Healthcare · Updated October 7, 2026 · 8 min read
Telehealth & Digital Care After the Pandemic Spike
A measured view of telehealth utilization, provider adoption, and the limits of treating every digital-health service as one market.
Executive summary
Telehealth has settled into a durable care channel rather than replacing in-person medicine. Public data supports continued use, but utilization differs sharply by specialty, payer, geography, and patient population.
Key findings
Telemedicine remains part of physician practice
CDC's National Center for Health Statistics reports that 80.0% of office-based physicians used telemedicine in 2024, down from 86.5% in 2021. The data supports evaluating adoption by practice characteristics rather than treating the pandemic peak as a permanent baseline.
Claims data provides a firmer demand signal
CMS's 2026 snapshot reports telehealth use among 23% of Medicare fee-for-service users in 2025, compared with 48% in 2020. The snapshot uses claims and encounter data through March 31, 2026 and is preliminary; Medicare is not representative of every payer or age group.
Digital care is a bundle of different services
Video visits, asynchronous messaging, remote monitoring, and digital therapeutics have different reimbursement and operating models. Combining them into one market number hides the economics that determine adoption.
Methodology notes
- We prioritize observed physician and claims data over vendor market forecasts.
- CMS Medicare measures are labeled as payer-specific and are not generalized to the entire U.S. population.
- We describe service categories separately because reimbursement and clinical workflows differ.
Sources
- Telemedicine Use Among Office-based Physicians in 2021 and 2024 — CDC National Center for Health Statistics, 2025
- Medicare Telehealth Trends Snapshot — Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, September 14, 2026
- Medicare Telehealth Trends — Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Updated periodically
- Telehealth Research and Trends — U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Updated periodically