Telemonitoring via Questionnaires Reduces Outpatient Healthcare Consumption in Parkinson's Disease.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is best managed by neurologists, traditionally including frequent doctor-patient contact. Because of a rise in PD prevalence and associated healthcare costs, this personnel-intensive care may not be future proof. Telemedicine tools for home monitoring have shown to reduce healthcare consumption in several chronic diseases and also seem promising for PD.

Objective: To explore whether telemonitoring can reduce outpatient healthcare consumption in PD.

Methods: We conducted a cohort study with 116 outpatients with PD who used the telemedicine tool "myParkinsoncoach." The tool involved periodic monitoring, feedback, knowledge modules, and text message functionality. Retrospective data about PD-related healthcare consumption in the year before and after introduction of the tool were retrieved from the hospital information system. Additional data about tool-related activities performed by nursing staff were logged prospectively for 3 months.

Results: There was a 29% reduction in the number of outpatient visits ( < 0.001) in the year after introduction of the tool compared with the year before. A 39% reduction was seen in overall PD-related healthcare costs ( = 0.001). Similar results were found for patients ≥70 years old. Nursing staff spent on average 15.5 minutes per patient a month on monitoring the tool and follow-up activities.

Conclusions: Study results demonstrate a significant reduction in PD-related healthcare consumption using telemonitoring. Notably, these results were also found in elderly patients. Further research is needed to confirm these findings, preferably taking a broader perspective on healthcare consumption and within a larger, multicenter and prospective setup.