Empirical analysis of the effect of ehealth on medical expenditures of patients with chronic diseases

Abstract

This paper aims to evaluate empirically the effect of eHealth in Nishi- aizu Town, in Fukushima Prefecture, based on the mail survey to the residents and their receipt data of National Health Insurance from 2006 to 2007. Samples were divided into two groups: users and non-users, and the effects were analyzed in comparison of medical expenditures of two groups. Particularly what kind of diseases eHealth in this town is effective to reduce medical expenditures is focused. The targets are four chronic diseases such as heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, and strokes. Panel data analysis is employed to estimate the monetary effect of eHealth in reduction of medical expenditures of users with these diseases. As a result, eHealth is verified to provide the positive effect to heart diseases, high blood pressure, and diabetes among four diseases. These results provide evidence for policy such as reimbursement from the medical insurance to eHealth.