What a telemedicine survey measures
Practice-level use does not count patients’ visits.
- Event / announcement date
- 2026-06-24
NCHS’s June 24 report estimated that 80.0% of office-based physicians used telemedicine in 2024, down from 86.5% in 2021. Its question included audio-only technology, unlike an earlier narrower definition. The comparison measures physicians whose practices used telemedicine, not the proportion of patients or appointments receiving remote care. [1]
NEHRS technical documentation explains how survey records become national estimates: each physician receives a weight, with adjustments for uncertain eligibility and nonresponse. Nonrespondents’ weights shift to respondents within geographic and specialty groups where practical. Simply counting returned questionnaires would miss that design. These are physician-level estimates; they do not measure an individual patient’s access or explain why a practice changed its services. [2]
For comparability, NCHS excluded non-office physicians added in 2024. This percentage cannot establish an individual provider’s services. [1]
The source
- NCHS: Office-based physician telemedicine use ↗
Source date 2026-06-24 · reviewed October 29, 2026 · publication - NCHS: 2024 physician survey methods ↗
Undated reference · reviewed October 29, 2026 · No publication date is given to the day; PDF version December 2025.
About this item: Retrospective report. No first-hand reporting or independent testing is claimed. Corrections policy.
