Cost
Despite an increase in the number of mHealth interventions, there is yet to be a comprehensive investigation to determine the clinical and cost consequences of mHealth-supported GDM care within an Australian health system context.
Research is needed to elucidate if and how this digital augmentation to service delivery has altered terms of service, delivery costs and clinical outcomes.
Given the changing nature of health service utilisation and costs over this time, new information is required about the cost-consequences of GDM treatment. This will give decision-makers the evidence required to maximise health benefits from scarce resources.
Furthermore, this information will highlight the clinical and cost- consequences of utilising mHealth in the management of GDM and provide an evidence base to inform future GDM care and maternal mHealth innovations.
Ethics for this study have been submitted and are pending approval.
A cost-minimisation analysis revealed that replacing traditional models of care with digital models of care reduces costs for patients
This study was conducted by the Mater Mothers’ Hospital in Brisbane, Australia.
Diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in a pregnancy has
a significant impact on health service resources and represents a substantial financial and time impost on women.
A pre-implementation model of care was compared with the novel digital-based model of care that included systematic development and delivery of education videos, use of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation ‘M♡THer’ smart phone app/portal and a dramatically reduced schedule of visits.
The Mater Mothers’ Hospital Brisbane cares for approximately 1200 women with GDM per annum, on which the cost estimates were
based. Service costs were estimated using the resource method, where resource volumes and costs were gathered from experts within the health service. Patient costs were estimated using results from a short survey completed by a cohort of
the study population.
Health service costs showed a modest saving of AU$17 441.78
in the intervention group over a 12-month period.
Cost savings for the woman were estimated at $566.56 (US$394.96) per patient after accounting for lost wages, childcare expenses, and travel expenses avoided. This reduction led to an overall saving of $679 872 for the cohort of 1200 women, primarily due to the reduction in face-to-face visits.