Thank you to the Stanford Center of Digital Health for their continued collaboration on this work, with special gratitude to Natasha Din, MD, Clark Seninger, MBA, Sravya Rallapalli, Ashish Sarraju, MD, James Tooley, MD, Krishna Pundi, MD, Mario Funes-Hernandez, MD, and Mintu Turakhia, MD. Nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, more consumers have used telemedicine than ever before. Venture investment in telemedicine is up, and big and small players are making land grabs for their share of the market, with many rolling out virtual–first care offerings. So with these accelerants--balanced with the full return of in-person care--what's the state of telemedicine? To answer this question and many more, we have surveyed U.S. adults every year since 2015 to check in with consumers and their relationship to digital health.

The emerging COVID-19 pandemic has become a once-in-a-century challenge that has impacted society profoundly and has disrupted almost every facet of life for people around the world. The demands on the infrastructure of health information technology (Health IT) are numerous, as we learn to use the tools we have created to address the issues we are facing now. In most areas where work-from-home and social distancing have become prevalent, and especially in areas where shelter-in-place orders have been issued, the nature of ambulatory care has dramatically changed. Some practices, such as non-trauma orthopedics, are unable to find operating room availability, and their practices have ground to a halt. The result of this has been a dramatic and sudden decrease in office volume – 5 or 6 virtual visits in a day, plus one or two in-person visits, in the place where a practice used to be 20 visits per provider per day, is not economically sustainable, especially for small and independent practices.

A study by Salesforce suggests that people, especially the millennials and Generation X prefer increased use of technology for better access to Healthcare and Personalized services. Appointment scheduling, health reminders, personalized recommendations, and cost-saving recommendations were the major factors that make Artificial Intelligence lucrative for them. According to the Connected Health Care Report, around 60 percent of consumers don't think that the communications received from Healthcare institutions are relevant to them. As of now, around 58 percent were unsure about medications, practitioners, procedures or insurer covers. Around 42 percent of people say that life circumstances like work-related commitments have caused them to miss an appointment with a provider.

A study by Salesforce suggests that people, especially the millennials and Generation X prefer increased use of technology for better access to Healthcare and Personalized services. Appointment scheduling, health reminders, personalized recommendations, and cost-saving recommendations were the major factors that make Artificial Intelligence lucrative for them. According to the Connected Health Care Report, around 60 percent of consumers don't think that the communications received from Healthcare institutions are relevant to them. As of now, around 58 percent were unsure about medications, practitioners, procedures or insurer covers. Around 42 percent of people say that life circumstances like work-related commitments have caused them to miss an appointment with a provider.

The UK's National Health Service will soon begin a trial testing whether or not a chatbot can effectively replace a call center for non-emergency medical triage, according to a report from the Financial Times. Babylon, a UK-based telemedicine startup, will power the six-month trial in north-central London, which will include 1.2 million covered citizens. Babylon is a major telemedicine provider in its native England. The company's direct-to-consumer offering starts with an AI-powered chatbot which can escalate up to a video visit if necessary. Triage via Babylon requires about 12 text messages and takes about a minute and a half.