Telemedicine
COVID-19 has greatly accelerated the use of telehealth resources. In April of 2020, 43.5% of Medicare primary care visits utilized telehealth methods rather than in-person visits. One of the major benefits of telehealth over in-person alternatives is that it reduces contact between patients, healthcare workers, and other patients. Wearable devices enable healthcare workers to have real-time information on patient data while they remain at home. More importantly, telehealth’s growth appears likely to continue even after the pandemic is over. 71% of patients in the United States considered telemedicine at the beginning of the pandemic, and 50% had already utilized virtual appointments. With telehealth already rising in popularity in the previous year, the pandemic was a major boost to the industry’s development. This boom in telehealth seems likely to break $185.6 billion by 2026. The most important aspect of telehealth’s success is patient adoption. Since most patients are comfo