This audio is generated automatically. Please let us know if you have any comments.
Dive summary:
- The use of telehealth in primary care has has remained quite stable in recent yearssuggesting the sector has reached a balance after a boom in virtual care amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an analysis by Epic Research.
- Telehealth visits accounted for more than 8% of primary care visits in July 2022, according to research released Tuesday. In October 2025, telehealth accounted for just under 6% of visits, a decrease of approximately 30%.
- But since 2023, the share of virtual care visits in primary care has remained relatively stable at around 6% to 7% of appointments.
Diving information:
Telehealth utilization exploded during the pandemic as patients and doctors sought methods to preserve access to care by avoiding in-person contact.
The boom was supported by new policy and reimbursement flexibilities enacted by the federal government, including changes that allowed for significantly expanded telehealth coverage in Medicare and virtual prescriptions for controlled substances.
However, as the public health emergency subsided, Telehealth use decreased across all specialties.according to previous Epic research. Mental health care remains the most important area for virtual care, comprising more than 26% of visits in October 2025.
Meanwhile, the proportion of telehealth in primary care was just over 6% that same month. However, utilization varied between groups, according to the analysis, which studied more than 400 million primary care visits between July 2022 and October 2025.
For example, telehealth remains more common for patients living in metropolitan areas. According to the study, these patients consistently had approximately double the rate of telehealth use compared to those in rural communities.
Telehealth can be particularly useful in rural communities, as patients often face long travel times to receive in-person care, advocates and experts say. However, other research has pointed out potential barriers to the use of technology in rural areas, such as financial challenges among local hospitals establishing telehealth programs and Less access to high-speed Internet..
Age was another factor determining telehealth use in primary care, with working-age adults using virtual care more frequently compared to very young children and older patients. Adults ages 25 to 39 used telehealth in about 10 percent of primary care visits during the study, compared to less than 2 percent for children ages 0 to 2.
Patients whose preferred language was not English also tended to use telehealth more in primary care, despite previous research suggesting that limited English could be a barrier to the use of telehealth.
Patients who spoke Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Persian and Spanish had “substantially higher” baseline use of telehealth, and their utilization rates remained higher than those of English speakers at the end of the study.
The research did not examine why patients chose telehealth, but rather a variety of factors — such as the availability of translation services, convenience or reduced travel times — could be relevant to working-age adults and patients whose preferred language is not English, Caleb Cox, head of research at Epic, said by email.
The analysis comes as telehealth providers have recently gained political stability. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed a federal government funding bill into law that extends Medicare telehealth coverage flexibilities through 2027.
