Conclusions
trauma
The first health economic evaluation based on data from a German RCT demonstrated that the use of telemedicine might be suitable for the follow-up care of patients in orthopedic and trauma surgery regarding the physician-patient communication and service provided and that video consultations are less time-consuming for physicians compared with conventional F2F consultations, resulting in personnel cost savings and productivity gains for clinics without any negative impact on patient utility. These findings were collected from the health provider’s perspective and can thus provide targeted support to stakeholders in decision-making on the long-term use of telemedicine. Results might differ for other specialties of surgery and for different implementations of digital health, such as remote monitoring. However, our results could be helpful in estimating the effects before the implementation of digital processes in other specialties.The authors would like to thank Dr med Alexander Eicher for his support in organizing the study.Conflicts of Interest: None declared.Detailed presentation of cost calculations.