Digitization of Follow-Up Care in Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery With Video Consultations: Health Economic Evaluation Study From a Health Provider's Perspective.

Background: Recommendations for health care digitization as issued with the Riyadh Declaration led to an uptake in telemedicine to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Evaluations based on clinical data are needed to support stakeholders' decision-making on the long-term implementation of digital health.

Objective: This health economic evaluation aims to provide the first German analysis of the suitability of video consultations in the follow-up care of patients in orthopedic and trauma surgery, investigate the financial impact on hospital operations and personnel costs, and provide a basis for decisions on digitizing outpatient care.

COVID-19 related decline in cancer screenings most pronounced for elderly patients and women in Germany: a claims data analysis.

Purpose: This study aimed to analyze the utilization of cancer screenings in Germany before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The objective of the analysis was to identify the population at particular risk and to derive recommendations for the future use of resources to prevent long-term deteriorations in health outcomes.

Methods: The analysis was conducted based on claims data of all preventive health services for 15,833,662 patients from the largest statutory health insurance fund in Germany.

Economic and Environmental Impact of Digital Health App Video Consultations in Follow-up Care for Patients in Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery in Germany: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Following the Riyadh Declaration, digital health technologies were prioritized in many countries to address the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital health apps for telemedicine and video consultations help reduce potential disease spread in routine health care, including follow-up care in orthopedic and trauma surgery. In addition to the satisfaction, efficiency, and safety of telemedicine, its economic and environmental effects are highly relevant to decision makers, particularly for the goal of reaching carbon neutrality of health care systems.

Motion Artifact Reduction in Electrocardiogram Signals Through a Redundant Denoising Independent Component Analysis Method for Wearable Health Care Monitoring Systems: Algorithm Development and Validation.

Background: The quest for improved diagnosis and treatment in home health care models has led to the development of wearable medical devices for remote vital signs monitoring. An accurate signal and a high diagnostic yield are critical for the cost-effectiveness of wearable health care monitoring systems and their widespread application in resource-constrained environments. Despite technological advances, the information acquired by these devices can be contaminated by motion artifacts (MA) leading to misdiagnosis or repeated procedures with increases in associated costs.

Assessing Telemedicine Efficiency in Follow-up Care With Video Consultations for Patients in Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery in Germany: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Telemedicine can help mitigate important health care challenges, such as demographic changes and the current COVID-19 pandemic, in high-income countries such as Germany. It gives physicians and patients the opportunity to interact via video consultations, regardless of their location, thus offering cost and time savings for both sides.

Objective: We aimed to investigate whether telemedicine can be implemented efficiently in the follow-up care for patients in orthopedic and trauma surgery, with respect to patient satisfaction, physician satisfaction, and quality of care.

COVID-19 pandemic and waiting times in outpatient specialist care in Germany: an empirical analysis.

Background: International healthcare systems face the challenge that waiting times may create barriers to accessing medical care, and that those barriers are unequally distributed between different patient groups. The disruption of healthcare systems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic could exacerbate this already strained demand situation. Using the German healthcare system as an example, this study aims to analyze potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on waiting times for outpatient specialist care and to evaluate differences between individual patient groups based on their respective insurance status and the level of supply.

Cost Effectiveness of Voretigene Neparvovec for RPE65-Mediated Inherited Retinal Degeneration in Germany.

Purpose: Voretigene Neparvovec-rzyl (VN) is the first available treatment for biallelic RPE65 mutation-associated inherited retinal degeneration, which is usually associated with infancy-onset severe visual impairment and complete blindness during the third life decade. We aim to estimate the cost effectiveness of VN in Germany considering medication costs of €410,550 per eye and potential indirect cost offsets by higher labor force participation.

Methods: We developed an individual patient sampling model to simulate patients over their lifetime.

Accuracy of mHealth Devices for Atrial Fibrillation Screening: Systematic Review.

Background: Mobile health (mHealth) devices can be used for the diagnosis of atrial fibrillation. Early diagnosis allows better treatment and prevention of secondary diseases like stroke. Although there are many different mHealth devices to screen for atrial fibrillation, their accuracy varies due to different technological approaches.

Cost-effectiveness of Interferon-free therapy for Hepatitis C in Germany--an application of the efficiency frontier approach.

Background: The approval of direct-acting antivirals for Interferon-free treatment revolutionized the therapy of chronic Hepatitis C infection. As of August 2014, two treatment regimens for genotype 1 infection received conditional approval in the European Union: Sofosbuvir and Ribavirin for 24 weeks and Sofosbuvir and Simeprevir with or without Ribavirin for 12 weeks. We aim to analyze the cost-effectiveness of both regimens in Germany.

Cost per responder of TNF-α therapies in Germany.

Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) inhibitors ranked highest in German pharmaceutical expenditure in 2011. Their most important application is the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Our objective is to analyze cost per responder of TNF-α inhibitors for RA from the German Statutory Health Insurance funds' perspective.