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DOI: 10.1055/a-1708-3134
Direct Costs of Healthcare for Children with Type 1 Diabetes Using a CGM System: A Health Economic Analysis of the VIDIKI Telemedicine Study in a German Setting
Funding The VIDIKI study was financed by the German Ministry of Health/Joint federal committee/Innovation funds (funding code 01NVF16023). Neither the funder nor the health insurance company had any influence on the data analysis, interpretation, or publication. The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Lübeck and was in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The study was registered in the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00012645). The parents and children provided their consent for the collection of the cost data of their child.
Abstract
Aims The Virtual Diabetes Outpatient Clinic for Children and Adolescents (VIDIKI) study was a 6-month quasi-randomized, multicentre study followed by an extension phase to evaluate the effects of monthly video consultations in addition to regular care. A health economic analysis was conducted to assess the direct costs.
Methods The cost data of 240 study participants (1–16 years of age) with type 1 diabetes who were already using a continuous glucose monitoring system were collected in the first 6 months of the study. The intervention group (IG) received monthly video consultations plus regular care, and the waiting control group (WG) received only regular care. Cost data were collected for a comparable anonymized group of children from the participating health insurance companies during the 6-month period before the study started (aggregated data group [AG]).
Results Cost data were analysed for the AG (N=840) 6 months before study initiation and those for the study participants (N=225/240). Hospital treatment was the highest cost category in the AG. There was a cost shift and cost increase in the IG and WG, whereby diabetes supplies were the highest cost category. The mean direct diabetes-associated 6-month costs were € 4,702 (IG) and € 4,936 (WG).
Conclusion The cost development within the cost collection period over two years possibly reflects the switch to higher-priced medical supplies. Video consultation as an add-on service resulted in a small but nonsignificant reduction in the overall costs.
Publication History
Received: 01 September 2021
Received: 22 October 2021
Accepted: 23 November 2021
Article published online:
03 January 2022
Georg Thieme Verlag KG
Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany
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