Abstract
A novel service oriented platform has been developed under the framework of the Telerehabilitation Service funded by the Cross Border Cooperation Programme Greece Cyprus 2007 – 2013 to support tele-supervised exercise rehabilitation for patients after hospitalization in intensive care units (ICU). The platform enables multiparty, interregional bidirectional audio/visual communication between clinical practitioners and post-ICU patients. It also enables patient group-based vital sign real time monitoring, patients’ clinical record bookkeeping, and individualized and group-based patient online exercise programs. The exercise programs intended for the service are based on successful cardiorespiratory rehabilitation programs, individualized and monitored by a multidisciplinary team. The eligibility study of former ICU patients to participate in such a service as well as a cost benefit analysis are presented to support the cost effectiveness of the telerehabilitation program in addition to the expected health benefits to a large proportion of former ICU patients.
Highlights
A novel service oriented platform has been developed under the framework of the Telerehabilitation Service funded by the Cross Border Cooperation Programme Greece Cyprus 2007 – 2013 to support tele-supervised exercise rehabilitation for patients after hospitalization in intensive care units (ICU)
The cost benefit analysis of the telerehabilitation program was based on a discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis, which estimates the return of investment adjusted for the time value of money using as measures of success the net present value (NPV) at a declared cost of money percentage and the internal rate of return (IRR), both for a declared financial period
The prospective study of consecutive admissions to the general ICU of Nicosia General Hospital gives preliminary evidence that a large proportion of ICU patients are eligible to participate in a planned home-based exercise rehabilitation program
Summary
A telerehabilitation platform is being actively used by the Nicosia General Hospital. The platform has been developed under the framework of the Telerehabilitation Service funded by the Cross Border Cooperation Programme Greece Cyprus 2007-2013. It provides remote services for home care and rehabilitation for patients in the community. The professional staff is responsible for managing, monitoring, and evaluating the rehabilitation groups. Patients who are selected to participate in the program, follow a 12-week exercise rehabilitation program (Table 2). An exercise program adapted to the patient’s needs is determined by an ICU physician, an ergophysiologist and a physiotherapist after initial assessment. For patients with heart failure or respiratory failure, the exercise program is determined by an external expert. 1 http://telerehabilitation.cs.ucy.ac.cy/en 62 International Journal of Telerehabilitation
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