Authors: Larsen et al.
Journal: PharmacoEconomics – Open published: 2026
Summary:
This health economic study evaluated the expected cost of continuous remote vital sign monitoring after hospital discharge and estimated how many readmissions would need to be prevented for the monitoring program to become cost-neutral.
The study focused on 3-day post-discharge home monitoring using data from the WARD-Home project. The authors used a micro-costing approach to estimate the cost of monitoring. They then used Danish registry data to examine readmission rates, length of stay, and costs among patients who might be candidates for post-discharge monitoring but were not currently receiving it.
The estimated cost of 3-day home monitoring was EUR 159 per patient. The overall 3-day readmission rate was 1.7%. For patients readmitted within 3 days, the average length of stay was 4.4 days, and the average readmission cost was EUR 4,674.
The authors calculated that if continuous remote monitoring prevented one readmission for every 29 monitored patients, the program could achieve cost neutrality. In other words, the savings from avoided readmissions could offset the cost of monitoring.
Why this matters:
This study is important because hospitals are increasingly interested in hospital-at-home care, early discharge, and remote monitoring, but the financial value of these programs is still uncertain. The study provides a practical cost-neutrality threshold that hospitals and health systems can use when evaluating whether post-discharge monitoring is financially reasonable.
Take-home point:
Three days of post-discharge continuous remote monitoring was estimated to cost EUR 159 per patient. If the program prevents one readmission for every 29 patients monitored, it may be cost-neutral.
Thank you to PharmacoEconomics – Open for publishing this article and allowing us to summarize it.