Penn Medicine virtual visits cost far less than in-person care, new study finds

A new study by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine found that telemedicine visits at Penn Medicine are considerably cheaper than in-person appointments.

The study, led by Biostatistics professor Yong Chen and Senior Vice President for Strategic Initiatives David Asch, analyzed electronic health record and billing data across the University of Pennsylvania Health System. They found that telemedicine visits were associated with hospital charges roughly five times lower than comparable in-person appointments.

The research — which assessed four months of data representing over 160,000 visits — focused on 10 common outpatient conditions treated through both telemedicine and in-person visits. Using what they described as a 30-day episode framework, the researchers tracked hospital charges and subsequent utilization beginning with an initial visit. 

They found that telemedicine initial visits charged $96 on average, while in-office appointments charged $509. Charges for mental and behavioral health conditions were comparable across both formats, although telemedicine was linked to fewer follow-up visits.

Chen told The Daily Pennsylvanian that a “substantial portion” of patients still use telemedicine for their visits, since it offers “convenience” for people who may not live near a hospital.

“When people talk about telemedicine, the misconception is that they may not be able to get the same quality of care compared to in-person visits,” Chen said. “That’s one of the reasons that the adoption of telemedicine was pretty low before the pandemic.”

According to PhD student Bingyu Zhang, who was involved in the research, there was “rapid adoption” of telemedicine visits following the COVID-19 pandemic. Years later, she said, it remains a common mode of health care delivery, creating a need for “more research” on the topic.

Zhang explained that the study’s findings have implications both for healthcare systems and patients.

“Healthcare systems would appreciate this kind of study to support their decisions on health care delivery and how to allocate their resources,” she told the DP. “And I think it’s really convenient for patients to have the additional option of telemedicine.”

The team also discovered that telemedicine patients had roughly one fewer follow-up visits within 30 days of their initial appointments than in-person patients. 

Chen highlighted the scale of collaboration behind the study, which included clinicians, statisticians, IT staff, and other health system experts. He also noted that future research will examine how telemedicine can be balanced with in-person care through hybrid models.

“The key is trying to find a good balance between the supply and the needs,” Chen said. “Within that balance, we need to optimize how we provide that health care to those patients.”

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