CSIRO study shows massive return on investment for at-home telemonitoring

The final report from a CSIRO-led trial into home monitoring of vital signs of elderly patients with chronic disease has found that billions could be saved in healthcare expenditure from both the primary care and hospital sectors with a modest investment in home telemonitoring equipment, risk stratification tools and remote monitoring by telehealth nurses in new roles of clinical care coordinators.

The report, Home Monitoring of Chronic Disease for Aged Care, gathers evidence from one of the trials conducted under the $20 million telehealth pilots program, run by the Department of Health between 2012 and 2014 and originally designed to test the benefits to the healthcare system of the National Broadband Network (NBN).