Costs for tele-assistance (TA) activation and healthcare service (HCS) costs
| Cost per unit | Factor to multiply | All patients | COPD patients | |||
| \#8364; | TA \#8364; | Control \#8364; | TA \#8364; | Control \#8364; | ||
| Telemedicine costs | ||||||
| Call centre costs# | 20 | Number of calls per patient | 716±504 | 0 | 821±537 | 0 |
| Pulsed saturimetric device¶ | 127 per patient | 1 for patient | 127 | 0 | 127 | 0 |
| Trend pulsed saturimetric device+ | 187 per patient | 1 for patient (when requested) | 187 | 0 | 187 | 0 |
| TA costs with pulsed saturimetric device | ||||||
| Total | 843±504 | 0 | 948±537 | 0 | ||
| Monthly | 86±56 | 95±61 | ||||
| TA costs with trend pulsed saturimetric device | ||||||
| Total | 903±504 | 0 | 1008±537 | 0 | ||
| Monthly | 94±61 | 104±66 | ||||
| HCS costs | ||||||
| Hospitalisations in RW | 4000 for admission | Number | 4610±5600 | 6588±7669 | 5754±6415 | 8727±9221 |
| ER admissions | 62 | Number | 38±84 | 57±87 | 39±63 | 80±105 |
| Hospitalisation in ICU§ | According to DRG | Number | 3998±15114 | 7509±22906 | 3842±15082 | 15365±31897 |
| Outpatient visit | 32 | Number | 4±12 | 104±39 | 6±14 | 98±41 |
| Urgent GP visit | 30 | Number | 20±41 | 48±80 | 23±51 | 72±110 |
| Antibiotics use (12 days) | 55 | Number | 86±109 | 203±184 | 108±129 | 273±196 |
| Steroids use (14 days) | 6 | Number | 3±7 | 16±18 | 5±9 | 24±21 |
| Home nurse visits | 20 | Number | 148±328 | 178±367 | 108±282 | 82±253 |
| Private costs | ||||||
| Transportation | 0.23 per km | Distance km | 0.8±3 | 27±25 | 1.2±3.2 | 21±7 |
| Total HCS costs | 8907±17580 | 14728±28694 | 9886±17534 | 24743±39484 | ||
COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; RW: respiratory ward; ER: emergency room; ICU: intensive care unit; GP: general practitioner; DRG: diagnosis-related group. #: fixed costs included equipment purchase and installation, and installation of telecommunication lines; variable costs included monthly line charges, maintenance costs, nurse and pulmonologist second opinion on duty calls. ¶: costs on hire. +: costs calculated dividing the total costs of the devices by the number of patients enrolled in 3 yrs; details of costs are described previously 25. §: 14 in TA group and 16 in control group.