A cost measurement study for a home-based telehospice service

A telehospice service is one in which telemedicine is used to provide hospi ce care in the home. To date, there have been few studies addressing the co st of home-based telemedical care, and none that specifically addresses cos t-effectiveness for telehospice recipients. We measured costs for tradition al hospice care as well as those associated with launching and operating a telehospice service. The costs were tallied over two separate three-month p eriods. For the first study period, costs were measured for traditional hos pice home visits. During the second, expenses were monitored for traditiona l tin-person) and telehospice visits. For traditional care, the cost per vi sit was $126 and $141, for the first and second time periods, respectively. The average telehospice visit cost was $29.