BIOTRONIK Presents New Economic Model: Remote Monitoring Reduces Hospital Workload and Healthcare Costs for Patients with Cardiac Implantable Electrical Devices

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Copyright:	Copyright Business Wire 2011
Source:	Business Wire, Inc.
Wordcount:	931

BERLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- For the first time, an economic model has been presented that estimates the burden of calendar-based in-office follow-up for patients with cardiac implantable electrical devices (CIED) in Germany and the United Kingdom (UK). On November 6, at the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) 14th Annual European Congress in Madrid, Spain, BIOTRONIK presented a series of four posters highlighting the healthcare burden of following-up pacemaker, implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) and cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) patients in Germany and the UK.

BIOTRONIK CardioMessenger - portable device (Photo: Business Wire)

“Increasing patient volumes will drive the demand for follow-up services, placing a potentially unmanageable burden on cardiology service providers,” projects Dr. Carsten Stoepel from the Lukas Hospital in Neuss, Germany. “New strategies are needed to handle the expected surge in workload associated with mandatory follow-up of these patients. BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring^® is a highly effective method of follow-ups like the TRUST^1-2 study proofed: BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring^® delivers a reduction of 45 percent of in-office follow-ups. By the same time patient’s safety is enhanced by early detection of clinically relevant events.”

For the German model, approximately 677,800 prevalent CIED patients were estimated for 2010. Assuming two annual visits for pacemaker patients and four visits for ICD and CRT patients, the total number of routine follow-ups would increase from 1.66 million in 2010 to 2.23 million in 2015. These estimates do not include unscheduled follow-up visits. The annual societal costs of routine CIED follow-up services in Germany are expected to climb from 106 million Euros in 2010 to 142 million Euros in 2015. If 50 percent of all patients would attend one in-office follow-up visit annually and have their other follow-ups performed remotely, the annual savings for patients and hospitals in 2015 could reach 44 million Euros.

For the UK model, 225,000 prevalent CIED patients were estimated. Assuming two annual visits for pacemaker patients and four visits for ICD and CRT patients, the total number of routine follow-ups would increase from 538,000 in 2010 to 836,000 in 2015. These estimates do not include unscheduled follow-ups. For the UK, societal costs are forecast to rapidly increase from 28 million Euros in 2010 to 43 million Euros in 2015. If 50 percent of all patients would attend one in-office follow-up visit annually and have their other follow-ups performed remotely, the annual cost savings for patients and hospitals in 2015 could reach 13 million Euros.

“Hospitals, health insurance companies and politicians need to find solutions for handling the workload that result from follow-up visits for CIED patients,” commented Dr. Carsten Stoepel. “There are two possibilities: Pay to increase the capacities of the hospitals, or look for ways to work more efficiently such as remote patient management tools like BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring^®.”

Considering that between 70 and 90 percent of all routinely scheduled in-office follow-ups visits do not need further action, and taking into account the expected increase in patient numbers, the need for potential efficiency gains provided by remote monitoring become obvious: “BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring^® is a perfect example of a way practitioners can effectively increase efficiency,” explains Dr. Werner Braun, Managing Director, BIOTRONIK.

“This technology, in fact, actually helps physicians track their patients’ status better than the traditional ways of handling follow-ups. The savings gained by using BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring^® could help pay for the systems, and the time that is gained by using this automatic monitoring technology could help medical specialists redirect their time to those CIED patients who, based on their observed data, are in actual need of immediate attention versus those whose visits do not result in any actionable findings,” explains Dr. Carsten Stoepel. “The TRUST study showed that 90 percent of scheduled follow-ups were nonactionable and did not necessitate an in-person device clinic encounter. With BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring^® you can significantly reduce the follow-up burden, and it provides you by the same time with early detection of clinically relevant events. To sum up: it improves the way physicians care for patients with all forms of implantable electronic cardiac devices,” comments Stoepel.

About BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring^®

BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring^® is the first and only remote patient management system with FDA and CE approvals for safe reduction of in-office follow-ups and for early detection of clinically relevant events. The technology leads to earlier intervention, based on results of the TRUST^1-2 landmark trial. The system is unique because it allows continuous, automatic wireless remote monitoring of patient status and device status with daily updates—all independent from any patient interaction. BIOTRONIK has pioneered advances in its BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring^® remote patient management system since its first clinical application in the year 2000. Today, BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring^® is used extensively in more than 3,800 clinics and 55 countries worldwide.

About BIOTRONIK SE & Co. KG

As one of the world’s leading manufacturers of cardiovascular medical devices, with several million devices implanted, BIOTRONIK is represented in over 100 countries by its global workforce of more than 5,600 employees. Known for having its finger on the pulse of the medical community, BIOTRONIK assesses the challenges physicians face and provides the best solutions for all phases of patient care, ranging from diagnosis to treatment to patient management. Quality, innovation and reliability define BIOTRONIK and its growing success—and deliver confidence and peace of mind to physicians and their patients worldwide.

More information:www.biotronik.com

Reference:

¹Varma et al., Circulation 2010, 122, 325–332

²Varma et al., Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol 2010, 3:428–436

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