Patients feel the cost of care long before a bill arrives. Telehealth savings begin there, with fewer miles driven, fewer hours away from work, and fewer missed paychecks. They continue when care teams spot a problem early and treat it at home instead of in the emergency department.
This article looks at what peer-reviewed research shows about those savings. It covers a large University of California study on avoided travel, evidence from remote monitoring programs, and what care teams can do to pass the benefits on to patients.
What Telehealth Savings Mean for Patients
Telehealth savings show up in two places. The first is the patient’s own budget: gas, parking, childcare, and unpaid time off. The second is the wider health system, where earlier care can prevent costly hospital stays.
Both kinds of savings come from the same idea. Care that reaches the patient at home is easier to keep up with. Regular contact helps clinicians catch changes before they become emergencies.
For many patients, a routine visit can take half a day. That burden falls hardest on people with chronic conditions, limited transportation, or long distances to travel. In rural communities, a specialist visit can mean hours on the road.
Caregivers carry part of this cost as well. An adult child who drives a parent to appointments may take unpaid leave for each visit. A parent may need childcare for siblings at home. When routine check-ins happen by video or phone, those hidden costs shrink. Visits that fit into a normal day are also easier for many families to manage.
What the University of California Study Found
Researchers at UC Davis Health measured the effect of telehealth across five University of California health systems. The Telemedicine and e-Health study (Sharma et al., 2023) reviewed ambulatory telehealth visits from March 2020 through February 2022.
The team counted 3,043,369 telehealth encounters. For each one, they estimated the round trip the patient would have made for an in-person visit. Here is what they found:
- Travel avoided: 53,664,391 miles of round-trip travel.
- Time returned to patients: 1,788,813 hours of travel time.
- Money saved: $33,540,244 in travel costs, based on 2022 IRS mileage rates.
- Per visit: an average of 17.6 miles, 35.3 minutes, and $11.02 saved.
- Safety: an estimated 42.4 crash-related injuries and 0.7 fatalities avoided.
- Emissions: an estimated 21,465.8 metric tons of carbon dioxide avoided.
Eleven dollars per visit may sound small. Multiply it across monthly check-ins for a chronic condition, and the total grows. The figure also leaves out parking, childcare, and lost wages, so the true cost to patients is likely higher.
The authors concluded that these advantages should be considered when planning future health services.
Where Telehealth Savings Come From
The UC study measured travel. Other research points to a second, larger source of savings: proactive care that keeps patients out of the hospital. Here are four ways telehealth savings add up.
1. Less Travel and Time Away From Work
Every visit that happens by video or phone saves a trip. For working adults and family caregivers, that can mean keeping a shift instead of losing one. As the UC data show, the time adds up quickly across a patient population.
2. Earlier Intervention Through Remote Monitoring
Remote patient monitoring (RPM) sends readings such as blood pressure, weight, and blood glucose from the home to the care team. Clinicians see trends between visits. A rising weight in a heart failure patient, for example, can prompt a call and a medication review that same week.
Treating a problem early is usually simpler than treating a crisis. Programs focused on conditions like high blood pressure use this approach to support steady control over time.
3. Fewer Avoidable Hospital Stays
Hospital care is among the most expensive care a patient can receive. When monitoring helps prevent an admission, the patient avoids the stress and the bill. The health system avoids the cost of the bed. The research on this point is covered in the next section.
4. Safer Roads and Cleaner Air
Fewer trips mean fewer chances for a crash. The UC study estimated more than 42 injuries avoided across two years. Lower vehicle emissions also benefit the communities patients live in.
Evidence From Remote Monitoring Programs
Two bodies of peer-reviewed research show what proactive, home-based care can do for patients with chronic disease.
The VA Home Telehealth Program
The Veterans Health Administration built one of the largest home telehealth programs in the country. A 2008 study by Darkins and colleagues described its Care Coordination/Home Telehealth program, which grew to 31,570 patients by 2007.
In a cohort of 17,025 patients, the program was associated with a 25% reduction in bed days of care. It was also associated with a 19% reduction in hospital admissions. Patients reported a mean satisfaction score of 86%. The program cost $1,600 per patient per year, which the authors described as substantially lower than other noninstitutional programs and nursing home care.
Cochrane Review of Heart Failure Telemonitoring
A 2015 Cochrane review by Inglis and colleagues pooled randomized trials of care for patients with heart failure. It analyzed 18 studies of non-invasive home telemonitoring with 3,860 participants.
Telemonitoring reduced the risk of all-cause mortality (risk ratio 0.80). It also reduced heart failure-related hospitalizations (risk ratio 0.71). The authors rated both findings as moderate-quality evidence. For patients, fewer hospital stays mean fewer disruptions, fewer bills, and more time at home.
How Chronic Disease Shapes Health System Costs
Chronic conditions drive most health care spending in the United States. According to the CDC, 90% of the nation’s $5.3 trillion in annual health care expenditures are for people with chronic and mental health conditions.
The CDC reports that heart disease and stroke cost the health care system $223.2 billion per year. More than 40.1 million Americans have diabetes. These are the same conditions that home monitoring programs most often support.
When care teams help patients manage these conditions between visits, the savings reach the whole system. Patients spend less on avoidable acute care. Hospitals and clinics can direct resources toward patients who need in-person attention.
Building a Program That Passes Savings to Patients
Telehealth savings depend on patients actually using the program. Each step a patient must take is a chance for the program to stall. Care teams can keep the experience simple in a few ways.
- Choose cellular-connected devices. Readings send automatically, with no apps, syncing, or Wi-Fi for the patient to manage.
- Match devices to the care plan. Blood pressure, weight, glucose, and pulse oximetry each serve different conditions.
- Keep data in the clinical workflow. Staff act faster when readings appear where they already work.
- Set clear follow-up steps. Decide in advance who reviews readings and when a trend calls for outreach.
- Pair monitoring with virtual visits. A short video check-in can address what the data shows, without a trip. Many practices already use this approach in primary care.
Workflow matters for care teams too. Tenovi partners with eClinicalWorks (eCW). Readings flow through the Tenovi Cloud into the eCW dashboard and the patient record. Staff review and act on trends without switching systems or re-keying data. That keeps the focus on the patient instead of on data entry.
Frequently Asked Questions About Telehealth Savings
The questions below cover common topics about telehealth savings: where they come from, who benefits, and what the research shows. Each answer draws on the studies cited above.
1) What are telehealth savings?
Telehealth savings are the costs avoided when care happens remotely. For patients, these include travel, parking, and time away from work. For the health system, they include avoided emergency visits and hospital stays when problems are caught early.
2) How much do patients save per telehealth visit?
A University of California study of more than 3 million visits estimated an average saving of 17.6 miles, 35.3 minutes, and $11.02 in travel costs per visit. That figure covers mileage only. Parking, childcare, and lost wages would add to it.
3) Does remote patient monitoring reduce hospital admissions?
Research suggests it can. A VA home telehealth program was associated with a 19% reduction in hospital admissions. A Cochrane review found that home telemonitoring reduced heart failure-related hospitalizations, with a risk ratio of 0.71.
4) Who benefits most from telehealth savings?
Patients with chronic conditions often benefit most, since they need frequent contact with their care team. People in rural areas, those without reliable transportation, and working caregivers also gain from fewer trips.
5) How do telehealth savings help the health system?
The CDC reports that 90% of annual health care spending is for people with chronic and mental health conditions. Earlier care for these patients can help prevent costly acute episodes. That frees clinical capacity for patients who need in-person care.
6) Are there environmental benefits to telehealth?
Yes. The University of California study estimated that telehealth visits avoided about 21,466 metric tons of carbon dioxide over two years. Fewer car trips also meant an estimated 42.4 crash-related injuries avoided.
Understanding Telehealth Savings
Telehealth savings start with the patient. Each avoided trip returns time and money to people managing their health. Research from the University of California shows how those savings add up across millions of visits. Studies from the VA and Cochrane show that proactive monitoring can reduce hospital stays for patients with chronic conditions. When care is easy to use and fits the clinical workflow, patients stay engaged and care teams can act early.
Tenovi provides remote monitoring infrastructure for care teams: 60+ cellular-connected devices, one API, and no apps, syncing, or Wi-Fi for patients. We handle fulfillment, provisioning and support, so your team can focus on care that goes home with the patient. Contact us for a free demo and consultation.
