Telehealth is about five times less expensive than in-office care for common conditions that can be treated by both types of visits, according to a new study from Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine.
The researchers analyzed over 160,000 visits — both virtual and in-person — billed to insurers across four months in 2024, focusing on 10 common conditions such as COVID-19, respiratory symptoms and anxiety. Initial telehealth visits were billed at an average of $400 less ($509 vs. $96 for in-office), and also resulted in fewer follow-up appointments (three vs. four), per the February study in JAMA Network Open.
Federal lawmakers recently extended pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities for Medicare beneficiaries, but only through 2027. Approximately 4-6% of healthcare visits are conducted virtually, another recent Penn Medicine study found.
“If telemedicine is allowed to revert to the more limited model that existed before COVID, the cost savings we identified could disappear,” said Kevin Mahoney, CEO of University of Pennsylvania Health System and a study co-author, in a Feb. 24 news release. “At a moment when hospitals and health systems face serious financial headwinds, those savings are vital. They enable us to reinvest in patient care and fuel innovation.”
The pricing gaps differed by condition, with telehealth visits for respiratory symptoms being about $800 cheaper on average and behavioral health costs roughly the same. The researchers noted that some of the in-person appointments were more serious and couldn’t be treated through telemedicine, but they adjusted their analysis to compare like patients across visit types as best they could.
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