Telememonitoring in Cystic Fibrosis: Treatment’s Adherence and Economical Evaluation in a Period of Three Years

We examined data related to Adherence to telemonitoring in our Cystic Fibrosis patients followed at home for a period of 3 years. We tested the possible presence of a saving for Italian National Health Service. We kept electronic records of transmissions, in spreadsheet format. For each transmission, the main parameters and any action taken were collected. A summary of the activities was carried out automatically. A monthly average percentage of Adherence to prescribed frequency of transmissions is calculated. We performed an economic analysis of the costs for patients followed at home by telemonitoring, recalled under suspicion of acute pulmonary recurrence. We received, from February, 15 2010 to May, 31 2013, 2097 data transmissions overall. The average compliance in the reporting period was 28,86%, with increasing trend. We calculated a saving compared to traditional home care of € 5.320,33 /year/patient. We conclude that the improvement of outcome in FC necessarily passes through an improvement of the Adherence to treatment. The presence of an economic advantage is once again, although not significant. More controlled psychological and behavioral studies are needed to establish the real long-term effectiveness of the use of Telehomecare in CF. Keywords-telemedicine; telemonitoring; cystic fibrosis; economic evaluation.