Willingness to pay for a telemedicine-delivered healthy lifestyle programme

Abstract

Introduction: Effective weight-management interventions require frequent interactions with specialised multidisciplinary teams of medical, nutritional and behavioural experts to enact behavioural change. However, barriers that exist in rural areas, such as transportation and a lack of specialised services, can prevent patients from receiving quality care.

Methods: We recruited patients from the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Weight & Wellness Center into a single-arm, non-randomised study of a remotely delivered 16-week evidence-based healthy lifestyle programme. Every 4 weeks, participants completed surveys that included their willingness to pay for services like those experienced in the intervention. A two-item Willingness-to-Pay survey was administered to participants asking about their willingness to trade their face-to-face visits for videoconference visits based on commute and copay.

Results: Overall, those with a travel duration of 31-45 min had a greater willingness to trade in-person visits for telehealth than any other group. Participants who had a travel duration less than 15 min, 16-30 min and 46-60 min experienced a positive trend in willingness to have telehealth visits until Week 8, where there was a general negative trend in willingness to trade in-person visits for virtual. Participants believed that telemedicine was useful and helpful.

Conclusions: In rural areas where patients travel 30-45 min a telemedicine-delivered, intensive weight-loss intervention may be a well-received and cost-effective way for both patients and the clinical care team to connect.

Keywords: Obesity; feasibility, economics, telehealth; rural; telemedicine; weight loss.

Figure 1:. Willingness to Pay for Telemedicine – Travel Time

Figure 1 indicates how willing participants are to trade their in-person visits for remote visits based on different commute times over the duration of 16 weeks. Participants were asked at what point they would trade face-to-face visits for specified commute times (0–15min, 16–30min, 31–45 min, 46–60min, >60min)

Figure 2:. Willingness to Trade In-Person for Telemedicine – Travel Time

Figure 2 indicates the percentage of individuals who are willing to trade in-person visits for video conferencing based on travel time being greater than or less than 30 minutes over the duration of the 16 weeks. Participants were asked at what point they would trade face-to-face visits for specified commute times (<30min vs. >30min).