Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T08:55:38.360Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Estimating the Economic Impact of Telemedicine in a Rural Community

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

Brian E. Whitacre
Brian E. Whitacre*
Affiliation:
The Department of Agricultural Economics at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

One commonly discussed benefit of broadband access in rural America is the potential for telemedicine visits that allow rural residents to take advantage of urbanized medical services. While the primary benefit of telemedicine is often viewed as improved health care access, the availability of these services also offers significant economic contributions to the local community. Site visits to 24 rural hospitals of varying size over a four-state area in the Midwest provide information to develop a methodology for estimating telemedicine's economic impact. Using this technique, telemedicine services contribute between $20,000 and $1.3M annually to these local economies, with an average of $522,000.

Keywords

telemedicineeconomic impactteleradiologytelepsychiatry
Type
Rural Development and Broadband Use
Information
Agricultural and Resource Economics Review , Volume 40 , Issue 2 , August 2011 , pp. 172 - 183
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ace, A., and Hayes, J. 1995. “Patient Satisfaction with Teleoncology: A Pilot Study.” Telemedicine Journal 1(1): 41–46.Google Scholar
Bockstael, N. 1999. “The Use of Random Utility in Modeling Rural Health Care Demand: Discussion.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 81(3): 692–695.Google Scholar
Bulik, R. 2004. “Perspectives on the Patient-Provider Relationship in Primary Care Telemedicine.” Journal of Telemedicine and E-Health 10(4): 466–468.Google Scholar
Capalbo, S., and Heggem, C. 1999. “Valuing Rural Health Care: Issues of Access and Quality. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 81(3): 674–679.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casey, M., Klingner, J., and Moscovice, M. 2008. “Pharmacy Services in Rural Areas: Is the Problem Geographic Access or Financial Access?” The Journal of Rural Health 18(3): 467–477.Google Scholar
Center for Telemedicine Law. 2003. “Telemedicine Reimbursement Report.” Office for the Advancement of Telehealth, U.S. Health Resources Services Administration. Available at ftp://ftp.hrsa.gov/telehealth/licen.pdf (accessed Oct 22, 2010).Google Scholar
De la Torre, A., Hernandez-Rodriguez, C., and Garcia, L. 2004. “Cost Analysis in Telemedicine: Empirical Evidence from Sites in Arizona.” The Journal of Rural Health 20(3): 253–257.Google Scholar
Dossetor, D., Nunn, K., Fairley, M., and Eggleton, D. 2002. “A Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Outreach Service for Rural New South Wales: A Telemedicine Pilot Study.” Journal of Pediatrics and Child Health 35(6): 525–529.Google Scholar
Eilrich, F., Doeksen, G., and St. Clair, S. 2007. “The Economic Impact of a Rural Primary Care Physician and the Potential Health Dollars Lost to Out-Migrating Health Services.” National Center for Rural Health Works. Available at http://ruralhealthworks.org/downloads/Economic/Physician_Dollars_Jan_2007.pdf (accessed Oct 22, 2010).Google Scholar
Grigsby, W., and Goetz, S. 2004. “Telehealth: What Promise Does it Hold for Rural Areas?” In Glasgow, N., Morton, L.W., and Johnson, N.E., eds., Critical Issues in Rural Health. Ames, IA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.Google Scholar
Grigsby, J., and Grigsby, W. 2001. “Variables Influencing the Adoption of Telemedicine.” State of the Art Symposium on Telemedicine/Telehealth: An International Perspective. Ann Arbor, MI. Google Scholar
Goetz, S., and Debertin, D. 1996. “Rural-Urban Locational Choices of Medical Doctors: A County-Level Analysis.” Review of Agricultural Economics 18(4): 547–563.Google Scholar
Gutske, S., Balch, D., West, V., and Rogers, L. 2006. “Patient Satisfaction with Telemedicine.” Telemedicine Journal 6(1): 5–13.Google Scholar
Hassol, A., Irvin, C., Gaumer, G., Puskin, D., Mintzer, C., and Grigsby, J. 1997. “Rural Applications of Telemedicine.” Telemedicine Journal 3(3): 215–225.Google Scholar
Hilty, D., Ingraham, R., Yang, S., and Anders, T. 2004. “Multi-Specialty Telephone and E-mail Consultation for Patients with Developmental Disabilities in Rural California.” Telemedicine Journal and E-Health 10(4): 413–421.Google Scholar
Hilty, D., Nesbitt, T., Kuenneth, C., Cruz, G., and Hales, R. 2007. “Rural versus Suburban Primary Care Needs, Utilization, and Satisfaction with Telepsychiatric Consultation.” The Journal of Rural Health 23(2): 163–165.Google Scholar
Hu, P., Chau, P., Sheng, O., and Tam, K. 1999. “Examining the Technology Acceptance Model Using Physician Acceptance of Telemedicine Technology.” Journal of Management Information Systems 16(2): 91–112.Google Scholar
James, L., and Folen, R. 1999. “Behavioral Telehealth: Using Telemedicine to Expand Behavioral Medicine Services.” Journal of Healthcare Information Management 13(4): 17–25.Google ScholarPubMed
Maass, Μ., Kosonen, M., and Kormano, M. 2000. “Transportation Savings and Medical Benefits of a Teleneuroradiological Network.” Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare 6(3): 142–146.Google Scholar
Medical Group Management Association. 2000. “Physician Compensation and Production Survey: 2000 Report Based on 1999 Data.” Englewood, CO.Google Scholar
Nesbitt, T., Marcin, J., Daschbach, M., and Cole, S. 2005. “Perceptions of Local Health Care Quality in 7 Rural Communities with Telemedicine.” The Journal of Rural Health 21(1): 79–85.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nesbitt, T., Hilty, D., Kuenneth, T., and Siefkin, A. 2000. “Development of a Successful Telemedicine Program.” Western Journal of Medicine 173(3): 169–174.Google Scholar
Ricketts, T.C. 2000. “The Changing Nature of Rural Health Care.” Annual Review of Public Health 21(1): 639–657.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Savard, L., Borstad, A., Tkachuck, J., Lauderdale, D., and Conroy, B. 2003. “Telerehabilitation Consultations for Clients with Neurologic Diagnoses: Cases from Rural Minnesota and American Samoa.” Neuro Rehabilitation 18(2): 93–102.Google Scholar
Sargeant, J., Allen, M., and Langille, D. 2004. “Physician Perceptions of the Effect of Telemedicine on Rural Retention and Recruitment.” Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare 10(2): 89–93.Google Scholar
Smith, A., Bensink, M., Armfield, N., Stillman, J., and Caffery, L. 2005. “Telemedicine and Rural Health Care Applications.” Journal of Postgraduate Medicine 51(4): 286–293.Google Scholar
Stensland, J., Moscovice, I., and Christianson, J. 2002. “Future Financial Viability of Rural Hospitals.” Health Care Finance Review 23(4): 175–188.Google Scholar
Whitacre, B., Hartman, P., Boggs, S., and Schott, V. 2009. “A Community Perspective on Quantifying the Economic Impact of Teleradiology and Telepsychiatry.” The Journal of Rural Health 25(2): 194–197.Google Scholar
Whitten, P., and Buis, L. 2006. “Private Payer Reimbursement for Telemedicine Services in the United States.” American Telemedicine Association white paper. Available at http://www.americantelemed.org/files/public/policy/Private_Payer_Report.pdf (accessed Oct 22, 2010).Google Scholar
Whitten, P., Kingsley, C., and Grigsby, J. 2000. “Results of a Meta-Analysis of Cost-Benefit Research: Is this a Question Worth Asking?” Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare 6(Supplement 1): 4–6.Google Scholar
Whitten, P., Mair, F., Haycox, A., May, C., Williams, T., and Hellmich, S. 2002. “Systematic Review of Cost Effectiveness Studies of Telemedicine Interventions.” British Medical Journal 324(7351): 1434–1437.Google Scholar