Rise in Telemedicine Tied to Modest Decrease in Low-Value, Point-of-Care Testing
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, March 4, 2025 -- Telemedicine adoption is associated with modestly lower use of low-value, point-of-care testing among Medicare beneficiaries, according to a study published online Feb. 24 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Ishani Ganguli, M.D., from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and colleagues sought to quantify the association between telemedicine adoption and low-value testing among fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries. Beneficiary-level linear regression in a difference-in-differences (DiD) analysis included a sample of 1.38 million Medicare beneficiaries who were attributed to high-telemedicine systems and 999,051 beneficiaries who were attributed to low-telemedicine systems.
The researchers found that from 2019 to 2022, those in high-telemedicine systems had a small differential rise in visits (DiD visits per beneficiary, 0.12) and differential decreases in the use of seven of 20 low-value tests (mostly point of care): cervical cancer screening (DiD, −0.45 percentage points [pp]), screening electrocardiograms (DiD, −1.30 pp), screening metabolic panels (DiD, −1.84 pp), preoperative complete blood cell counts (DiD, −0.64 pp), preoperative metabolic panels (DiD, −1.35 pp), total or free triiodothyronine level testing for hypothyroidism (DiD, −0.90 pp), and imaging for uncomplicated low back pain (DiD, −1.66 pp). Additionally, patients in high-telemedicine systems saw statistically significant differential decreases in spending on visits per beneficiary (−$47.87) and on two of 20 low-value tests, although there were no differences in low-value spending overall.
"Results suggest possible benefits of telemedicine and mitigate concerns about telemedicine contributing to increased spending," the authors write.
Two authors disclosed ties to the health care and technology industry.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted March 2025
Read this next
Parent-Reported Firearm Storage Poor Estimator of Teen Perceived Access
MONDAY, June 16, 2025 -- Parent-reported firearm storage seems to be a poor estimator of teen perceived firearm access, according to a study published online June 10 in JAMA...
CT Colonography Cost-Effective, Clinically Effective for CRC Screening
MONDAY, June 16, 2025 -- Computed tomography colonography (CTC) is cost-effective and clinically effective for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, according to a study published...
Global Incidence Rate of Rheumatoid Arthritis Increased From 1990 to 2021
MONDAY, June 16, 2025 -- The incidence rate of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) increased globally from 1990 to 2021, with the heaviest burden born by regions with a high...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.