The study, led by researchers at the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute, evaluated more than 23 million office visits in 2021 from the Optum de-identified Clinformatics® Data Mart Database, a large commercial and Medicare Advantage claims dataset. Researchers matched telemedicine and in-person visits based on patient, provider, and visit characteristics to isolate differences in imaging utilization across visit types.
“We found that diagnostic imaging was nearly 30% less likely to occur following a telemedicine visit compared to an in-person visit,” said YoonKyung Chung, PhD, Principal Researcher at the Neiman HPI and lead author of the study. “This finding held true across all time periods evaluated, including imaging performed within 7, 14, and 30 days of the visit.”
Of the 23.4 million visits included in the study, 10% were delivered via telemedicine. After matching, the 7-day post-visit imaging utilization rate was 2.4 percentage points lower for telemedicine visits (a 29.7% relative difference). While patients who did receive imaging after telemedicine visits had a slightly higher number of imaging studies on average, this effect was very small, just 0.02 more studies on average—compared to in-person care.
“This study suggests that telemedicine, at least during the pandemic period studied, is not associated with increased imaging utilization. As policymakers and health systems consider the future of virtual care, it’s important to recognize that telemedicine may offer a way to deliver care without contributing to overuse of imaging.”Dr. Lauren Nicola, MD, Chief Executive Officer, Triad Radiology Associates
Researchers note that while the results demonstrate lower imaging utilization, future studies are needed to examine whether the imaging that does occur in virtual settings is appropriate and whether patients experience differences in adherence or outcomes.
(Newswise/CAG)