Telemedicine Visits Cut Health System Employee Care Costs by Nearly 25%

An investigation recently published in the American Journal of Managed Care found that visits with a 24/7, co-payment-free telemedicine programme launched by Penn Medicine for its employees were 23 percent less expensive than in-person consultations for the same diseases. Penn Medicine OnDemand, a telemedicine programme, has an average per-visit cost of $380, while in-person visits to primary care offices, emergency rooms, or urgent care centres during the same time period cost $493 on average, resulting in a $113 per patient cost difference. These findings were made by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. "The conditions most frequently treated by OnDemand are low acuity, non-urgent or semi-urgent problems like respiratory infections, sinus infections, and allergies, so any kind of cost reduction can make a difference."