New Medicare Study Findings
New research published in JAMA Internal Medicine reveals promising evidence that telehealth services may help reduce unnecessary healthcare spending. The study specifically examined whether telehealth contributes to or decreases the utilization of low-value care services—medical tests and procedures that provide minimal benefit to patients while potentially causing harm.
This research comes at a critical time as Congress deliberates extending pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities beyond the current March 31, 2025 deadline.
Telehealth Adoption Impact
“Widespread adoption of telemedicine post-pandemic may influence low-value testing—such as Pap smears and prostate cancer screenings in older adults, and imaging scans for straightforward cases of low back pain,” explained study lead author Ishani Ganguli, MD, a primary care physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and associate professor at Harvard Medical School.
“There was very limited evidence on this question at a national level, which is crucial for the active policy debate about whether and how Medicare should continue telemedicine coverage,” Dr. Ganguli added.
Comprehensive Research Methodology
Researchers utilized 2019-2022 fee-for-service Medicare claims data to categorize U.S. health systems into quartiles based on their telehealth adoption rates in 2020. The study then attributed continuously enrolled beneficiaries to either high or low telehealth adoption health systems.
The research team analyzed:
- Total visits per beneficiary each calendar year
- Usage of 20 specific low-value tests, including:
- Screening tests (e.g., screening electrocardiograms)
- Preoperative tests (e.g., metabolic panels)
- Chronic condition management tests (e.g., stress testing for stable coronary artery disease)
- Acute diagnostic tests (e.g., imaging for uncomplicated low back pain)
The comprehensive study included 1.38 million Medicare beneficiaries from 143 high-telehealth adoption systems and 999,051 beneficiaries from 143 low-adoption systems.
Key Results And Findings
The results revealed notable differences between the two groups. Medicare patients in high-adoption telehealth systems showed:
- Slightly higher rates of combined virtual and in-person visits
- Lower use rates for seven specific low-value tests, including:
- Cervical cancer screening
- Preoperative complete blood cell counts
- Imaging for uncomplicated low back pain
Researchers found no statistically significant differences in usage for the other 13 tests examined.
Financial Impact Analysis
While overall spending on low-value care was similar between high and low adoption systems, the study identified significant decreases in per-beneficiary spending for specific tests in high-adoption systems:
- 27% reduction in spending on cervical cancer screening
- 7% decrease in spending on preoperative blood cell counts
Policy Implications
“As CMS and private payers evaluate telemedicine reimbursement policies, such as the extension of Medicare’s temporary allowance of broad telemedicine coverage beyond 2024, these results suggest potential benefits of telemedicine and mitigate concerns about telemedicine contributing to increased Medicare spending,” the researchers concluded.
Contrasting Previous Research
It’s worth noting that these findings contrast with some prior research. A study published in 2024 found telehealth was associated with a modest 1.6% increase in healthcare spending. That research, which included 5.51 million Medicare beneficiaries, showed spending at high telehealth-use health systems increased by $248 in 2021-22 compared to systems with low telehealth use.
This new study provides important counterevidence suggesting telehealth may actually reduce certain types of unnecessary healthcare costs, offering valuable insights for ongoing policy discussions.
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