Telemedicine Adoption and Low-Value Care Use and Spending Among Fee-for-Service Medicare Beneficiaries

A cohort study of 2,381,084 Medicare beneficiaries across 286 U.S. health systems examined the impact of telemedicine adoption on low-value care. High telemedicine–adopting systems experienced a slight increase in total visits but showed modest reductions in seven of 20 low-value tests, including cervical cancer screening and metabolic panels. Spending on visits and two low-value tests also decreased. No significant changes were observed for other low-value tests or overall low-value care spending. Findings suggest that while telemedicine adoption did not broadly reduce low-value care, it was associated with modest declines in select tests and spending, alleviating concerns that telemedicine might drive unnecessary utilization. These results highlight telemedicine’s potential to enhance care efficiency while maintaining cost control.