Rural patients use far less telehealth, study finds
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES — Rural patients used telehealth for just 3 to 5 percent of chronic condition visits between 2022 and 2025, compared to 5 to 8 percent for non-rural patients.
Rural telehealth use trails non-rural patients
The study, conducted by the Elevance Health Public Policy Institute, analyzed 11.5 million members across commercial, Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement, and Medicaid plans in the United States from 2022 to 2025.
According to a study reported by MedCity News, researchers examined telehealth use across 15 chronic conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Rural populations showed lower telehealth adoption across all insurance types and all 15 conditions examined, with no segment of rural members matching non-rural uptake rates. Medicare Advantage members in rural areas showed higher prevalence of cardiometabolic conditions, representing an untapped opportunity for remote care management.
According to MedCity News, rural populations are disproportionately represented in lower socioeconomic quartiles, a factor the study links to reduced telehealth access and lower digital engagement overall. The gap persisted across all 15 conditions studied and all four insurance plan types.
Rural members used telehealth for just 3 to 5 percent of chronic condition visits, compared to 5 to 8 percent for non-rural members across the same plans and conditions.
Digital barriers drive rural telehealth disparities
The study identified multiple overlapping barriers to rural telehealth adoption: device availability, internet access and affordability, and lower rates of digital and health literacy.
Rural populations are also disproportionately concentrated in lower socioeconomic quartiles, compounding obstacles to accessing virtual care.
The report cautions that expanding telehealth coverage alone will not be sufficient to close the rural access gap. Medicaid members showed higher telehealth use for obesity and dietary counseling but also higher emergency department utilization, pointing to unmet chronic care needs that telehealth has not yet fully addressed.
The Elevance Health Public Policy Institute report notes that “expanding telehealth alone may not be enough to improve access,” calling instead for digital infrastructure investment and population-specific support strategies. MedCity News reported the findings on August 3, 2026.
Effective rural telehealth strategies require investment in digital infrastructure, patient support services, and population-specific approaches that account for resource limitations in rural communities.
For healthcare business process outsourcing (BPO) providers, the rural telehealth gap signals demand for remote support services including patient navigation, scheduling assistance, and health literacy coaching. Offshore teams trained in U.S. healthcare workflows can deliver these functions at scale without adding to health system staffing costs.
Digital barriers affecting rural patients are administrative as much as clinical, making back-office outsourcing a practical component of any rural telehealth expansion strategy.
Health systems serving rural populations benefit from outsourcing partners who can handle the coordination, follow-up, and documentation that telehealth uptake requires.
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Disclosure: Outsource Accelerator uses AI tools in the backend of its editorial workflow. Every article is reviewed and verified by a human editor before publication.
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