The aim of the study was to evaluate the healthcare costs and effects of a remote person-centred care (PCC) add-on intervention compared with usual care for people with chronic heart failure (CHF) and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary Disease (COPD) from a societal perspective.

A cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) based on the results from a randomised controlled trial.

The study was conducted from August 2017 until June 2021 within nine primary care centres across Western Sweden.

Participants in the study had a diagnosis of COPD (J43.0, J44.0–J44.9) and/or CHF (I50.0–I50.9).

224 patients were randomly allocated to the study groups. After two withdrawals, the final intention-to-treat analysis included 110 participants in the intervention group and 112 in the control group.

Both the intervention and control group received usual care through their primary care centres. In addition, the intervention group participated in a remote PCC add-on intervention consisting of a digital platform and structured telephone support.

Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio using direct healthcare costs, productivity loss and prescription drug costs, compared with health effects measured using the EuroQoL questionnaire (EQ-5D-3L) over a 2-year time horizon.

The intervention group had lower healthcare utilisation in inpatient care, specialised outpatient care and reduced productivity loss. The CEA showed incremental effects of 0.0469 quality-adjusted life years and incremental costs of SEK –68 533 (Swedish crowns). The PCC alternative was both more effective and resulted in lower healthcare costs compared with usual care, that is, PCC was dominant.

The results of this CEA demonstrated that a remote PCC add-on intervention for people with COPD and/or CHF had lower healthcare costs and higher health-related quality of life compared with usual care.

NCT03183817 ClinicalTrials.gov.

To describe the usage patterns of patients and healthcare professionals (HCPs) using a person-centred telehealth and e-health intervention.

An exploratory, descriptive, observational study embedded in the "Person-centred care at a distance (PROTECT)" randomised controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03183817) as part of a process evaluation. Data on intervention use and time spent on the intervention were collected. Descriptive statistics were calculated.

Participants were recruited from nine public primary healthcare facilities located in various areas of Gothenburg, Sweden.

110 patients participating in the intervention group in the PROTECT trial were included. Participants were diagnosed with chronic heart failure (CHF, n=42), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, n=56) or both (n=12). They were 33–93 years old (mean 71 years).

A secondary outcome report on resource use.

The 6-month-long intervention was performed as an add-on to standard care and comprised person-centred telephone support and access to a digital platform. Per-protocol use included co-creation of a health plan via the telephone and use of the digital platform at least once. Forms of use were tailored to the preferences and needs of the patients.

Most intervention activities took place in the first 3 months of the intervention. Most patients used a combination of phone and digital support, spending most of their time using the digital platform. Overall, patients and HCPs spent 6 and 2.5 hours/patient using the intervention, respectively. Of this time, 1.5 hours involved synchronous communication through phone calls, with health-plan calls averaging 77 min.

The intervention usage patterns of patients and HCPs differed. Despite HCPs being accessible when required, patients dedicated most of their time to self-care practices. Based on time distribution data, 15 full-time HCPs could potentially co-create, document and follow-up on health plans for 10 000 patients under study conditions.

ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03183817.