Early medical abortion by telemedicine in the United Kingdom: a costing analysis

Objective To determine the potential cost savings resulting from the introduction of routine early medical abortion (EMA) at home by telemedicine in the UK. Design A costing study. Setting The UK. Population Women in 2020 undergoing EMA provided by three independent abortion providers and two National Health Service (NHS) abortion clinics. Methods Computation of the costs of each abortion procedure and of managing failed or incomplete abortion and haemorrhage requiring blood transfusion. Main outcome measures Cost savings. Results Overall estimated cost savings are 15.80 pound per abortion undertaken by independent abortion providers, representing a saving to the NHS of over 3 pound million per year. Limited data from NHS services resulted in an estimated average saving of 188.84 pound per abortion. Conclusions Were telemedicine EMA to become routine, an increase in the number of women eligible for medical rather than surgical abortion, and a reduction in adverse events resulting from earlier abortion, could result in significant cost savings. Tweetable abstract Early medical abortion at home using telemedicine could save the NHS 3 pound million per year.

Automated summary

This study aimed to determine the potential cost savings of early medical abortion at home by telemedicine in the UK. The results showed that this approach could save the NHS significant costs annually.