Estimating Patient and Family Costs and CO2 Emissions for Telehealth and In-Person Health Care Appointments in British Columbia, Canada: Geospatial Mixed Methods Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Patients inevitably incur some cost for accessing health care, even in universal systems such as Canada. The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically shifted health care delivery from in-person to telehealth services, also shifting the proportion of costs offset by patients and their families by reducing the need to travel to in-person appointments.

Objective

This study aimed to develop a method for estimating the costs patients and their families incur and CO₂ emissions attributed to travel needed for emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, and physician appointments.

Methods

We present a method to evaluate the costs associated with in-person and telehealth care appointments from the perspective of patients, their families, and the environment

SUBMITTER: Mainer-Pearson G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11888102 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature