Telehealth Utilization
While telemedicine has been around for decades, many organizations did not widely adopt tools and mechanisms to provide healthcare services remotely until the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Following the exponential rise in telehealth usage in early 2020, as organizations returned to in-person, non-emergent care, telehealth utilization began to decrease and has since settled into a more consistent rate, although differences by specialty remain. This tracker aims to provide insight into ongoing trends in the utilization of telehealth.
Data
Select one or more department specialties to display the metrics for departments of those types.
Telehealth Utilization Rate
August 2026
Monthly rates of telehealth encounters.
Metric Definitions
- Numerator
- An encounter of type "Telemedicine" or an encounter of type "Office Visit" with a CPT billing code 99441-99443 or an encounter of type "Telephone" or "Telephone Visit" with any CPT billing code.
- Denominator
- An encounter of type "Telemedicine" or "Office Visit" or an encounter of type "Telephone" or "Telephone Visit" with any CPT billing code.
- Endocrinology
- Encounters in departments with primary specialties of "Endocrinology", "Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism", or "Pediatric Endocrinology"
- Geriatrics
- Encounters in departments with primary specialties of "Elder Care Services", "Geriatric Medicine", or "Gerontology"
- Gynecology
- Encounters in departments with primary specialties of "Gynecology", "Maternal & Fetal Medicine", "Maternal and Fetal Medicine", "Midwifery", "Obstetrics", "Obstetrics & Gynecology", "Obstetrics and Gynecology", "Urogynecology", "Women’s Health", or “Women’s Health Care, Ambulatory” where the patient had no documentation of being actively pregnant.
- Mental Health
- Encounters in departments with primary specialties of "Behavioral Health", "Behavioral Health Clinic", "Child and Adolescent Psychiatry", "Counseling", "Developmental – Behavioral Pediatrics", "Domestic Abuse Support Services", "Geriatric Psychiatry", "Marriage and Family Therapy", "Mental Health", "Neuropsychology", "Neuropsychiatry", "Pediatric Psychiatry", "Pediatric Psychology", "Post-Trauma Therapy and Support", "Psychiatric/Mental Health", "Psychiatry", "Psychology", "Psychotherapy", or "Social and Spiritual Support"
- Obstetrics
- Encounters in departments with primary specialties of "Gynecology", "Maternal & Fetal Medicine", "Maternal and Fetal Medicine", "Midwifery", "Obstetrics", "Obstetrics & Gynecology", "Obstetrics and Gynecology", "Urogynecology", "Women’s Health", or “Women’s Health Care, Ambulatory” where the patient had documentation of being actively pregnant.
- Primary Care
- Encounters in departments with primary specialties of "Adult Health", "Adult Medicine", "Ambulatory Care", "Chronic Care", "Family Medicine", "Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC)", "General Care", "General Internal Medicine", "General Practice", "Internal Medicine", "Internist", "Medical", "Medical Clinic", "Physician’s Office", "Preventative Medicine", or "Primary Care"
- Primary Care - Peds
- Encounters in departments with primary specialties of "Adolescent Medicine", "Clinical Child & Adolescent", "Developmental", "Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics", "Pediatric Internal Medicine", or "Pediatrics"
- Surgery
- Encounters in departments with primary specialties of "Ambulatory Surgery Center", "Bariatrics", "Breast Surgery", "Burn Surgery", "Cardiothoracic Surgery", "Colon and Rectal Surgery", "Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery", "General Surgery", "Maxillofacial Surgery", "Neurosurgery", "Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery", "Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery", "Oral Surgery", "Orthopaedic Surgery", "Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery", "Pediatric Neurosurgery", "Pediatric Plastic Surgery", "Pediatric Surgery", "Pediatric Trauma Surgery", "Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery", "Plastic Surgery", "Plastic Surgery within the Head & Neck", "Spine Surgery", "Surgical", "Surgical Oncology", "Surgical Services Clinic", "Thoracic Surgery", "Transplant Surgery", "Trauma Surgery", or "Vascular Surgery"
- Urgent Care
- Encounters in departments with primary specialties of "Urgent Care" or "Urgent Care Center"
Related Articles
ExpandTelehealth: Fad or the Future
Earlier this year, we published data demonstrating a 300-fold increase in telehealth, broken down by encounter reason and specialty. Many speculated that telehealth volumes would remain high throughout (and perhaps beyond) the pandemic; however, recent EHR data show that volumes peaked in mid-April. Since then, levels have dropped to make up only 21% of total visits, though this is still much higher than the rates seen before the pandemic…
ExpandCHF Patients Who Received Care Through Telehealth Are No More Likely to Be Hospitalized Than Patients Who Received In-Person Care
Telehealth care for patients diagnosed with congestive heart failure (CHF) is not associated with an increased likelihood of emergency department (ED) visits or hospital admissions related to CHF compared to in-person care.
ExpandTelehealth Utilization Higher Than Pre-Pandemic Levels, but Down from Pandemic Highs
While telehealth usage has declined since the initial peak early in the pandemic, it is still used much more broadly than before the pandemic.
ExpandTelehealth Use for Primary Care Visits Has Stabilized, with Higher Use in Metropolitan Areas and Among Non-English Speakers
Telehealth use in primary care decreased from pandemic-era highs through mid-2023 and has remained relatively stable at around 6 to 7% of encounters since then.
.png)
ExpandTelehealth Utilization Has Stabilized, Mental Health Departments Continue to See Highest Rates
New data tracker available to view trends in telehealth use across specialties.
