Operation ASHA has applied the principle of maintaining low cost to every aspect of its work including the technology.
The cost of hardware & installation for each eCompliance unit is $222. For this, life of a tablet has been assumed as 18 months. Usually the tablets last a little longer. So, the cost estimate is liberal; actual cost may be a little lower.
The cost of internet connection & maintenance / trouble shooting is $276 for the life of the unit (18 months). This brings the total cost to $498. Based on actual patient load in Operation ASHA, the cost of treating each patient for DST/normal TB is $14. This is a tiny fraction of the cost incurred by most organizations is treating a patient (which was $2,458 is a recent study: Kranzer et al, (2012), PLoS Med 9(8), as an example).
eCompliance also increases productivity of field/ management staff. In Operation ASHA, this saves $694 per unit. Thus, proper use of eCompliance not only improves adherence, reduce default in TB treatment, improves treatment success rate, it also reduces cost and improves financial sustainability. A win-win situation for all.