Economic analysis of teleradiology applications with KAMEDIN

The teleradiology system KAMEDIN (German Telekom), installed on HP-Unix- an d NT-Workstations, was evaluated in different scenarios and a cost-benefit- analysis was performed. CT examinations were transfered from a PACS worksta tion (GE) to KAMEDIN using DICOM-3 protocol. Teleconferences were realized with an intensive care unit by LAN, with a radiology department at 5 km, di stance by ISDN, and with an on-duty radiologist 22 lan. away by ISDN. On av erage, 36 CT slices per patient were transfered. Overall costs (costs for h ardware, software, support, ISDN-fees, and staff) were compared to possible cost reduction, mainly concerning transportation and films. These three scenarios could be realized during daily routine work. Differin g in their amount of transportation cost reduction, two applications (inten sive care unit, radiologist on duty) showed a break-even at 1817, respectiv ely 528 teleconferences/year. improvement of cost-effectiveness can be obta ined on the conditions that existing hardware will be used and that the aut omatic data transfer will be improved. Combining all optimisation factors, the break-even decreased to a minimum of 167, respectively 77 teleconferenc es/year. The optimisation of patient management is an additional- but in th is study, not yet counted- advantage of teleradiology.