Test Ordering and Completion During Virtual vs In-Person Annual Visits

Telemedicine use has been associated with lower rates of overall testing and low-value testing, but the underlying mechanisms are unknown.

To compare medical screening test ordering and completion rates between in-person and virtual annual visits, and to determine how these rates varied by test value (high vs low) and test type (point of care vs scheduled).

This cohort study used electronic health record data on virtual and in-person annual visits conducted between January 1, 2022, and October 25, 2023, among adult patients at 87 primary care practices in a large health system. Data were analyzed from September 2024 to June 2025.

Virtual or in-person annual visit.

Rates of ordering and completion of 15 high- and low-value tests within 11 months after visit.

A total of 22 547 matched in-person and virtual visits were examined involving 20 948 patients (mean [SD] age, 51.0 [15.9] years, 14 502 women [69.2%]). All 15 high- and low-value tests were more likely to be ordered and completed at in-person vs virtual visits; generally, high-value tests were more likely to be ordered and completed than low-value tests. At virtual compared with in-person visits, high-value tests were 14.3% (95% CI, -15.5% to -13.2%) less likely to be ordered (relative to the 54.8% in-person rate) and 13.1% (95% CI, -14.1% to -12.0%) less likely to be completed (relative to the 87.7% in-person rate). Low-value tests were 19.3% (95% CI, -21.0% to -17.5%) less likely to be ordered (27.8% in-person rate) and 17.3% (95% CI, -18.5% to -16.1%) less likely to be completed (91.1% in-person rate). When compared with scheduled tests, point-of-care laboratory tests had larger decreases at virtual versus in-person visits in ordering (-18.5% [95% CI, -19.9% to -17.1%] relative to 37.7% in person, vs -11.6% [95% CI, -13.6 to -9.6] for scheduled tests [26.8% in person]) and completion (-16.3% [95% CI, -17.3 to -15.3]; 93.7% in person, vs -6.2% [95% CI, -8.9 to -3.4]; 63.0% in person).

In this cohort study, high- and low-value tests were less likely to be both ordered and completed at virtual annual visits compared with in-person annual visits, particularly low-value tests and laboratory tests. Telemedicine may introduce frictions for clinicians and patients that differentially reduce low-value testing, although high-value tests were also affected; health systems could consider tools, such as gap closure alerts, to selectively promote high-value care.