The Role of Telemedicine in the Healthcare Industry

Until March 2020, telemedicine was on the periphery of healthcare in the US. Many health systems viewed telemedicine as novel or experimental, with about a five to ten year gap to becoming a mainstream healthcare delivery modality. As a result, significant investments were not made to support telemedicine’s systems or infrastructure. To everyone’s surprise, telemedicine became not only the safest way to provide care – but the only way for providers to look in the eyes of their patients and see their smiles since the global pandemic started.

Today, telemedicine is no longer viewed as novel or experimental, but rather it has become a healthcare delivery modality that has been used by millions of patients across all demographics. It is estimated that telemedicine accounts for about 25% of ambulatory visits. This means that telemedicine has a critical role in advancing access to care. JD Power recently reported that US health plans were able to meet member needs during the pandemic using telemedicine. Generation Y and Generation Z are the groups that had the highest contact with their health plans. Perhaps the most exciting part of the study is that, for this demographic, COVID-19 had minimal impact on their telehealth utilization behavior. Going forward, now that telemedicine is widely available, these groups will expect that option for their own care, care of their parents, and care for their own children.