Published: March 2026
Telehealth is now a routine practice for many: patients can remotely access healthcare services and providers can quickly consult with other specialties, helping expand their ability to treat their local communities.1,2
In the past six years, hospitals across the US have significantly adopted and expanded their telehealth offerings due to new waivers and reimbursements that came with the COVID-19 pandemic.1,3
The looming expiration of those telehealth-friendly policies may have led some to scale back their remote services. Despite the recent downward trend, telehealth remains much more widely used by hospital-based providers than before.3
The federal government's recent two-year extension of telehealth flexibilities will likely reverse that decline as the industry continues to work towards more permanent solutions.4
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1 American Hospital Association. Fact sheet: telehealth. April 2025. Accessed February 24, 2026. https://www.aha.org/system/files/media/file/2025/02/Fact-Sheet-Telehealth-20250207_0.pdf
2 Telehealth Resource Center: what is telehealth? ASHP. Accessed February 24, 2026. https://www.ashp.org/pharmacy-practice/resource-centers/telehealth
3 Kane CK. Patient-Facing Telehealth: Use Is Higher than Pre-Pandemic but with Great Variation Across Physician Specialties. American Medical Association. Policy Research Perspective report 25-1457183:pdf:11/25. November 2025. Accessed February 24, 2026. https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/2024-prp-telehealth.pdf
4 Bruce G. Health systems to expand telehealth after 2-year Medicare extension. Becker’s Hospital Review. February 13, 2026. Accessed February 24, 2026. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/telehealth/health-systems-to-expand-telehealth-after-2-year-medicare-extension/
5 Telehealth policy updates. US Dept of Health & Human Services. Updated February 5, 2026. Accessed February 26, 2026. https://telehealth.hhs.gov/providers/telehealth-policy/telehealth-policy-updates