Estimated Indirect Cost Savings of Using Telehealth Among Nonelderly Patients With Cancer

IMPORTANCE Patients with cancer typically have greater financial hardships and time costs than individuals without cancer. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this, while posing substantial challenges to delivering cancer care and resulting in important changes in care-delivery models, including the rapid adoption of telehealth. OBJECTIVE To estimate patient travel, time, and cost savings associated with telehealth for cancer care delivery. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS An economic evaluation of cost savings from completed telehealth visits from April 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, in a single-institution National Cancer Institute-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. All patients aged 18 to 65 years who completed telehealth visits within the designated time frame and had a Florida mailing address documented in their electronic medical record were included in the study cohort. Data were analyzed from April 2020 to June 2021. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The main outcome was estimated patient cost savings from telehealth, which included 2 components: costs of travel (defined as roundtrip distance saved from car travel) and potential loss of productivity due to the medical visit (defined as loss of income from roundtrip travel plus loss of income from in-person clinic visits). Two different models with a combination of 2 different mileage rates ($0.56 and $0.82 per mile) and census tract-level median hourly wages were used. RESULTS The study included 25496 telehealth visits with 11688 patients. There were 4525 (3795 patients) new or established visits and 20971 (10049 patients) follow-up visits. Median (IQR) age was 55.0 (46.0-61.0) years among the telehealth visits, with 15663 visits (61.4%) by women and 18360 visits (72.0%) by Hispanic non-White patients. According to cost models, the estimated mean (SD) total cost savings ranged from $147.4 ($120.1) at $0.56/mile to $186.1 ($156.9) at $0.82/mile. For new or established visits, the mean (SD) total cost savings per visit ranged from $176.6 ($136.3) at $0.56/mile to $222.8 ($177.4) at $0.82/mile, and for follow-up visits, the mean (SD) total cost savings per visit was $141.1 ($115.3) at $0.56/mile to $178.1 ($150.9) at $0.82/mile. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this economic evaluation, telehealth was associated with savings in patients time and travel costs, which may reduce the financial toxicity of cancer care. Expansion of telehealth oncology services may be an effective strategy to reduce the financial burden among patients with cancer.

Automated summary

Patients with cancer often face greater financial hardships and time costs. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this issue and posed challenges to cancer care. This study evaluated the cost savings in patient travel, time, and expenses associated with telehealth for cancer care delivery. The findings suggest that telehealth can reduce the financial burden on patients with cancer.