Telemedicine in Japan: economic evaluations
Citation: Akiyama M, Yoo BK. A systematic review of the economic evaluation of telemedicine in Japan. Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health. 2016 Jul;49(4):183.
What is this? The COVID-19 pandemic is placing a strain on healthcare systems. Existing research on the use of telemedicine may provide useful information for policy makers.
In this systematic review, the authors searched for economic evaluations of telemedicine programs that had been implemented in Japan. They restricted their searches to articles published in English or Japanese and did the search in December 2014. They included 17 economic evaluations, 6 on settings connecting physicians for specialist consultations, and eleven on settings connecting healthcare providers and patients at home.
What works: The use of telemedicine in Japan improved economic efficiency.
What doesn’t work: Nothing noted.
What’s uncertain: The robustness of the reported benefit-to-cost ratio magnitude is uncertain because of the absence of sensitivity analyses.
The impact of public subsidy regulations on the benefit-to-cost ratio is uncertain.