It’s no industry secret that telehealth’s use is growing. For years, the potential for telehealth has made itself known, bringing regulators and payors in alignment and seeking ways to seize on its potential.

According to a report released by Doximity, the telehealth market will expand from last year’s $38.3 billion to $130.5 billion in 2025.

While Doximity’s report focuses in on the role of the physician provider and his/ her capacity and will to provide care through telehealth, other factors are driving this growth projection.

The significance of the report is meaningful for a variety of hospitals and provider types, but perhaps more important now than ever for rural hospitals as they look for ways to shore up out-migration as a tactic to buoy struggling financials.

More important, perhaps, is the opportunity provided to patients. Getting the important care they need while staying closer to home is not only better for health outcomes, but also for families who are displaced temporarily with hotel and associated travel costs. Obviously, financial stress evolves into other forms as pressure for families, and in a world where hospitals are forced to focus more and more on extramural conditions that can affect the patient’s health beyond the hospital walls, telehealth as an ingredient in that mix is an important opportunity increasingly being recognized.