Der Telenotarzt als Innovation des Rettungswesens im ländlichen Raum – eine gesundheitsökonomische Analyse für den Kreis Vorpommern-Greifswald

The provision of emergency doctors in rural regions is challenged by guaranteeing early rescue while limiting the number of emergency doctor positions. The first alternative to achieve these objectives is the increase of the number of emergency medical services. Alterna- tives are helicopter rescue and the so-called „telemedicine emergen- cy doctor”. In particular in regions with low population density and geographical barriers (such as Switzerland) one has to choose an al- ternative which minimises the costs while still warranting that the emergency time is kept. This analysis compares the costs of all three alternatives. It becomes obvious that the telemedicine doctor is a promising innovation which is due to become more relevant for Switzerland.