According to a new study released in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, there was a big cost savings when low-risk newborn infants are tracked through a website instead of going through usual care, which included a return visit to the hospital within 48 hours of discharge.
According to a new study released in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, there was a big cost savings when low-risk newborn infants are tracked through a website instead of going through usual care, which included a return visit to the hospital within 48 hours of discharge.
The research, performed in Spain, looked at a group of infants who were tracked through a website with three components:
- A free-access area with information about baby care and breastfeeding.
- A parents’ area where, after authentication, they were asked to submit a questionnaire twice a week about the baby’s condition. Parents were able to communicate with nurses with specific questions via email.
- An area where doctors and nurses could see parents’ answers to the questionnaires and respond directly to the parents.
Babies selected in the study met one of several criteria, including:
- Being born between 35 and 37 weeks
- Weighing from just under 5 pounds to just under 7 pounds
- Being firstborn and breastfeeding only
- Having parents who lived more than 25 miles from the hospital
After one month, the study says, 94 percent of the patients who received the Internet-based follow-up did not have to go through additional emergency department (ED) visits. This is 10 percentage points higher then the patients in the usual-care controlled group.
Not only did the ED visits decrease by using telemedicine, so did cost! The hospital-based follow-up was roughly $243 compared to just $115 for using the Internet-based follow-up.
