Economic impact of remote monitoring on ordinary follow-up of implantable cardioverter defibrillators as compared with conventional in-hospital visits. A single-center prospective and randomized study

Economic evaluation of remote monitoring of patients with an implantable cardiac defibrillator (REMOTE-CIED study)

INTRODUCTION

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) of heart failure patients has the potential to reduce healthcare resource use and costs, but current evidence has been inconclusive. This study aims assess the impact of RPM of heart failure patients with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator on medical resource use, direct medical costs, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and travel time of patients, and to estimate its commercial headroom in the Netherlands and Germany.

METHODS

Data from the REMOTE-CIED randomized controlled trial were used to calculate differences in length of hospital stay, outpatient clinic visits, telephone consults, emergency room visits, and travel time between patients on in-clinic follow-up and RPM in the Netherlands, Germany, and France. Incremental cardiac-related healthcare costs and QALYs were calculated and used to calculate the commercial headroom of RPM in the Netherlands and Germany. The impact of imputation, parameter, and case-mix uncertainty on these outcomes was explored using probabilistic analysis.

RESULTS

Length of hospitalization, number of unscheduled admissions, and number of outpatient visits were lower in the remote monitoring group in all three countries. Number of hospital admissions was higher, and number of calls was lower in the Netherlands and Germany but not in France. Costs were lower in both the Netherlands (-€1041, 95% confidence interval (CI): -€3308, €1005) and Germany (-€2865, 95% CI: -€7619, €1105), while incremental effectiveness differed: -0.003 (95% CI: -0.114, 0.107) QALY in the Netherlands and +0.086 (95% CI: -0.083, 0.256) in Germany. Commercial headroom was estimated at €881 (95% CI: -€5430, €7208) in the Netherlands and €5005 (95% CI: -€1339, €11,960) in Germany.

DISCUSSION

RPM was found to result in reduced medical resource use and travel time. Whether it is cost saving or cost effective strongly depends on the costs of remote monitoring.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER AND TRIAL REGISTER

ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01691586.

Economic Evaluations of Digital Health Interventions for Patients With Heart Failure: Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

Digital health interventions (DHIs) have shown promising results in enhancing the management of heart failure (HF). Although health care interventions are increasingly being delivered digitally, with growing evidence on the potential cost-effectiveness of adopting them, there has been little effort to collate and synthesize the findings.

OBJECTIVE

This study's objective was to systematically review the economic evaluations that assess the adoption of DHIs in the management and treatment of HF.

METHODS

A systematic review was conducted using 3 electronic databases: PubMed, EBSCOhost, and Scopus. Articles reporting full economic evaluations of DHIs for patients with HF published up to July 2023 were eligible for inclusion. Study characteristics, design (both trial based and model based), input parameters, and main results were extracted from full-text articles. Data synthesis was conducted based on the technologies used for delivering DHIs in the management of patients with HF, and the findings were analyzed narratively. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines were followed for this systematic review. The reporting quality of the included studies was evaluated using the CHEERS (Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards) guidelines.

RESULTS

Overall, 27 economic evaluations were included in the review. The economic evaluations were based on models (13/27, 48%), trials (13/27, 48%), or a combination approach (1/27, 4%). The devices evaluated included noninvasive remote monitoring devices (eg, home telemonitoring using digital tablets or specific medical devices that enable transmission of physiological data), telephone support, mobile apps and wearables, remote monitoring follow-up in patients with implantable medical devices, and videoconferencing systems. Most of the studies (24/27, 89%) used cost-utility analysis. The majority of the studies (25/27, 93%) were conducted in high-income countries, particularly European countries (16/27, 59%) such as the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Mobile apps and wearables, remote monitoring follow-up in patients with implantable medical devices, and videoconferencing systems yielded cost-effective results or even emerged as dominant strategies. However, conflicting results were observed, particularly in noninvasive remote monitoring devices and telephone support. In 15% (4/27) of the studies, these DHIs were found to be less costly and more effective than the comparators (ie, dominant), while 33% (9/27) reported them to be more costly but more effective with incremental cost-effectiveness ratios below the respective willingness-to-pay thresholds (ie, cost-effective). Furthermore, in 11% (3/27) of the studies, noninvasive remote monitoring devices and telephone support were either above the willingness-to-pay thresholds or more costly than, yet as effective as, the comparators (ie, not cost-effective). In terms of reporting quality, the studies were classified as good (20/27, 74%), moderate (6/27, 22%), or excellent (1/27, 4%).

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the conflicting results, the main findings indicated that, overall, DHIs were more cost-effective than non-DHI alternatives.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

PROSPERO CRD42023388241; https://tinyurl.com/2p9axpmc.

Economic evaluation of remote patient monitoring and organizational analysis according to patient involvement: a scoping review

BACKGROUND

A literature review concerning the economic evaluation of telemonitoring was requested by the authority in charge of health evaluation in France, in a context of deployment of remote patient monitoring and identification of its financing. Due to the heterogeneity of existing telemonitoring solutions, it was necessary to stratify the evaluation according to patient involvement. Three levels of patient involvement are considered: weak (automated monitoring), medium (monitoring supported by a professional), and strong (active remote participation).

OBJECTIVES

We performed a scoping review to provide a comprehensive overview of different systems of telemonitoring and their reported cost-effectiveness.

METHODS

Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, a search was performed in four databases: PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library between January 1, 2013 and May 19, 2020. Remote patient monitoring should include the combination of three elements: a connected device, an organizational solution for data analysis and alert management, and a system allowing personalized interactions, and three degrees of involvement.

RESULTS

We identified 61 eligible studies among the 489 records identified. Heart failure remains the pathology most represented in the studies selected (n = 24). The cost-utility analysis was chosen in a preponderant way (n = 41). Forty-four studies (72 percent) reported that the intervention was expected cost-effective. Heterogeneity has been observed in the remote monitoring solutions but all systems are reported cost-effective. The small number of long-term studies does not allow conclusions to be drawn on the transposability.

CONCLUSIONS

Remote patient monitoring is reported to be cost-effective whatever the system and patient involvement.

2023 HRS/EHRA/APHRS/LAHRS expert consensus statement on practical management of the remote device clinic

Remote monitoring is beneficial for the management of patients with cardiovascular implantable electronic devices by impacting morbidity and mortality. With increasing numbers of patients using remote monitoring, keeping up with higher volume of remote monitoring transmissions creates challenges for device clinic staff. This international multidisciplinary document is intended to guide cardiac electrophysiologists, allied professionals, and hospital administrators in managing remote monitoring clinics. This includes guidance for remote monitoring clinic staffing, appropriate clinic workflows, patient education, and alert management. This expert consensus statement also addresses other topics such as communication of transmission results, use of third-party resources, manufacturer responsibilities, and programming concerns. The goal is to provide evidence-based recommendations impacting all aspects of remote monitoring services. Gaps in current knowledge and guidance for future research directions are also identified.

2023 HRS/EHRA/APHRS/LAHRS Expert Consensus Statement on Practical Management of the Remote Device Clinic

Remote monitoring is beneficial for the management of patients with cardiovascular implantable electronic devices by impacting morbidity and mortality. With increasing numbers of patients using remote monitoring, keeping up with higher volume of remote monitoring transmissions creates challenges for device clinic staff. This international multidisciplinary document is intended to guide cardiac electrophysiologists, allied professionals, and hospital administrators in managing remote monitoring clinics. This includes guidance for remote monitoring clinic staffing, appropriate clinic workflows, patient education, and alert management. This expert consensus statement also addresses other topics such as communication of transmission results, use of third-party resources, manufacturer responsibilities, and programming concerns. The goal is to provide evidence-based recommendations impacting all aspects of remote monitoring services. Gaps in current knowledge and guidance for future research directions are also identified.

Heart failure and telemedicine: where are we and where are we going? Opportunities and critical issues

Heart failure (HF) is one of the main causes of morbidity in the world and is responsible for an enormous amount of health costs, mostly due to hospitalizations. The remote control techniques of vital signs and health status have the potential to help prevent factors leading to HF instability by stimulating early therapeutic interventions. The goal of telemedicine is to change the intervention strategy from a 'reactive' type, in which therapy is optimized in response to the worsening of symptoms, to a 'pro-active' type, in which therapeutic changes are undertaken based on changes in the monitored parameters during the sub-clinical phase. This article is aimed at exploring the major results obtained by telemedicine application in HF patients with and without cardiac electronic devices or in those with haemodynamic sensors and to analyse the critical issues and the opportunities of its use.

Toward digital transformation in healthcare: a framework for remote monitoring adoption

Purpose

Digital transformation (DT) is a priority for the healthcare sector. In many countries, it is still considered in the early stages with an underestimation of its benefits and potentiality. Especially in Italy, little is known about the impact of digitalization – particularly of the Internet of Things (IoT) – on the healthcare sector, for example, in terms of clinician's jobs and patient's experience. Drawing from such premises, the paper aims to focus on an overlooked healthcare area related to the chronic heart diseases field and its relationship with DT. The authors aim at exploring and framing the main variables of remote Monitoring (RM) adoption as a specific archetype of healthcare digitalization, both on patients and medical staff level, by shedding some lights on its overall implementation.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors empirically inquiry the RM adoption within the context of the Cardiology Department of the Casilino General Hospital of Rome. To answer our research question, the authors reconstruct the salient information by using induction-type reasoning, direct observation and interviewees with 12 key informants, as well as secondary sources analysis related to the hospital (internal documentation, presentations and technical reports).

Findings

According to a socio-technical framework, the authors build a model composed of five main variables related to medical staff and patients. The authors classify such variables into an input-process-output (I-P-O) model. RM adoption driver represents the input; cultural digital divide, structure flexibility and reaction to change serve the process and finally, RM outcome stands for the output. All these factors, interacting together, contribute to understanding the RM adoption process for chronic disease management.

Research limitations/implications

The authors' research presents two main limitations. The first one is related to using a qualitative method, which is less reliable in terms of replication and the interpretive role of researchers. The second limitation, connected to the first one, is related to the study's scale level, which focuses on a mono-centric consistent level of analysis.

Practical implications

The paper offers a clear understanding of the RM attributes and a comprehensive view for improving the overall quality management of chronic diseases by suggesting that clinicians carefully evaluate both hard and soft variables when undertaking RM adoption decisions.

Social implications

RM technologies could impact on society both in ordinary situations, by preventing patient mobility issues and transport costs, and in extraordinary times (such as a pandemic), where telemedicine contributes to supporting hospitals in swapping in-person visits with remote controls, in order to minimize the risk of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) contagion or the spread of the virus.

Originality/value

The study enriches the knowledge and understanding of RM adoption within the healthcare sector. From a theoretical perspective, the authors contribute to the healthcare DT adoption debate by focusing on the main variables contributing to the DT process by considering both medical staff and patient's role. From a managerial perspective, the authors highlight the main issues for RM of chronic disease management to enable the transition toward its adoption. Such issues range from the need for awareness of the medical staff about RM advantages to the need for adapting the organizational structure and the training and education process of the patients.

Remote monitoring of pacemakers

Exactly two decades have elapsed since pacemakers first provided automatic remote monitoring. This innovation has been well received by patients. However, there is still a widely held perception that remote monitoring of pacemakers is non-essential, despite the very similar gains that are achieved compared with remote monitoring of implantable cardioverter defibrillators. Reducing in-office evaluations and overall staff workload is important when these resources are stretched to their limits. The early detection ability provided by remote monitoring facilitates device management (extending battery longevity) and the ability to exercise vigilance over recalled components. Clinical complications, such as arrhythmic events, are also detected earlier. Remote monitoring has been shown to produce similar reductions in the risk of all-cause hospitalization and death for pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators in a mega-cohort observational study. This review is an evidence-based plea for the recognition and systematic implementation of remote monitoring for pacemakers.

Clinic Time Required for Remote and In-person Management of Cardiac Device Patients: Time and Motion Workflow Evaluation

BACKGROUND

The number of patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) is growing, creating substantial workload for device clinics.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to characterize the workflow and quantify clinic staff time requirements to manage CIED patients.

METHODS

A time and motion workflow evaluation was performed in 11 US and European CIED clinics. Workflow tasks were repeatedly timed during one business week of observation at each clinic. Observations were inclusive of all device models/manufacturers present. Mean cumulative staff time required to review a Remote device transmission and for an In-person clinic visit were calculated, including all necessary clinical and administrative tasks. Annual staff time for follow-up of 1 CIED patient was modeled using CIED transmission volumes, clinical guidelines, and published literature.

RESULTS

A total of 276 in-person clinic visits and 2,173 remote monitoring activities were observed. Mean staff time required per remote transmission ranged from 9.4-13.5 minutes for therapeutic devices (pacemaker, ICD, CRT) and 11.3-12.9 mins for diagnostic devices (insertable cardiac monitors (ICMs)). Mean staff time per in-person visit ranged from 37.8-51.0 mins and 39.9-45.8 mins, for therapeutic devices and ICMs respectively. Including all remote and in-person follow-ups, the estimated annual time to manage one CIED patient ranged from 1.6-2.4 hours for therapeutic devices and 7.7-9.3 hours for ICMs.

CONCLUSIONS

CIED patient management workflow is complex and requires significant staff time. Understanding process steps and time requirements informs implementation of efficiency improvements, including remote solutions. Future research should examine the heterogeneity in patient management processes to identify the most efficient workflows.

CLINICALTRIAL

Costs and where to find them: identifying unit costs for health economic evaluations of diabetes in France, Germany and Italy

BACKGROUND

Health economic evaluations require cost data as key inputs. Many countries do not have standardized reference costs so costs used often vary between studies, thereby reducing transparency and transferability. The present review provided a comprehensive overview of cost sources and suggested unit costs for France, Germany and Italy, to support health economic evaluations in these countries, particularly in the field of diabetes.

METHODS

A literature review was conducted across multiple databases to identify published unit costs and cost data sources for resource items commonly used in health economic evaluations of antidiabetic therapies. The quality of unit cost reporting was assessed with regard to comprehensiveness of cost reporting and referencing as well as accessibility of cost sources from published cost-effectiveness analyses (CEA) of antidiabetic medications.

RESULTS

An overview of cost sources, including tariff and fee schedules as well as published estimates, was developed for France, Germany and Italy, covering primary and specialist outpatient care, emergency care, hospital treatment, pharmacy costs and lost productivity. Based on these sources, unit cost datasets were suggested for each country. The assessment of unit cost reporting showed that only 60% and 40% of CEAs reported unit costs and referenced them for all pharmacy items, respectively. Less than 20% of CEAs obtained all pharmacy costs from publicly available sources.

CONCLUSIONS

This review provides a comprehensive account of available costs and cost sources in France, Germany and Italy to support health economists and increase transparency in health economic evaluations in diabetes.

Patients' and Nurses' Experiences and Perceptions of Remote Monitoring of Implantable Cardiac Defibrillators in Heart Failure: Cross-Sectional, Descriptive, Mixed Methods Study

Background

The new generation of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) supports wireless technology, which enables remote patient monitoring (RPM) of the device. In Sweden, it is mainly registered nurses with advanced education and training in ICD devices who handle the arrhythmias and technical issues of the remote transmissions. Previous studies have largely focused on the perceptions of physicians, and it has not been explored how the patients’ and nurses’ experiences of RPM correspond to each other.

Objective

Our objective is to describe, explore, and compare the experiences and perceptions, concerning RPM of ICD, of patients with heart failure (HF) and nurses performing ICD follow-up.

Methods

This study has a cross-sectional, descriptive, mixed methods design. All patients with HF and an ICD with RPM from one region in Sweden, who had transitioned from office-based visits to implementing RPM, and ICD nurses from all ICD clinics in Sweden were invited to complete a purpose-designed, 8-item questionnaire to assess experiences of RPM. The questionnaire started with a neutral question: “What are your experiences of RPM in general?” This was followed by one positive subscale with three questions (score range 3-12), with higher scores reflecting more positive experiences, and one negative subscale with three questions (score range 3-12), with lower scores reflecting more negative experiences. One open-ended question was analyzed with qualitative content analysis.

Results

The sample consisted of 175 patients (response rate 98.9%) and 30 ICD nurses (response rate 60%). The majority of patients (154/175, 88.0%) and nurses (23/30, 77%) experienced RPM as very good; however, the nurses noted more downsides than did the patients. The mean scores of the negative experiences subscale were 11.5 (SD 1.1) for the patients and 10.7 (SD 0.9) for the nurses (P=.08). The mean scores of the positive experiences subscale were 11.1 (SD 1.6) for the patients and 8.5 (SD 1.9) for the nurses (P=.04). A total of 11 out of 175 patients (6.3%) were worried or anxious about what the RPM entailed, while 15 out of 30 nurses (50%) felt distressed by the responsibility that accompanied their work with RPM (P=.04). Patients found that RPM increased their own (173/175, 98.9%) and their relatives’ (169/175, 96.6%) security, and all nurses (30/30, 100%) answered that they found RPM to be necessary from a safety perspective. Most patients found it to be an advantage with fewer office-based visits. Nurses found it difficult to handle different systems with different platforms, especially for smaller clinics with few patients. Another difficulty was to set the correct number of alarms for the individual patient. This caused a high number of transmissions and a risk to miss important information.

Conclusions

Both patients and nurses found that RPM increased assurance, reliance, and safety. Few patients were anxious about what the RPM entailed, while about half of the nurses felt distressed by the responsibility that accompanied their work with RPM. To increase nurses’ sense of security, it seems important to adjust organizational routines and reimbursement systems and to balance the workload.

Cost-effectiveness of remote monitoring of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators in France: a meta-analysis and an integrated economic model derived from randomized controlled trials

Aims

Cost-effectiveness data on the remote monitoring (RM) of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) compared to the current standard of care (SC) remains limited. This meta-analysis was performed to assess the economic burden, and to develop an integrated economic model evaluating the efficiency of the RM strategy vs. SC in the context of French healthcare.

Methods and results

Randomized controlled trials, comparing RM to SC in patients implanted with ICDs with or without resynchronization therapy (±CRT-D), were identified through a systematic search of scientific literature databases dating from 2005. Seventeen trials (10 229 patients) reporting data on clinical outcomes, quality of life, cost, and/or utility, either as primary or secondary endpoints were identified. Compared to SC, RM resulted in significant reductions in annual costs per patient for direct healthcare costs (seven studies, difference in means −276.1, 95% standard error [SE]: 66.0, I2 = 76.3%) and for labour costs (two studies, difference in means −11.3, 95% SE: 1.4, I2 = 96.3%). A three-state Markov Model showed that RM resulted in cost-savings of €4142 per patient over a 5-year time horizon, with a quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gain of 0.29. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was −14 136 €/QALY, in favour of RM. Furthermore, probabilistic sensitivity analyses confirmed that the RM strategy was dominant over SC in 70% of cases.

Conclusion

Our economic model demonstrates that once implemented, RM of ICD ± CRT-D patients would result in increased effectiveness for lower costs over a 5-year period, compared to the current SC in France.

Enhancing the Sustainable Goal of Access to Healthcare: Findings from a Literature Review on Telemedicine Employment in Rural Areas

Fighting health inequalities is a challenge addressed by the United Nations Strategic Development Goals (UN-SDGs). Particularly, people living in rural areas suffer from a lack of health infrastructure, which would jeopardize their inclusion in universal coverage for specialist care. Delivering valuable healthcare in underserved areas can be achieved through the employment of new technical innovations, such as telemedicine, which improves service delivery processes. Accordingly, this paper discusses how telemedicine strategies have enhanced the sustainability of right of “access to healthcare” in rural areas. Once we derived the sustainability pillars for healthcare from the UN-SDGs 3 and 10 according to the WHO innovation assessment metrics, a PRISMA-based literature review was conducted using the Scopus database. English, peer-reviewed articles/reviews from 1973 to 2019 were considered. The enquiry covers two analyses: (i) quantitative-bibliometric on 2267 papers; and (ii) qualitative-narrative on the 30 most significant papers. Interest about the topic has increased in the last decade following digitalization diffusion. The most productive and collaborative countries are those with huge dimensions and under financial restrictions. From a sustainability-oriented standpoint, telemedicine enhances both emergency and diagnostic healthcare in rural areas by decreasing the cost of services, expanding coverage of specialist cares, and increasing the quality of the outcomes. For health policies, telemedicine can be considered a suitable solution for providing cost-effective and sustainable healthcare.

Outsourcing the Remote Management of Cardiac Implantable Electronic Devices: Medical Care Quality Improvement Project

BACKGROUND

Remote management is partially replacing routine follow-up in patients implanted with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs). Although it reduces clinical staff time compared with standard in-office follow-up, a new definition of roles and responsibilities may be needed to review remote transmissions in an effective, efficient, and timely manner. Whether remote triage may be outsourced to an external remote monitoring center (ERMC) is still unclear.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this health care quality improvement project was to evaluate the feasibility of outsourcing remote triage to an ERMC to improve patient care and health care resource utilization.

METHODS

Patients (N=153) with implanted CIEDs were followed up for 8 months. An ERMC composed of nurses and physicians reviewed remote transmissions daily following a specific remote monitoring (RM) protocol. A 6-month benchmarking phase where patients' transmissions were managed directly by hospital staff was evaluated as a term of comparison.

RESULTS

A total of 654 transmissions were recorded in the RM system and managed by the ERMC team within 2 working days, showing a significant time reduction compared with standard RM management (100% vs 11%, respectively, within 2 days; P<.001). A total of 84.3% (551/654) of the transmissions did not include a prioritized event and did not require escalation to the hospital clinician. High priority was assigned to 2.3% (15/654) of transmissions, which were communicated to the hospital team by email within 1 working day. Nonurgent device status events occurred in 88 cases and were communicated to the hospital within 2 working days. Of these, 11% (10/88) were followed by a hospitalization.

CONCLUSIONS

The outsourcing of RM management to an ERMC safely provides efficacy and efficiency gains in patients' care compared with a standard in-hospital management. Moreover, the externalization of RM management could be a key tool for saving dedicated staff and facility time with possible positive economic impact.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01007474; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01007474.

Virtual clinics for follow-up of pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators in children

There is growing interest in the use of digital medicine to reduce the need for traditional outpatient follow-up. Remote interrogation of pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators is now possible with most devices. The aim of our study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of virtual pacing clinics in following up children with pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators, including epicardial systems.

METHODS

The study was retrospective over 8 years (2010-2017), with review of patient records and analysis of downloads from the implantable cardiac devices to the virtual clinics.

RESULTS

A total of 75 patients were set up for virtual clinic follow-up during the study period, 94.5% with a pacemaker and 5.5% an implantable cardioverter defibrillator. The majority (76.8%) had an epicardial system. Data on lead impedance, battery longevity, programmed parameters, detected arrhythmias, percentage pacing and delivered defibrillator therapies were obtainable by download. Lead threshold measurements were obtainable via download in 83.7% of the devices, including epicardial systems. No concerning device issue was missed. In 15% of patients a major issue was detected remotely, including three patients with lead fractures. The virtual clinics resulted in fewer hospital attendances while enhancing monitoring and enabling more frequent device checks. The vast majority (91.4%) of families who responded to a questionnaire were satisfied with the virtual clinic follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

Virtual clinics allow safe and effective follow-up of children with pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators, including those with epicardial systems and are associated with high levels of parent satisfaction.

Prognosis after lead extraction in patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices infection: Comparison of lead-related infective endocarditis with pocket infection in a Japanese single-center experience

Background

The increase in the use of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) has been associated with an increase in CIED-related infections. Transvenous lead extraction is safe and effective for patients with CIED-related infections; however, the mortality rate in these patients is high. The prognosis after transvenous lead extraction in Japanese patients, especially those with lead-related infective endocarditis, has not been evaluated. Then, the purpose of this study is to clarify the prognosis after transvenous lead extraction in Japanese patients with CIED-related infections at a single Japanese center.

Methods

A total of 107 patients who underwent transvenous lead extraction were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were divided into a lead-related infective endocarditis group (n = 32) and a pocket infection group (n = 75). Procedure success rate and prognosis after lead extraction were evaluated between the two groups.

Results

Procedure success rate was not significantly different between the groups. There were no deaths associated with the procedure or with infection. The survival rate was not significantly different at 1 year or at a median of 816 days (lead-related infective endocarditis vs pocket infection; 93.7% vs 94.7%, P = 1.000; 78.1% vs 81.3%, P = 0.791) Time to reimplantation and duration of hospital stay and antibiotics therapy were significantly longer for patients with lead-related infective endocarditis.

Conclusion

In this study, the prognosis for patients with lead-related infective endocarditis after transvenous lead extraction was favorable. Thus, extraction should be strongly recommended, even if the general condition of the patient is poor.

Remote monitoring of implantable cardiac devices: current state and future directions

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Recent evidence has demonstrated substantial benefits associated with remote monitoring of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs), and treatment guidelines have endorsed the use of remote monitoring. Familiarity with the features of remote monitoring systems and the data supporting its use are vital for physicians' care for patients with CEIDs.

RECENT FINDINGS

Remote monitoring remains underutilized, but its use is expanding including in new practice settings including emergency departments. Patient experience and outcomes are positive, with earlier detection of clinical events such as atrial fibrillation, reductions in inappropriate implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) shocks and potentially a decrease in mortality with frequent remote monitoring utilizaiton. Rates of hospitalization are reduced among remote monitoring users, and the replacement of outpatient follow-up visits with remote monitoring transmissions has been shown to be well tolerated. In addition, health resource utilization is lower and remote monitoring has been associated with considerable cost savings. A dose relationship exists between use of remote monitoring and patient outcomes, and those with early and high transmission rates have superior outcomes.

SUMMARY

Remote monitoring provides clinicians with the ability to provide comprehensive follow-up care for patients with CIEDs. Patient outcomes are improved, and resource utilization is decreased with appropriate use of remote monitoring. Future efforts must focus on improving the utilization and efficiency of remote monitoring.

A Scoping Review of Economic Evaluations Alongside Randomised Controlled Trials of Home Monitoring in Chronic Disease Management

Many countries have considered telemedicine and home monitoring of patients as a solution to the demographic challenges that health-care systems face. However, reviews of economic evaluations of telemedicine have identified methodological problems in many studies as they do not comply with guidelines. The aim of this study was to examine economic evaluations alongside randomised controlled trials of home monitoring in chronic disease management and hereby to explore the resources included in the programme costs, the types of health-care utilisation that change as a result of home monitoring and discuss the value of economic evaluation alongside randomised controlled trials of home monitoring on the basis of the studies identified. A scoping review of economic evaluations of home monitoring of patients with chronic disease based on randomised controlled trials and including information on the programme costs and the costs of equipment was carried out based on a Medline (PubMed) search. Nine studies met the inclusion criteria. All studies include both costs of equipment and use of staff, but there is large variation in the types of equipment and types of tasks for the staff included in the costs. Equipment costs constituted 16-73% of the total programme costs. In six of the nine studies, home monitoring resulted in a reduction in primary care or emergency contacts. However, in total, home monitoring resulted in increased average costs per patient in six studies and reduced costs in three of the nine studies. The review is limited by the small number of studies found and the restriction to randomised controlled trials, which can be problematic in this area due to lack of blinding of patients and healthcare professionals and the difficulty of implementing organisational changes in hospital departments for the limited period of a trial. Furthermore, our results may be based on assessments of older telemedicine interventions.

Implantable cardiac devices: the utility of remote monitoring in a paediatric and CHD population

Remote monitoring in the modern era has improved outcomes for patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices. There are many advantages to remote monitoring, including improved quality of life for patients, decreased need for in-office interrogation, and secondary reduced costs. Patient safety and enhanced survival remain the most significant benefit. With most of the published literature on this topic being focussed on adults, paediatric outcomes continue to be defined. This is a review of the benefits of remote monitoring in paediatrics and in patients with CHD.

Remote monitoring of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED)

With increasing indications and access to cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) worldwide, the number of patients needing CIED follow-up continues to rise. In parallel, the technology available for managing these devices has advanced considerably. In this setting, remote monitoring (RM) has emerged as a complement to routine in-office care. Rigorous studies, randomized and otherwise, have demonstrated advantages to patient with CIED management systems, which incorporates RM resulting in authoritative guidelines from relevant professional societies recommending RM for all eligible patients. In addition to clinical benefits, CIED management programs that include RM have been shown to be cost effective and associated with high patient satisfaction. Finally, RM programs hold promise for the future of CIED research in light of the massive data collected through RM databases converging with unprecedented computational capability. This review outlines the available data associated with clinical outcomes in patients managed with RM with an emphasis on randomized trials; the impact of RM on patient satisfaction, cost-effectiveness, and healthcare utilization; and possible future directions for the use of RM in clinical practice and research.

Structured telephone support or non-invasive telemonitoring for patients with heart failure

BACKGROUND

Specialised disease management programmes for heart failure aim to improve care, clinical outcomes and/or reduce healthcare utilisation. Since the last version of this review in 2010, several new trials of structured telephone support and non-invasive home telemonitoring have been published which have raised questions about their effectiveness.

OBJECTIVES

To review randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of structured telephone support or non-invasive home telemonitoring compared to standard practice for people with heart failure, in order to quantify the effects of these interventions over and above usual care.

SEARCH METHODS

We updated the searches of the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE), Health Technology AsseFssment Database (HTA) on the Cochrane Library; MEDLINE (OVID), EMBASE (OVID), CINAHL (EBSCO), Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Conference Proceedings Citation Index- Science (CPCI-S) on Web of Science (Thomson Reuters), AMED, Proquest Theses and Dissertations, IEEE Xplore and TROVE in January 2015. We handsearched bibliographies of relevant studies and systematic reviews and abstract conference proceedings. We applied no language limits.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included only peer-reviewed, published RCTs comparing structured telephone support or non-invasive home telemonitoring to usual care of people with chronic heart failure. The intervention or usual care could not include protocol-driven home visits or more intensive than usual (typically four to six weeks) clinic follow-up.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

We present data as risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Primary outcomes included all-cause mortality, all-cause and heart failure-related hospitalisations, which we analysed using a fixed-effect model. Other outcomes included length of stay, health-related quality of life, heart failure knowledge and self care, acceptability and cost; we described and tabulated these. We performed meta-regression to assess homogeneity (the null hypothesis) in each subgroup analysis and to see if the effect of the intervention varied according to some quantitative variable (such as year of publication or median age).

MAIN RESULTS

We include 41 studies of either structured telephone support or non-invasive home telemonitoring for people with heart failure, of which 17 were new and 24 had been included in the previous Cochrane review. In the current review, 25 studies evaluated structured telephone support (eight new studies, plus one study previously included but classified as telemonitoring; total of 9332 participants), 18 evaluated telemonitoring (nine new studies; total of 3860 participants). Two of the included studies trialled both structured telephone support and telemonitoring compared to usual care, therefore 43 comparisons are evident.Non-invasive telemonitoring reduced all-cause mortality (RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.68 to 0.94; participants = 3740; studies = 17; I² = 24%, GRADE: moderate-quality evidence) and heart failure-related hospitalisations (RR 0.71, 95% CI 0.60 to 0.83; participants = 2148; studies = 8; I² = 20%, GRADE: moderate-quality evidence). Structured telephone support reduced all-cause mortality (RR 0.87, 95% CI 0.77 to 0.98; participants = 9222; studies = 22; I² = 0%, GRADE: moderate-quality evidence) and heart failure-related hospitalisations (RR 0.85, 95% CI 0.77 to 0.93; participants = 7030; studies = 16; I² = 27%, GRADE: moderate-quality evidence).Neither structured telephone support nor telemonitoring demonstrated effectiveness in reducing the risk of all-cause hospitalisations (structured telephone support: RR 0.95, 95% CI 0.90 to 1.00; participants = 7216; studies = 16; I² = 47%, GRADE: very low-quality evidence; non-invasive telemonitoring: RR 0.95, 95% CI 0.89 to 1.01; participants = 3332; studies = 13; I² = 71%, GRADE: very low-quality evidence).Seven structured telephone support studies reported length of stay, with one reporting a significant reduction in length of stay in hospital. Nine telemonitoring studies reported length of stay outcome, with one study reporting a significant reduction in the length of stay with the intervention. One telemonitoring study reported a large difference in the total number of hospitalisations for more than three days, but this was not an analysis of length of stay per hospitalisation. Nine of 11 structured telephone support studies and five of 11 telemonitoring studies reported significant improvements in health-related quality of life. Nine structured telephone support studies and six telemonitoring studies reported costs of the intervention or cost effectiveness. Three structured telephone support studies and one telemonitoring study reported a decrease in costs and two telemonitoring studies reported increases in cost, due both to the cost of the intervention and to increased medical management. Adherence was rated between 55.1% and 98.5% for those structured telephone support and telemonitoring studies which reported this outcome. Participant acceptance of the intervention was reported in the range of 76% to 97% for studies which evaluated this outcome. Seven of nine studies that measured these outcomes reported significant improvements in heart failure knowledge and self-care behaviours.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

For people with heart failure, structured telephone support and non-invasive home telemonitoring reduce the risk of all-cause mortality and heart failure-related hospitalisations; these interventions also demonstrated improvements in health-related quality of life and heart failure knowledge and self-care behaviours. Studies also demonstrated participant satisfaction with the majority of the interventions which assessed this outcome.

Interactive telemedicine: effects on professional practice and health care outcomes

BACKGROUND

Telemedicine (TM) is the use of telecommunication systems to deliver health care at a distance. It has the potential to improve patient health outcomes, access to health care and reduce healthcare costs. As TM applications continue to evolve it is important to understand the impact TM might have on patients, healthcare professionals and the organisation of care.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the effectiveness, acceptability and costs of interactive TM as an alternative to, or in addition to, usual care (i.e. face-to-face care, or telephone consultation).

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) Group's specialised register, CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, five other databases and two trials registers to June 2013, together with reference checking, citation searching, handsearching and contact with study authors to identify additional studies.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We considered randomised controlled trials of interactive TM that involved direct patient-provider interaction and was delivered in addition to, or substituting for, usual care compared with usual care alone, to participants with any clinical condition. We excluded telephone only interventions and wholly automatic self-management TM interventions.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

For each condition, we pooled outcome data that were sufficiently homogenous using fixed effect meta-analysis. We reported risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for dichotomous outcomes, and mean differences (MD) for continuous outcomes.

MAIN RESULTS

We included 93 eligible trials (N = 22,047 participants), which evaluated the effectiveness of interactive TM delivered in addition to (32% of studies), as an alternative to (57% of studies), or partly substituted for usual care (11%) as compared to usual care alone.The included studies recruited patients with the following clinical conditions: cardiovascular disease (36), diabetes (21), respiratory conditions (9), mental health or substance abuse conditions (7), conditions requiring a specialist consultation (6), co morbidities (3), urogenital conditions (3), neurological injuries and conditions (2), gastrointestinal conditions (2), neonatal conditions requiring specialist care (2), solid organ transplantation (1), and cancer (1).Telemedicine provided remote monitoring (55 studies), or real-time video-conferencing (38 studies), which was used either alone or in combination. The main TM function varied depending on clinical condition, but fell typically into one of the following six categories, with some overlap: i) monitoring of a chronic condition to detect early signs of deterioration and prompt treatment and advice, (41); ii) provision of treatment or rehabilitation (12), for example the delivery of cognitive behavioural therapy, or incontinence training; iii) education and advice for self-management (23), for example nurses delivering education to patients with diabetes or providing support to parents of very low birth weight infants or to patients with home parenteral nutrition; iv) specialist consultations for diagnosis and treatment decisions (8), v) real-time assessment of clinical status, for example post-operative assessment after minor operation or follow-up after solid organ transplantation (8) vi), screening, for angina (1).The type of data transmitted by the patient, the frequency of data transfer, (e.g. telephone, e-mail, SMS) and frequency of interactions between patient and healthcare provider varied across studies, as did the type of healthcare provider/s and healthcare system involved in delivering the intervention.We found no difference between groups for all-cause mortality for patients with heart failure (16 studies; N = 5239; RR:0.89, 95% CI 0.76 to 1.03, P = 0.12; I(2) = 44%) (moderate to high certainty of evidence) at a median of six months follow-up. Admissions to hospital (11 studies; N = 4529) ranged from a decrease of 64% to an increase of 60% at median eight months follow-up (moderate certainty of evidence). We found some evidence of improved quality of life (five studies; N = 482; MD:-4.39, 95% CI -7.94 to -0.83; P < 0.02; I(2) = 0%) (moderate certainty of evidence) for those allocated to TM as compared with usual care at a median three months follow-up. In studies recruiting participants with diabetes (16 studies; N = 2768) we found lower glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c %) levels in those allocated to TM than in controls (MD -0.31, 95% CI -0.37 to -0.24; P < 0.00001; I(2)= 42%, P = 0.04) (high certainty of evidence) at a median of nine months follow-up. We found some evidence for a decrease in LDL (four studies, N = 1692; MD -12.45, 95% CI -14.23 to -10.68; P < 0.00001; I(2 =) 0%) (moderate certainty of evidence), and blood pressure (four studies, N = 1770: MD: SBP:-4.33, 95% CI -5.30 to -3.35, P < 0.00001; I(2) = 17%; DBP: -2.75 95% CI -3.28 to -2.22, P < 0.00001; I(2) = 45% (moderate certainty evidence), in TM as compared with usual care.Seven studies that recruited participants with different mental health and substance abuse problems, reported no differences in the effect of therapy delivered over video-conferencing, as compared to face-to-face delivery. Findings from the other studies were inconsistent; there was some evidence that monitoring via TM improved blood pressure control in participants with hypertension, and a few studies reported improved symptom scores for those with a respiratory condition. Studies recruiting participants requiring mental health services and those requiring specialist consultation for a dermatological condition reported no differences between groups.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

The findings in our review indicate that the use of TM in the management of heart failure appears to lead to similar health outcomes as face-to-face or telephone delivery of care; there is evidence that TM can improve the control of blood glucose in those with diabetes. The cost to a health service, and acceptability by patients and healthcare professionals, is not clear due to limited data reported for these outcomes. The effectiveness of TM may depend on a number of different factors, including those related to the study population e.g. the severity of the condition and the disease trajectory of the participants, the function of the intervention e.g., if it is used for monitoring a chronic condition, or to provide access to diagnostic services, as well as the healthcare provider and healthcare system involved in delivering the intervention.

Interactive telemedicine: effects on professional practice and health care outcomes

BACKGROUND

Telemedicine (TM) is the use of telecommunication systems to deliver health care at a distance. It has the potential to improve patient health outcomes, access to health care and reduce healthcare costs. As TM applications continue to evolve it is important to understand the impact TM might have on patients, healthcare professionals and the organisation of care.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the effectiveness, acceptability and costs of interactive TM as an alternative to, or in addition to, usual care (i.e. face-to-face care, or telephone consultation).

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) Group's specialised register, CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, five other databases and two trials registers to June 2013, together with reference checking, citation searching, handsearching and contact with study authors to identify additional studies.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We considered randomised controlled trials of interactive TM that involved direct patient-provider interaction and was delivered in addition to, or substituting for, usual care compared with usual care alone, to participants with any clinical condition. We excluded telephone only interventions and wholly automatic self-management TM interventions.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

For each condition, we pooled outcome data that were sufficiently homogenous using fixed effect meta-analysis. We reported risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for dichotomous outcomes, and mean differences (MD) for continuous outcomes.

MAIN RESULTS

We included 93 eligible trials (N = 22,047 participants), which evaluated the effectiveness of interactive TM delivered in addition to (32% of studies), as an alternative to (57% of studies), or partly substituted for usual care (11%) as compared to usual care alone.The included studies recruited patients with the following clinical conditions: cardiovascular disease (36), diabetes (21), respiratory conditions (9), mental health or substance abuse conditions (7), conditions requiring a specialist consultation (6), co morbidities (3), urogenital conditions (3), neurological injuries and conditions (2), gastrointestinal conditions (2), neonatal conditions requiring specialist care (2), solid organ transplantation (1), and cancer (1).Telemedicine provided remote monitoring (55 studies), or real-time video-conferencing (38 studies), which was used either alone or in combination. The main TM function varied depending on clinical condition, but fell typically into one of the following six categories, with some overlap: i) monitoring of a chronic condition to detect early signs of deterioration and prompt treatment and advice, (41); ii) provision of treatment or rehabilitation (12), for example the delivery of cognitive behavioural therapy, or incontinence training; iii) education and advice for self-management (23), for example nurses delivering education to patients with diabetes or providing support to parents of very low birth weight infants or to patients with home parenteral nutrition; iv) specialist consultations for diagnosis and treatment decisions (8), v) real-time assessment of clinical status, for example post-operative assessment after minor operation or follow-up after solid organ transplantation (8) vi), screening, for angina (1).The type of data transmitted by the patient, the frequency of data transfer, (e.g. telephone, e-mail, SMS) and frequency of interactions between patient and healthcare provider varied across studies, as did the type of healthcare provider/s and healthcare system involved in delivering the intervention.We found no difference between groups for all-cause mortality for patients with heart failure (16 studies; N = 5239; RR:0.89, 95% CI 0.76 to 1.03, P = 0.12; I(2) = 44%) (moderate to high certainty of evidence) at a median of six months follow-up. Admissions to hospital (11 studies; N = 4529) ranged from a decrease of 64% to an increase of 60% at median eight months follow-up (moderate certainty of evidence). We found some evidence of improved quality of life (five studies; N = 482; MD:-4.39, 95% CI -7.94 to -0.83; P < 0.02; I(2) = 0%) (moderate certainty of evidence) for those allocated to TM as compared with usual care at a median three months follow-up. In studies recruiting participants with diabetes (16 studies; N = 2768) we found lower glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c %) levels in those allocated to TM than in controls (MD -0.31, 95% CI -0.37 to -0.24; P < 0.00001; I(2)= 42%, P = 0.04) (high certainty of evidence) at a median of nine months follow-up. We found some evidence for a decrease in LDL (four studies, N = 1692; MD -12.45, 95% CI -14.23 to -10.68; P < 0.00001; I(2 =) 0%) (moderate certainty of evidence), and blood pressure (four studies, N = 1770: MD: SBP:-4.33, 95% CI -5.30 to -3.35, P < 0.00001; I(2) = 17%; DBP: -2.75 95% CI -3.28 to -2.22, P < 0.00001; I(2) = 45% (moderate certainty evidence), in TM as compared with usual care.Seven studies that recruited participants with different mental health and substance abuse problems, reported no differences in the effect of therapy delivered over video-conferencing, as compared to face-to-face delivery. Findings from the other studies were inconsistent; there was some evidence that monitoring via TM improved blood pressure control in participants with hypertension, and a few studies reported improved symptom scores for those with a respiratory condition. Studies recruiting participants requiring mental health services and those requiring specialist consultation for a dermatological condition reported no differences between groups.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

The findings in our review indicate that the use of TM in the management of heart failure appears to lead to similar health outcomes as face-to-face or telephone delivery of care; there is evidence that TM can improve the control of blood glucose in those with diabetes. The cost to a health service, and acceptability by patients and healthcare professionals, is not clear due to limited data reported for these outcomes. The effectiveness of TM may depend on a number of different factors, including those related to the study population e.g. the severity of the condition and the disease trajectory of the participants, the function of the intervention e.g., if it is used for monitoring a chronic condition, or to provide access to diagnostic services, as well as the healthcare provider and healthcare system involved in delivering the intervention.

Emerging role of digital technology and remote monitoring in the care of cardiac patients

Current available mobile health technologies make possible earlier diagnosis and long-term monitoring of patients with cardiovascular diseases. Remote monitoring of patients with implantable devices and chronic diseases has resulted in better outcomes reducing health care costs and hospital admissions. New care models, which shift point of care to the outpatient setting and the patient's home, necessitate innovations in technology.

Investigating the Generalizability of Economic Evaluations Conducted in Italy: A Critical Review

OBJECTIVES

To assess the methodological quality of Italian health economic evaluations and their generalizability or transferability to different settings.

METHODS

A literature search was performed on the PubMed search engine to identify trial-based, nonexperimental prospective studies or model-based full economic evaluations carried out in Italy from 1995 to 2013. The studies were randomly assigned to four reviewers who applied a detailed checklist to assess the generalizability and quality of reporting. The review process followed a three-step blinded procedure. The reviewers who carried out the data extraction were blind as to the name of the author(s) of each study. Second, after the first review, articles were reassigned through a second blind randomization to a second reviewer. Finally, any disagreement between the first two reviewers was solved by a senior researcher.

RESULTS

One hundred fifty-one economic evaluations eventually met the inclusion criteria. Over time, we observed an increasing transparency in methods and a greater generalizability of results, along with a wider and more representative sample in trials and a larger adoption of transition-Markov models. However, often context-specific economic evaluations are carried out and not enough effort is made to ensure the transferability of their results to other contexts. In recent studies, cost-effectiveness analyses and the use of incremental cost-effectiveness ratio were preferred.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite a quite positive temporal trend, generalizability of results still appears as an unsolved question, even if some indication of improvement within Italian studies has been observed.

The empirical foundations of telemedicine interventions for chronic disease management

The telemedicine intervention in chronic disease management promises to involve patients in their own care, provides continuous monitoring by their healthcare providers, identifies early symptoms, and responds promptly to exacerbations in their illnesses. This review set out to establish the evidence from the available literature on the impact of telemedicine for the management of three chronic diseases: congestive heart failure, stroke, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. By design, the review focuses on a limited set of representative chronic diseases because of their current and increasing importance relative to their prevalence, associated morbidity, mortality, and cost. Furthermore, these three diseases are amenable to timely interventions and secondary prevention through telemonitoring. The preponderance of evidence from studies using rigorous research methods points to beneficial results from telemonitoring in its various manifestations, albeit with a few exceptions. Generally, the benefits include reductions in use of service: hospital admissions/re-admissions, length of hospital stay, and emergency department visits typically declined. It is important that there often were reductions in mortality. Few studies reported neutral or mixed findings.

Remote Monitoring for Follow-up of Patients with Cardiac Implantable Electronic Devices

Follow-up of patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices is challenging due to the increasing number and technical complexity of devices coupled to increasing clinical complexity of patients. Remote monitoring (RM) offers the opportunity to optimise clinic workflow and to improve device monitoring and patient management. Several randomised clinical trials and registries have demonstrated that RM may reduce number of hospital visits, time required for patient follow-up, physician and nurse time, hospital and social costs. Furthermore, patient retention and adherence to follow-up schedule are significantly improved by RM. Continuous wireless monitoring of data stored in the device memory with automatic alerts allows early detection of device malfunctions and of events requiring clinical reaction, such as atrial fibrillation, ventricular arrhythmias and heart failure. Early reaction may improve patient outcome. RM is easy to use and patients showed a high level of acceptance and satisfaction. Implementing RM in daily practice may require changes in clinic workflow. To this purpose, new organisational models have been introduced. In spite of a favourable cost:benefit ratio, RM reimbursement still represents an issue in several European countries.

Costs of remote monitoring vs. ambulatory follow-ups of implanted cardioverter defibrillators in the randomized ECOST study

AIMS

The Effectiveness and Cost of ICD follow-up Schedule with Telecardiology (ECOST) trial evaluated prospectively the economic impact of long-term remote monitoring (RM) of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs).

METHODS AND RESULTS

The analysis included 310 patients randomly assigned to RM (active group) vs. ambulatory follow-ups (control group). Patients in the active group were seen once a year unless the system reported an event mandating an ambulatory visit, while patients in the control group were seen in the ambulatory department every 6 months. The costs of each follow-up strategy were compared, using the actual billing documents issued by the French health insurance system, including costs of (i) (a) ICD-related ambulatory visits and transportation, (b) other ambulatory visits, (c) cardiovascular treatments and procedures, and (ii) hospitalizations for the management of cardiovascular events. The ICD and RM system costs were calculated on the basis of the device remaining longevity at the end of the study. The characteristics of the study groups were similar. Over a follow-up of 27 months, the mean non-hospital costs per patient-year were €1695 ± 1131 in the active, vs. €1952 ± 1023 in the control group (P = 0.04), a €257 difference mainly due to device management. The hospitalization costs per patient-year were €2829 ± 6382 and €3549 ± 9714 in the active and control groups, respectively (P = 0.46). Adding the ICD to the non-hospital costs, the savings were €494 (P = 0.005) or, when the monitoring system was included, €315 (P = 0.05) per patient-year.

CONCLUSION

From the French health insurance perspective, the remote management of ICD patients is cost saving.

CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION

NCT00989417, www.clinicaltrials.gov.