Tele-retina screening of diabetic retinopathy among at-risk populations: an economic analysis

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the cost-effectiveness of the pilot Toronto tele-retina screening program in comparison with existing standard of care (SOC) diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening for patients with diabetes mellitus and in a simulated Pan-Ontarian cohort.

Methods: Decision trees were constructed to compare tele-retina to SOC in the pilot and Pan-Ontarian cohort. Cost-effectiveness was assessed as cost per case detected (true-positive) and cost per case correctly diagnosed (true-positive and true-negative results).

Results: Pilot program screening costs were $95.77 and $137.56 for tele-retina and SOC, respectively. In the base-case analysis, cost per case correctly detected was $379.06 with tele-retina and $985.56 with SOC, and the cost per case correctly diagnosed was $109.29 and $315.22, respectively. In the sensitivity analysis, cost per case correctly detected was $467.29 with tele-retina and $894.93 with SOC, and the cost per case correctly diagnosed was $136.88 and $250.35, respectively. Pan-Ontarian screening costs were $57.58 and $137.56 for tele-retina and SOC, respectively. The cost per case correctly detected was $281.10 with tele-retina and $982.00 with SOC, and the cost per case correctly diagnosed was $82.21 and $314.14, respectively. For both pilot and Pan-Ontarian sensitivity analyses, tele-retina remained the dominant strategy (ICER <0).

Conclusions: Findings from this study suggest that tele-retina is a more cost-effective means of screening for diabetic retinopathy than the SOC in urban and rural underscreened communities. Subsequent economic studies should focus on evaluations that consider the impact of tele-retina on the prevention of severe vision loss in underscreened urban and rural communities.