[Telematic consultations by nursing staff for patients with inflammatory bowel disease: evaluation of its capacity for resolving problems and its costs].

Introduction: The management of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with a significant use of healthcare resources. In 2009, a digestive diseases nursing consultation, with availability of health telematic media was created in our hospital (CHUVI). The important activity performed in this area encouraged us to quantify the cost savings for the care health system.
Aims: 1) To evaluate the results of the implementation of a telematic IBD consultation. 2) To assess the capacity for resolving problems by nurses. 3) To estimate the potential cost savings of telematic nursing consultation in IBD.
Material and Method: We collected data on telematic activity from 2009 to 2011. The estimated cost saving was calculated by applying the fees for health services published by our National Health Service (SERGAS) for care in new outbreaks of IBD activity. Data were analyzed with SPSS 15.0 RESULTS: There was a significant linear increase on the resolution of telephone demands by nurses (P=.03) and an important decrease of demands needing medical advice (P<.0001). Focusing on IBD outbreak claims (n=452), only 65 patients (14.38%) required medical attention in emergency services, and 33 (7.3%) were hospitalized. Altogether we calculated an average cost saving since 2009 to 2011 of 73,603€.
Conclusions: We found a gradual increase in resolving telematic care demands by nurses. Telematic consultation can lead to significant cost savings, which justify the implementation of a digestive diseases nurse consultation.
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