Consumer demand for telemedicine and virtual health care has exploded during the pandemic. Stephen Morgan, a medical professor at Virginia Tech and chief medical information officer at the Carilion Clinic in southwest Virginia, said virtual visits increased there from about 100 a month before the pandemic to about 800 a day within a two-week span.
He said research has shown that telemedicine can provide quality on par with traditional in-person care, all while making services available to people who otherwise might not be able to get them or would have to travel great distances to do so.