TABLE 3—
Patient Cost Summary Data by Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) Type: New York City; San Francisco, CA; and Rhode Island; 2017–2018
| US$ 2017, Mean (Median; 95% Range) | |
| VDOT recorded (n = 50) | |
| Traininga | |
| Health department (n = 50) | 0.06 (0.05; 0.01, 0.14) |
| Self-learn time (n = 45) | 0.03 (0.02; 0.00, 0.09) |
| DOT time cost (n = 48) | 1.12 (0.58; 0.11, 4.36) |
| Phoneb (n = 38) | 0.01 (0.01; 0.00, 0.05) |
| Total cost per session (n = 34) | 1.10 (0.56; 0.12, 5.97) |
| VDOT live (n = 37) | |
| Traininga | |
| Health department (n = 37) | 0.04 (0.04; 0.01, 0.07) |
| Self-learn time (n = 24) | 0.03 (0.01; 0.00, 0.18) |
| DOT time cost (n = 35) | 0.95 (0.71; 0.17, 2.63) |
| Phoneb (n = 31) | 0.02 (0.01; 0.00, 0.09) |
| Total cost per session (n = 18) | 1.01 (0.73; 0.15, 2.60) |
| Clinic DOT (n = 87) | |
| Travel time, round trip (n = 84) | 17.99 (11.12; 2.57, 80.99) |
| Travel out-of-pocket cost (n = 73) | 6.63 (4.27; 0.00, 30.97) |
| Coordination timec (n = 87) | 0.09 (0.00; 0.00, 0.76) |
| DOT time costd (n = 87) | 2.52 (2.48; 0.64, 5.78) |
| Dependent caree (n = 87) | 1.65 (0.00; 1.63, 13.50) |
| Total cost per session (n = 71) | 37.18 (21.71; 5.28, 196.20) |
| Net enablerf (n = 71) | 33.98 (18.50; 2.07, 193.00) |
| Field DOT (n = 87) | |
| DOT time costd (n = 87) | 2.43 (2.39; 0.61, 5.57) |
| Coordination timec (n = 87) | 0.09 (0.00; 0.00, 0.76) |
| Total cost per session (n = 87) | 2.52 (2.39; 0.61, 6.49) |
Note. VDOT = video DOT. Costs adjusted for purchase power parity (PPP).
Total cost divided by 114 doses on VDOT. Individual costs may not sum to total cost due to skewedness of data and number of responses (see “Calculation of Total Cost per Dose in Table 3” in the Appendix, available as a supplement to the online version of this article at http://www.ajph.org).
In our sample, 89.5% of patients used their own phone.
Coordination time is the amount of time spent before a DOT session contacting a health department worker. Forty-nine percent of patients reported coordination time greater than zero.
Clinic and field DOT time estimated from health department staff DOT times.
Fifteen percent of patients reported needing dependent care for family members at home during their clinic visit. Dependent care valued at $15 per hour.
New York City and San Francisco offered enabler and incentives for coming into the clinic of $5.50 and $7.20, respectively. We adjusted this subsidy for PPP, then averaged across 3 sites, and subtracted from total patient cost.