www.tanjent.co.uk

TanJent is supporting the Diretoria de Desenvolvimento Setorial (DIDES) of the Agência Nacional de Saúde Suplementar (ANS) in its economic and financial evaluation of TISS, the standards and  system that supports the exchange of supplementary health information in Brazil. The evaluation is supported by the United Nations Development Programme and in its initial stages. An initial analysis is scheduled for presentation at the ANS conference scheduled for 1 September in Rio de Janeiro.

The preliminary report of the economic evaluation is now complete and will be available from the ANS website soon. The address is www.ans.gov.br The findings show the value of a national project that has relatively low costs when the solution is available for large populations such as the 40 million insured oversseen by ANS. A copy of the report can also be obtained from tomjones@tanjent.co.uk

In February 2008, TanJent was at the ICEGEC Conference in Budapest aiming to enhance the impacts, values and methodologies of the economic analysis of public eServices. In May, the Royal Society of Medicined hosted a workshop on the evidence and experience needed for sound business cases for telehealth and telecare. TanJent has cost models for several telemedicine, telehealth and telecare applications in a wide range of settings.  They show different financial and economic returns, depending on the setting.

TanJent was part of the team, with Imperial College Innovation Studies Centre and the Balance of Care Team, chosen by the Department of Health, England to compile a business case model for local councils to use in implementing and expanding telecare. TanJent and empirica are producing more analyses from several extra sites, usingthe eHealth Impact economic model.  They include the telecardiology service provided by HTN for the Lombardy Region. To date, evidence has been compiled from over 40 sites.

For the latest information about the eHealth Impact project, you can visit www.ehealth-impact.org or email tomjones@tanjent.co.uk   In October 2006, TanJent's Tom Jones presented eHealth economic findings to a delegation in Paris, which included the National Hospital Director for France. It was organised by the Institut Curie.

Articles on some of TanJent’sprojects include: Telecardiology in Italy published in the July/August edition of the e-newsletter for the World ofHealth IT website at www.worldofhealthit.org/enewsletters and Telecardiologyin Italy - Economic Benefits of the Boario Home Care Projet to HealthcareIT Management - The Official Journal of the European Association of HealthcareIT Managers  Summer 2006 Vol 1 Issue 2 Page 36, available at http://www.hitm.eu/downloads/HITMVol1-Is2-2006.pdf

TanJent and empirica completed eHealth is Worth it  : the economic benefits ofimplemented eHealth solutions at ten European sites. The forward for this was compiled by Viviene Reding - European Commissioner. The eHealth market is currently some 2% of total healthcare expenditure in Europe, but has the potential to more than double in size, almost reaching the volume of the market for medical devices or half the size of the pharmaceuticals market. However, unlike the products from these two other healthcare industries, eHealth applications are not yet routinely assessed for their impact, benefits and safety.  This study shows across awide range of eHealth applications that clear evidence can be provided of the benefits of information and communication technology in routine healthcare settings. The full report can be viewed at http://europa.eu.int/information_society/activities/health/docs/publications/ehealthimpactsept2006.pdf#search=%22ehealth%20impact%20empirica%20tanjent%20reding%22

Cost Benefit Analysis, Return onI nvestment or Both?  to Healthcare IT Management - The Official Journal of theEuropean Association of Healthcare IT Managers  Autumn 2006 Vol 1Issue 3 Page 36,  available at http://www.hitm.eu/downloads/HITMVol1-Is3-2006.pdfThe eHealth Impact reports and case studies concerning the 10 sitesare available in detail and can be viewed at: http://www.ehealth-impact.org

An eHealth Impact evaluation deals with one of the three essential parts of a good projectfor planned eHealth investment: the executive role with a sound businesscase.  These fit with the other two project roles of users and suppliers, as set out by the Association for Project Management. Without the eHealth mpact findings, business cases can be too general and over-optimistic,restricting the role of the executive in projects.  Where eHealth projects are complex, a limited executive role increases risk significantly, and diminishes future net benefits: weakening investment optimisation.  The eHealth Impact findings also add more focus to the other roles of users and suppliers.  The combined effect is a more effective eHealth project, and increased optimisation of the resources invested. For more information on usingthe eHealth Impact findings in this setting, contact tomjones@tanjent.co.uk