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Radiography on wheels arrives to nursing homes - an economic assessment of a new health care technology in southern Sweden

Dozet, Alexander LU ; Ivarsson, Bodil LU ; Eklund, Karin ; Klefsgård, Rosemarie LU and Geijer, Mats LU (2016) In Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 22(6). p.994-1001
Abstract

Rationale, aims and objectives: The process of transferring older, vulnerable adults from an elder care facility to the hospital for medical care can be an emotionally and physically stressful experience. The recent development of modern mobile radiography may help to ease this anxiety by allowing for evaluation in the nursing home itself. Up until this point, no health economic evaluation of the technology has been attempted in a Swedish setting. The objective of this study was to determine whether examinations of patients in elder care facilities with mobile radiography were cost-effective from a societal perspective compared with hospital-based radiological examinations. Methods: This prospective study included two groups of nursing... (More)

Rationale, aims and objectives: The process of transferring older, vulnerable adults from an elder care facility to the hospital for medical care can be an emotionally and physically stressful experience. The recent development of modern mobile radiography may help to ease this anxiety by allowing for evaluation in the nursing home itself. Up until this point, no health economic evaluation of the technology has been attempted in a Swedish setting. The objective of this study was to determine whether examinations of patients in elder care facilities with mobile radiography were cost-effective from a societal perspective compared with hospital-based radiological examinations. Methods: This prospective study included two groups of nursing home residents in two different areas in southern Sweden. All residents in the nursing homes were targeted for the study. Seventy-one patients were examined with hospital-based radiography at two hospitals, and 312 patients were examined using mobile radiography in nursing homes. Given that the diagnostic effects are regarded as equivalent, a cost minimization method was applied. Direct costs were estimated using prices from the county council, Region Skåne, Sweden. Results: From a societal perspective, mobile radiography was shown to have significantly lower costs per examination compared with hospital-based radiography. The difference in health care-related costs was also significant in favour of mobile radiography. Conclusion: Mobile radiography can be used to examine patients in nursing homes at a lower cost than hospital-based radiography. Patients benefit from not having to transfer to a hospital for radiography, resulting in reduced anxiety for patients.

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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Cost minimization technique, Cost-effectiveness, Evaluation, Mobile radiography, Residential aged care, X-ray equipment
in
Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice
volume
22
issue
6
pages
994 - 1001
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:84992121942
  • pmid:27412082
  • wos:000387847600024
ISSN
1356-1294
DOI
10.1111/jep.12590
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7870d6f4-a4ee-4517-bbef-a75e67658edb
date added to LUP
2016-11-08 11:27:28
date last changed
2024-04-05 08:13:14
@article{7870d6f4-a4ee-4517-bbef-a75e67658edb,
  abstract     = {{<p>Rationale, aims and objectives: The process of transferring older, vulnerable adults from an elder care facility to the hospital for medical care can be an emotionally and physically stressful experience. The recent development of modern mobile radiography may help to ease this anxiety by allowing for evaluation in the nursing home itself. Up until this point, no health economic evaluation of the technology has been attempted in a Swedish setting. The objective of this study was to determine whether examinations of patients in elder care facilities with mobile radiography were cost-effective from a societal perspective compared with hospital-based radiological examinations. Methods: This prospective study included two groups of nursing home residents in two different areas in southern Sweden. All residents in the nursing homes were targeted for the study. Seventy-one patients were examined with hospital-based radiography at two hospitals, and 312 patients were examined using mobile radiography in nursing homes. Given that the diagnostic effects are regarded as equivalent, a cost minimization method was applied. Direct costs were estimated using prices from the county council, Region Skåne, Sweden. Results: From a societal perspective, mobile radiography was shown to have significantly lower costs per examination compared with hospital-based radiography. The difference in health care-related costs was also significant in favour of mobile radiography. Conclusion: Mobile radiography can be used to examine patients in nursing homes at a lower cost than hospital-based radiography. Patients benefit from not having to transfer to a hospital for radiography, resulting in reduced anxiety for patients.</p>}},
  author       = {{Dozet, Alexander and Ivarsson, Bodil and Eklund, Karin and Klefsgård, Rosemarie and Geijer, Mats}},
  issn         = {{1356-1294}},
  keywords     = {{Cost minimization technique; Cost-effectiveness; Evaluation; Mobile radiography; Residential aged care; X-ray equipment}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{994--1001}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice}},
  title        = {{Radiography on wheels arrives to nursing homes - an economic assessment of a new health care technology in southern Sweden}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jep.12590}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/jep.12590}},
  volume       = {{22}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}