40+ Telemedicine Statistics to Know in 2020

Telehealth use skyrocketed during the global Coronavirus pandemic — and the telemedicine market is still experiencing unprecedented growth. But staying ahead of the competition in a rapidly growing and changing industry isn't easy, especially for web and app developers in the healthcare industry who have to provide a best-in-class patient experience and comply with strict privacy and security protocols.

These latest telehealth trends and statistics will help you identify proven strategies for success. They will also help you understand where the industry is going, so you can design a platform that better meets patient needs.

Here's what this telemedicine fact sheet can tell you:

Who Uses Telehealth and Why?

80% of consumers have used telemedicine at least once (Rock Health).
76% of people over the age of 55 have used telemedicine (Rock Health).
74% of millennials prefer telehealth visits to in-person doctor exams (GlobalMed).
73% of people who live in rural areas use telemedicine (Rock Health).
98% of transgender patients say they have used telemedicine (Rock Health).
Patients prefer to use telemedicine for prescription management (61%) and to receive care for minor illnesses (51%) (Rock Health).
Veterans Affairs has administered over 2.29 million telemedicine interactions to over 782,000 veterans (FCC).
96% of telepsychiatry patients are satisfied with virtual mental healthcare (PubMed).

How Do People View Telemedicine and Is It Effective?

Over the next five years, consumers expect to make greater use of virtual healthcare services (Bain).
55% of patients believe they receive better quality of care through telehealth compared with in-office visits (McKinsey).
94% of customers who have accessed digital health care would try it again (J.D. Power).
80% of patients who regularly receive primary care through telemedicine are consistently satisfied with the quality and level of care (BMC Health Services Research).
52.5% of clinicians report more effective treatment with virtual healthcare visits vs. in-person care (ResearchGate).
93% of clinicians believe that telehealth is an acceptable method of patient care, and 60% are "very satisfied" with their experiences (Neurology).
89% of clinicians report that telemedicine is at least a satisfactory method of follow-up care for patients (Neurology).
5% of virtual healthcare visits result in the need for an in-person examination (Neurology).
86% of hospitals and 79% of general practice offices say they offer telehealth because it helps remove barriers that prevent patients from receiving care (Sage Growth Partners).
More than 50% of healthcare providers agree that telemedicine helps patients avoid emergency room visits (Sage Growth Partners).
In some cases, virtual visits have better outcomes than in-person healthcare visits (OECD).
Banner Health's Ambulatory Care program, which involves telehealth, reduced hospitalizations by 49.5% and 30-day readmissions by 75% in the first year (FCC).
Virtual health visits implemented with veterans led to 25% fewer days spent in inpatient care and 19% fewer hospital admissions (FCC).
93% of telepsychiatry patients feel that they can present the same information over the phone as they can at a face-to-face visit (PubMed).
85% of telepsychiatry patients are comfortable with their ability to share with a mental health professional in a virtual environment (PubMed).

How Much Do Virtual Health Exams Cost?

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Patients without insurance pay an average of $79 per telemedicine consultation (Solv.).
Cancer patients who use telehealth save anywhere from $147 to $186 per doctor visit (JAMA Network).
53% of healthcare systems say that telemedicine lowers operational costs (PubMed).
Teledentistry appointments cost an average of $233 compared to in-person visits, which cost an average of $662 (PubMed).
Telemedicine can reduce the costs of doctor visits by 10-15% (MDPI).
In Maryland, Frederick Memorial Hospital's 2016 virtual healthcare platform rollout reduced the cost of patient care by 50% (mHealth Intelligence).
In Philadelphia, Jefferson Health's telemedicine platform, JeffConnect, resulted in cost savings from $300 to $1,500 per visit for the hospital and $19 to $121 per visit for patients (Health Leaders).
Telehealth technologies are projected to save the U.S. healthcare industry $305 billion annually (FCC).
Remote patient monitoring in one diabetes cohort resulted in better outcomes and estimated cost savings of $3,855 per patient per year (FCC).
Banner Health's Ambulatory Care program, which involves telehealth, reduced overall costs by 34.5% in the first year (FCC).
Health systems can reduce costs by implementing more virtual care visits. Swedish Health Care, for example, could cut annual costs by as much as 25% (BMC Health Services Research).

Is Modern Telehealth Tech Secure and Dependable?

Healthcare organizations plan to increase cybersecurity spending by as much as 15% (Healthcare Dive).
Cybersecurity attacks on healthcare increased by 74% from 2021 to 2022 (Check Point).
63% of healthcare professionals believe cloud-based systems like electronic health records are most at risk of a security breach (AT&T).
52.4% of healthcare facilities have cybersecurity in place for both on-premise and cloud-based networks (AT&T).
40% of telehealth encounters have reported technical challenges (Neurology).
In some cases, poor audio (19%), poor video (13%), and audio interruption (9%) have a negative impact on the reliability of virtual healthcare visits (Neurology).
Only 20% of telemedicine practitioners have in-house security officers and typically rely on external security vendors (AMA).
Technical barriers to telehealth include lack of bandwidth (19%) and cybersecurity (15%) (HealthTech).
Only technology that meets HIPAA standards for security and privacy may be used in telemedicine in the U.S. (AHIMA).

How Common Was Telemedicine Pre-Coronavirus?

From 2016 through 2019, the use of telehealth in some medical specialties doubled from 14% to 28% (AMA).
In the five years preceding 2019, telemedicine had grown by 44% (GlobalMed).
In 2019, 66% of consumers were willing to try virtual health exams, 8% already had, and two-thirds were using personal health monitoring devices (American Well).
In 2019, 22% of practitioners used telemedicine to examine patients versus only 5% in 2015 (Ziegler).
In 2019, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reported a 17% increase in telehealth services to veterans over the prior fiscal year (VA).

How Has COVID-19 Impacted the Virtual Healthcare Ecosystem?

67% of people in a recent survey have used telehealth, compared to only 37% before the COVID-19 pandemic (J.D. Power).
27% of patients feel more comfortable using telemedicine now than they did before the Coronavirus pandemic (Doximity).
In 2019, the global telemedicine market was valued at less than $50 billion and is projected to grow to $459.8 billion by 2030 (Statista).
Telehealth usage peaked during the pandemic, with 16% of physicians reporting that all of their patients were using it (Statista).
The U.S. Federal government has lifted previous restrictions on telehealth services administered by medical professionals in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, adding more than 80 additional services (JAMA).
In some states, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have begun to allow reimbursements for telemedicine services in response to COVID-19 (CDC).
Overall patient volume decreased by 41% in the first two weeks following the implementation of telemedicine in response to the novel Coronavirus in 2020 (Neurology).
76% of patients have expressed interest in telemedicine, compared to 2019, when only 11% of patients said they have experience using telehealth(McKinsey).
58% of healthcare providers have a more positive view of telehealth than they did before the pandemic, and 64% feel more comfortable using it (McKinsey).
Healthcare practitioners now provide 50 to 175 times the number of telemedicine visits in 2020 than they did in previous years (McKinsey).
The global telehealthcare market is expected to account for $262.3 billion by 2027 (Global Newswire).

Final Thoughts

Research proves beyond a doubt that telemedicine is here to stay. Telehealth apps help providers connect with their patients who love it, too — but there's still room to improve the experience.

Users want telehealth solutions that provide uninterrupted video connectivity without compromising their data. And meeting these needs will help win over users and support the success of the app you design.

Learn more about the key requirements to develop a telemedicine app or take a look at some of our favorite telehealth apps.

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