Software Development Updates

The global telehealth market has grown significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is further expected to reach $668.63 billion by 2031 with a CAGR of 24.54% according to reports from Grand View Research. Virtual healthcare has become an essential and advanced form of medical care. It is no longer optional but a necessity in the modern age. Integrating this transformation into medical care is crucial for patient care and also ensures that medical facilities reach every corner of the globe. Healthcare organizations can partner with healthcare software development companies to improve their healthcare services by integrating telehealth trends into their core operations.

Therefore, this article discusses the top telehealth trends that are redefining and refining healthcare operations. Everyone, from stakeholders to patients, needs to know about them. 

1. What is Telehealth?

Telehealth is an umbrella term for various types of healthcare services, ranging from patient care and medical consultations to health education and training when delivered through telecommunication or digital platforms. Often, people mistake telemedicine and telehealth to be similar terms. While the scope of telehealth does include telemedicine, it also comprises other non-clinical services that help facilitate public health.

Telehealth technologies allow healthcare providers to deliver medical services to people living in remote areas and provide consultations or share expertise.

Different mediums like video calls, audio calls, instant messaging, and even AR/VR sets are used to make healthcare more convenient and easily accessible. Telehealth is an essential aspect of modern healthcare practices.

2. Future Trends of Telehealth

Telehealth plays a crucial role in addressing public health crises nowadays, transforming the way healthcare is delivered. It leverages digital and emerging technologies to shape the future of patient care, making it more personalized, efficient, and accessible. Here, we discuss a few trends in telehealth. 

2.1 Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)

Remote patient monitoring is a trend that utilizes wearable devices and mobile health apps to continuously track patients’ vital signs and health data. This allows the care providers to get real-time updates on the patient’s health. The devices are used to track the patient’s symptoms, and in case any anomalies are detected, the doctors or medical staff are immediately alerted to take prompt action. 

Thanks to RPM, patients living in remote areas or managing chronic conditions no longer need to make frequent visits. The monitoring devices can detect the deteriorating condition of the patient early and help doctors reduce the complications that might require hospitalization and surgery. RPM allows healthcare providers to give attention to each case and provide personalized care to fulfill their requirements, which contributes to improved health outcomes.

2.2 Cybersecurity

Data security is one of the most important aspects of telehealth services. The increasing use of digital platforms and devices increases the vulnerability of sensitive health data. Which is highly sensitive and can have serious legal and financial consequences for hospitals and a deadly impact on patients’ lives if leaked. Therefore, telehealth services users are required to comply with the relevant regulations such as HIPAA, GDPR, and PIPEDA. 

To ensure strong protection of sensitive information, it is essential to implement robust security measures in place, like encrypting data in both transit and storage. Some organizations use blockchain technology to enhance their cybersecurity. As it gives patients more control over who can access their sensitive data. 

Automating various financial processes, like insurance claims and billing, can help reduce fraud and human errors. More importantly, conducting regular risk assessments allows you to identify security vulnerabilities in your system that may lead to data breaches. 

2.3 Regulatory Changes and Reimbursement Policies

Due to growing demand and evolving technologies, telehealth regulations are subject to continuous modifications. Although they are essential, their importance was greatly recognized during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Reimbursement policies have been made permanent to make telehealth services more flexible. As a result, telehealth now includes a wide range of patient care services, such as expert consultations, routine checkups, and mental health services. 

Patients need to keep themselves updated with the regulatory changes to know their rights and coverage options. Whereas the healthcare providers must stay compliant with these regulations to deliver better care. 

2.4 Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)

IoMT devices facilitate remote patient monitoring and provide preventive care. These devices form a network of connected smart medical devices that continuously collect real-time health data, such as vital signs and symptom tracking. This helps make accurate diagnoses and timely interventions to improve patient outcomes. 

IoMT enables proactive healthcare by continuously monitoring patients’ health, which reduces in-person visits, hospitalizations, and readmissions. As a result, the administrative costs of the hospitals and the healthcare costs of the patients reduce significantly. More importantly, IoMT is implemented for detailed data collection to offer personalized treatments to the patients. According to the report, the global Internet of Medical Things market size was estimated at USD 230.69 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 18.2% from 2025 to 2030.

2.5 mHealth

mHealth, or mobile health, is one of the most prominent and rapidly increasing telehealth trends. It’s about using mobile technologies to accomplish healthcare objectives or simply delivering health services through mobile applications and devices. 

mHealth makes telehealth services more convenient and easily accessible. It allows patients and medical staff to upload, review, share, and access medical records and schedule appointments. Make a virtual healthcare visit with the specialist from their mobile phones. 

mHealth has a better response time and provides various forms of communication methods, like audio and video calls, instant messaging, emails, and more. Patients can use mHealth apps to set reminders to take medicines, refill their prescriptions, and more.

2.6 Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality (VR) gives an immersive experience to the patients and providers, even if they are in remote locations. VR is quite useful in various telehealth applications. For example, training medical students for surgeries. VR is also helpful in teaching kids with special abilities or autism, providing them with games and activities in virtual reality. 

VR has a wide scope of use cases in healthcare services. Such as physiotherapy, rehabilitative treatments, CBT to handle hot flashes, and more. More importantly, patients can receive all these treatments remotely. 

Healthcare providers can also conduct virtual meetings with patients, create summaries, referral letters, and perform other administrative tasks through VR. This technology helps increase productivity and efficiency of the organization. 

2.7 Electronic Health Records (EHR)

Electronic Health Records, or EHRs, are comprehensive digital systems used by healthcare organizations to handle sensitive health data and patient information. EHRs have automatic data storage and maintenance capabilities, enabling easy access for healthcare providers and patients. Moreover, it assesses the existing medical information and provides clarity in case of confusion and corrects the records if necessary. This functionality supports healthcare providers in making informed clinical decisions and yields better patient outcomes.

2.8 Wearable Devices

Wearable devices monitor patients’ vital signs, such as heart rate, daily steps, sleep patterns, and other metrics through biosensors and software. Hospitals and Medtech companies use wearable devices as a remote patient monitoring tool that creates, accumulates, and shares data with authorized users. 

In case of anomalies or alarming information, wearable devices alert the users, doctors, and relevant personnel for timely intervention, preventing the condition from worsening. Wearable devices have made telehealth services more effective and efficient through continuous data collection and analysis. 

2.9 Cloud Solutions

Cloud is transforming the way data is stored and accessed on different devices. It uses remote servers to store digital information of patients, labs, and doctors, which can only be accessed through an online connection using authorized credentials. 

Cloud storage solutions offer significant benefits, including high flexibility and scalability. They enable users to access data from anywhere at any time. Healthcare organizations can set appropriate authorization levels on cloud data operations. Which included accessing, handling, and sharing based on the sensitivity of the information. 

On top of access control, the health data is also secured with encryption and other critical measures. But the patients and providers can easily access their medical records by using authorized credentials.

2.10 5G

5G network technology enhances the delivery and experience of telehealth services. Its low latency and high speed allow telehealth solutions to support virtual consultations through real-time audio and video communication. 

5G networks will not cause network congestion as they simultaneously support more users and devices, ensuring seamless patient care. Doctors can track the patient’s vitals and symptoms in real time through remote patient monitoring solutions only because of robust and reliable 5G networks. 

As a result, the quality of patient care increases and makes healthcare services and consultations available in real-time.  

2.11 Artificial Intelligence

AI is a revolutionary technology that has been useful in almost every aspect of the healthcare sector. It is used in various applications such as chatbots, voice recognition, automated health alerts, and more. Nowadays, healthcare applications are empowered by artificial intelligence to reduce the burden on users. In the patient portals, they can help book appointments, check patients’ history, create digital prescriptions, and provide instant answers to your queries. The global AI in healthcare market size was estimated at USD 26.57 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 187.69 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 38.62% from 2025 to 2030.

The use of AI helps patients by providing accessible and instant healthcare services, and helps healthcare providers increase productivity and prevent burnout.

3. Conclusion

Recent advancements in technology have accelerated the growth of telehealth services. The COVID-19 pandemic has made us realize its importance in making healthcare more easily accessible. 

Telehealth services are rapidly evolving by adapting emerging technologies and wearable devices. The use of these trends helps providers deliver better personalized care. 

Although there might be some regulatory complexities, some of these technologies are still in their initial phase. But the opportunities are unending. If healthcare organizations adopt these trends thoughtfully and address concerns strategically. They can streamline their administrative and medical operations to increase efficiency and provide quality patient care.