Telehealth’s Pandemic Surge: Progress Achieved, Yet Challenges Persist

AJMC September 2, 2024
Brooke McCormick

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of telehealth nationwide, revealing significant benefits while also exposing ongoing challenges.

The growing use of telehealth by health care providers could be considered a more positive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but several challenges persist.

Pre-Pandemic Telehealth Use

Telehealth, meaning receiving medical care remotely via synchronous, asynchronous, or store-and-forward technology, has steadily increased in the US over the past decade.¹ Growth remained slow until March 2020, or the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before March 2020, telehealth integration remained low, and the logistics were complex.

For example, providers dealt with various rules about which prescriptions, visit types, and patient types were acceptable. However, as of 2018, 76% of US hospital systems used telemedicine, mostly...

Today's Sponsors

Today's Sponsor