Telemedicine for multiple sclerosis patients: assessment using Health Value Compass

Background: Telemedicine carries the potential of improving accessibility to health services, especially for disabled people.Objective: To assess the health-related outcomes of short-term implementation of telemedicine (telemed) for MS patients.Methods: A prospective study of 40 MS patients divided into a control group and a telemed group was conducted, in two stages: A. Six months’ follow-up for measurement of baseline health-related variables; B. Implementation stage, adding home telecare to the telemed group. A Health Value Compass was applied to assess the outcomes of home telecare implementation. Clinical status, cost data, patients’ self-assessment of Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and satisfaction with telecare were studied.Results: Patients in the telemed group demonstrated improved clinical outcome measured by symptoms severity. There was a decrease of at least 35% in the medical costs for 67% of the telemed group patients. Satisfaction with telecare was high and most patients would recom...