The global telehealth market reached $87.7 billion in 2026 and is projected to climb to $187.5 billion by 2033, growing at 11.5% per year. Virtual care now operates as a standing service line inside medical practices, and the figures behind it describe a permanent change in how patients reach a provider.
We traced every number below to the agency or research firm that published it, then fetched each source page to confirm the figure and its date. Market size opens the report because it frames the scale before the data narrows into patient adoption. Physician supply follows, then the Medicare coverage rules that decide whether a virtual visit gets paid.
Key Takeaways
- The telehealth market reaches $87.7 billion in 2026 and grows 11.5% a year to $187.5 billion by 2033, with services generating 66.5% of that revenue.
- Adult telemedicine use fell from 37.0% in 2021 to 30.1% in 2022, and rural adults recorded the steepest decline, from 27.5% down to 19.6%.
- Medicare telehealth flexibilities expire on December 31, 2027, while behavioral health coverage has no expiration date.
How Big the Telehealth Market Is in 2026
Telehealth revenue grows faster than most other segments of healthcare delivery, and the service layer captures most of that money. Our data indicates the scale below.
| Market Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Global telehealth market, 2025 | $77.4 billion |
| Global telehealth market, 2026 | $87.7 billion |
| Projected market, 2033 | $187.5 billion |
| Compound annual growth rate, 2026–2033 | 11.5% |
| Services share of revenue, 2025 | 66.5% |
| Web-based delivery share, 2025 | 39.0% |
| Provider end-use share, 2025 | 57.3% |
| North America share of global revenue, 2025 | 45.2% |
| Largest disease area, psychiatry, 2025 | 12.7% |
Key Insights:
- Services generate 66.5% of telehealth revenue, so the market rewards staffed delivery more heavily than licensed software.
- North America holds 45.2% of global revenue, which makes U.S. coverage policy the single largest variable in the forecast.
Which Patients Actually Use Telehealth
Patient use peaked during the pandemic years and then settled at a lower level across every group the federal survey tracks. The decline is deepest where broadband access and transportation already limit care. In our analysis below, the 2021 and 2022 figures measure the size of that shift.
| Adult Group | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| All adults | 37.0% | 30.1% |
| Women | 42.0% | 33.8% |
| Men | 31.7% | 26.3% |
| Adults 65 and older | 43.3% | 30.6% |
| Large central metro | 40.3% | 34.2% |
| Rural, noncore counties | 27.5% | 19.6% |
| West | 42.4% | 36.3% |
| South | 34.3% | 26.1% |
Key Insights:
- Adults 65 and older dropped 12.7 points, the steepest fall of any age group, after leading every group in 2021.
- Rural use now trails large metro use by 14.6 points, and that distance widened as overall telemedicine use fell.
How Many Physicians Offer Virtual Visits
Physician supply moved in the opposite direction from patient demand. Clinicians who added virtual visits during the emergency period kept the capability afterward. Our data indicates how far that adoption traveled below.
| Adoption Metric | Earlier Year | Latest Published Year |
|---|---|---|
| Physicians using tele-visits | 14% (2016) | 80% (2022) |
| Physicians using remote monitoring devices | 12% (2016) | 30% (2022) |
| Average digital health tools per physician | 2.2 (2016) | 3.8 (2022) |
| Office-based physicians with any electronic health record (EHR) | 42% (2008) | 95% (2024) |
| Office-based physicians with a certified EHR | 74% (2014) | 91% (2024) |
Key Insights:
- Physician tele-visit use has multiplied more than fivefold in six years, reaching 80% of practicing physicians.
- 95% of office-based physicians run an EHR, so a virtual visit documents into a system the practice already licenses.
What Medicare Telehealth Volume and Payment Look Like
Medicare drives the payment side of virtual care, and the program’s own claims data shows how quickly the benefit scaled once the rules opened. Payment for the originating site climbs every year with the Medicare Economic Index. The utilization figures in the analysis below compare the first pandemic year against the year before it.
| Medicare Telehealth Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Unique telemedicine users, March 2019 to February 2020 | 910,490 |
| Unique telemedicine users, March 2020 to February 2021 | 28.3 million |
| Share of eligible Medicare users who used telemedicine | 53% |
| Urban share of eligible users | 55% |
| Rural share of eligible users | 44% |
| Beneficiaries with end stage renal disease | 67% |
| Beneficiaries qualifying through disability | 63% |
| Originating site facility fee, 2024 | $29.96 |
| Originating site facility fee, 2026 | $31.85 |
Key Insights:
- Medicare telemedicine users multiplied 31 times in a single year, climbing from 910,490 to 28.3 million.
- The originating site facility fee rose 6.3% between 2024 and 2026, tracking the Medicare Economic Index each year.
Which Telehealth Coverage Rules Survive Past 2027
Coverage rules determine whether a practice can keep billing virtual visits after 2027. Congress made one set of Medicare rules permanent and attached an end date to everything else, so each virtual service line now faces a different deadline. Our analysis below separates the permanent rules from the ones with an end date.
| Medicare Telehealth Rule | Status |
|---|---|
| Behavioral health visits delivered to the patient’s home | Permanent |
| Geographic restrictions lifted for behavioral health | Permanent |
| Audio-only behavioral health visits | Permanent |
| Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics as behavioral health distant site providers | Permanent |
| Marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors as providers | Permanent |
| Non-behavioral visits delivered to the patient’s home | Through December 31, 2027 |
| Audio-only non-behavioral visits | Through December 31, 2027 |
| In-person visit requirement waived for behavioral telehealth | Through December 31, 2027 |
Key Insights:
- Every permanent flexibility covers behavioral health, which makes psychiatry the most durable telehealth service line a practice can staff.
- Practices billing non-behavioral virtual visits work against a December 31, 2027 deadline that Congress must extend again.
Further Reading
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Practice owners weighing a virtual care investment usually want these figures in one document. Request a PDF copy of this report through the DocVA contact page, and we will send the current version with every source linked.
