How Has Healthcare’s Approach to Telehealth Changed in the Past 5 Years?

The Technology Driving Telehealth in 2025

Telehealth has evolved far beyond basic videoconferencing. Advances in AI, remote monitoring devices and virtual nursing are reshaping how care is delivered.

“We’re past the era of just video calls,” Farraher says. “Now, we’re talking about AI-powered sensors, wearable devices and real-time data collection that give clinicians deeper insights into patient health.”

Meanwhile, AI is playing a critical role in triage, diagnostics and workflow automation.

“AI is everywhere in telehealth,” Kvedar says. “From automated patient triage to summarizing medical records before a consultation, AI is improving efficiency and allowing clinicians to focus on patient care.”

One of the most promising AI applications is agentic AI: autonomous AI-driven assistants that can conduct pre-consultation assessments.

“We’re a few years away from fully autonomous AI assistants in healthcare,” Farraher says. “But they’re coming.”

She explains that AI will proactively ask patients questions, analyze symptoms and even recommend treatment options before a human provider steps in.

DISCOVER: Here are 13 ways AI enhances healthcare operations, patient care and treatments.

How Healthcare Organizations Are Using Remote Patient Monitoring

The expansion of wearable health devices is enabling continuous, real-time patient monitoring.

“We now have Bluetooth-connected blood pressure cuffs, smartwatches that detect atrial fibrillation and AI-powered cough analyzers,” Kvedar says. “These tools are giving clinicians unprecedented insights into patient health outside of clinical settings.”

Machine learning algorithms are increasingly being used to analyze remote patient data.

“We’re seeing AI models that can detect early warning signs of chronic conditions, reducing hospitalizations,” Farraher says. “This is where AI is truly making a difference: by predicting health issues before they escalate.”

Virtual nursing has emerged to offset nursing shortages and improve patient care.

“Health systems are using virtual nurses to handle routine patient check-ins and medication reminders,” Kvedar says. “This frees up onsite staff for more complex cases.”

Challenges Remain in Telehealth Integration

While telehealth has advanced, barriers remain, particularly in data integration, reimbursement policies and security.

“Technology and humans are still operating separately in many cases,” Farraher says. “For example, patients fill out an online questionnaire, but when they visit their doctor, they’re asked the same questions all over again. That’s an integration failure.”

Another major challenge is reimbursement uncertainty, Farraher says. Telehealth policies have been extended on a temporary basis, but long-term legislation is lacking.

“This uncertainty makes it difficult for healthcare organizations to invest in telehealth infrastructure,” she says.

The Regulatory Landscape and Reimbursement Uncertainty

Telehealth adoption is heavily influenced by regulatory and reimbursement policies. During the pandemic, Medicare and private insurers relaxed telehealth restrictions, allowing patients to access virtual care from home.

“The biggest policy shift was eliminating the originating site rule, which previously required telehealth visits to take place at a healthcare facility,” Kvedar says. “Now, patients can receive care from anywhere, which has opened up major opportunities.”

However, these relaxed rules are still in a state of flux.

“Congress keeps issuing short-term extensions for telehealth reimbursement, but we need long-term certainty,” Farraher says. “Providers can’t make major investments in virtual care if they don’t know what the payment landscape will look like a year from now.”

READ MORE: Phoenix Children’s integrates virtual care with a voice command.

What’s Next for Telehealth?

The future of telehealth will be shaped by further AI integration, improved home diagnostic tools and expanded reimbursement policies, with AI playing a larger role in diagnostics and patient engagement.

“We’re already seeing AI-powered voice biomarkers that can diagnose respiratory illnesses based on a patient’s cough,” Kvedar says. “Soon, smartphones will be able to detect early signs of chronic diseases through AI-driven voice and movement analysis.”

Home diagnostics will become more sophisticated, allowing patients to complete lab tests from home.

“We’re going to see home-based testing kits for cholesterol, diabetes monitoring and even certain infections,” Kvedar says. “This will further reduce the need for in-person visits.”

While telehealth may never replace in-person visits entirely, it will continue to play a vital role in chronic disease management, mental health care and preventive medicine.

“We’re moving toward a future where AI-driven telehealth, home monitoring and virtual care will be a routine part of healthcare delivery,” Kvedar says. “That future is not far off.”