A cost measurement study for a home-based telehospice service.

A telehospice service is one in which telemedicine is used to provide hospice care in the home. To date, there have been few studies addressing the cost of home-based telemedical care, and none that specifically addresses cost-effectiveness for telehospice recipients. We measured costs for traditional hospice care as well as those associated with launching and operating a telehospice service. The costs were tallied over two separate three-month periods. For the first study period, costs were measured for traditional hospice home visits. During the second, expenses were monitored for traditional (in-person) and telehospice visits. For traditional care, the cost per visit was $126 and $141, for the first and secod time periods, respectively. The average telehospice visit cost was $29.