Results of the Australian CSIRO National Multi-site Trial of At-home Telemonitoring for the Management of Chronic Disease

A clinical trial of telehealth services was carried out along the Eastern seaboard of Australia from Townsville in the North to Launceston in Tasmania over a period of 18 months from mid-2013 to end-2014. Patients were selected based on their history of hospitalization for their chronic conditions. A Test group of 114 patients was supplied with at home telemonitoring equipment and 173 patients were enrolled as a matched control group who were subjected to normal care. The impact of telemonitoring over one year following the start of telemonitoring, was analyzed using linear regression and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Mortality was reduced by u003e40%, the rate of hospitalization was reduced by 53% and length of stay was reduced by 7.5 days. The rate of expenditure on medical services was reduced by 46.3% and that for Pharmaceutical expenditure by 25.5%. There were significant differences in results for patients with Heart Failure, those with Lung Disease and those with Diabetes. The effective introduction of telemonitoring was dependent on local factors such as workplace culture and capacity for organizational change management.