic and the Georgia Health Sciences University indicate that a small hospital with a telestroke program can treat 45 more patients every year with clot-busting drugs and 20 more with endovascular stroke therapies.  According to the study, this represents more than $100,000 in cost savings each year.  If reimbursement opportunities increase, the hospitals might save even more money.  Dermaerschalk says, “The upfront costs associated with setting up the telestroke technology and managing the network organization are quickly offset by the financial gains that result from a higher proportion of patients receiving clot busting drugs and the reduced stroke-related disability and subsequent reduced need for rehabilitation, nursing home care and assistance at home.”

When it comes to a telestroke program, the small hospitals on the patient end benefit economically.  The study suggests that the spoke hospitals that enjoy this increase in revenues should share them and help finance the telestroke network system.

Telestroke programs are the easiest to justify among telemedicine programs because with them outcomes can be so dramatically better.  Since the American Academy of Neurologists says that 45% of Americans live 60 minutes away from the nearest specialist, providing greater access to that higher level of healthcare is essential in preserving a patient’s independence.  Most stroke victims who don’t get clot-busting drugs are incapacitated; many live on for decades in nursing homes unable to care for themselves.  Like the old Fram oil filter commercials: you can pay me now, or you can pay me (a lot more) later.

TAGGED:telemedicine
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

engineer fitting prosthetic arm
How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
Health care
August 20, 2025
a woman explaining the document
How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
Public Health
August 20, 2025
physiotherapist at work
How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
Health care
August 20, 2025
Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs
7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
Health News
August 20, 2025

You Might also Like

healthcare reform
BusinesseHealthFinanceHealth ReformWellness

Knocking Down the Walls: Healthcare Reform That Will Drive Remote Patient Engagement

February 10, 2014
privacy-policy-510731_1920
eHealthPolicy & Law

“What we need is more regulation . . . .”

July 28, 2016
mHealth
eHealthMobile Health

Could Mobile Health Become Addictive?

August 22, 2013

Big Data Needs Big Connectivity

November 15, 2012
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?