Telemedicine Adoption, US Ambulatory Visits, and Total Medical Spending, 2019-2023

Is telemedicine adoption associated with health care visits and spending, and does the association vary across different insured populations?In this cohort study using difference-in-differences analyses of over 3 million US adults during 2019 to 2023, point estimates suggested that high-telemedicine-adopting areas had 2.4% fewer visits and 0.5% lower spending; however, the 95% CIs crossed the null. Utilization and spending changes were consistently null across Medicare fee-for-service, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, dually eligible, and commercially insured populations.These findings suggest that telemedicine adoption is not significantly associated with changes in visits or spending, either overall or across major payer groups, easing concerns about large spending increases.

Corresponding Author: John N. Mafi, MD, MPH, Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 1100 Glendon Ave, No. 908, Los Angeles, CA 90024 (jmafi@mednet.ucla.edu).

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