When Sage Growth Partners published its Telehealth in 2023 report, telehealth in the future looked like a question of adoption. The newer data reframes it. Telehealth in the future is now a question of return, workflow, and where remote patient monitoring fits into everyday care. This article compares the original 2023 predictions against what practices and health systems actually report today, and what it means for the year ahead.
What Experts First Expected From Telehealth in the Future
The original outlook came from Sage Growth Partners’ Telehealth in 2023 report, a survey of 170 health system executives and independent practice group leaders. It described a technology at a crossroads, full of potential but held back by implementation and workflow gaps.
Two findings defined that moment. First, 73% of physicians believed telehealth improves patient access. Second, 57% of organizations had not yet built new workflows to support virtual visits. Providers wanted telehealth. Most had not yet redesigned care around it.
The report asked practices and hospitals a set of forward-looking questions:
- Had telehealth usage peaked, or would organizations expand services?
- What did practices and hospitals hope telehealth would achieve?
- How did leaders believe telehealth affected clinical outcomes?
- Which parts of telehealth needed the most improvement?
Those questions have since been answered by newer data. The picture has changed in ways worth tracking.
What the Newer Telehealth Data Shows
Sage Growth Partners has published two reports since the original survey, and both let us measure how expectations held up.
The first, Telehealth: The Innovation That’s Not Yet a Habit (August 2023, 155 respondents), found that behavioral health and primary care were expected to see the most telehealth growth. Hospitals projected behavioral telehealth rising from 20% to 31% of visits. The report also noted that providers used telehealth mostly for follow-up care rather than intake, and that patient demand, not provider strategy, was driving most decisions.
The most recent report, Strategic Shift: Why Patient Experience Is Now Healthcare’s Top C-Suite Priority (October 2025, 101 executives), shows how far the conversation has moved:
- 49% of executives now rank patient experience as their top strategic initiative for 2025 to 2027, up from 14% in 2020.
- 72% say integrating virtual care is critical to their care delivery model.
- 50% list telehealth and 47% list remote patient monitoring among their top five digital health priorities.
- 81% believe AI will have an effect on expanding remote monitoring and improving patient experience.
Put the two data points side by side. In 2023, the story was access: 73% said telehealth improved it. By 2025, the story is integration and return: nearly three-quarters call virtual care central to how they deliver care, and half name RPM a top priority. The workflow gap that defined 2023 has become the strategic focus of 2026.
Where the Return on Telehealth Still Falls Short
The newer data is not all momentum. The 2025 report is direct about a gap that the earlier survey only hinted at: many executives still struggle to show clear return on their virtual care investments.
This tracks with the original 2023 finding that most organizations had not created new workflows. A telehealth visit bolted onto an old process rarely pays off. The organizations seeing results are the ones that redesigned scheduling, staffing, and follow-up around virtual care rather than treating it as a video version of the office visit.
For channel partners and the practices they serve, this is the practical lesson. Telehealth in the future rewards workflow design, not just technology access. Remote patient monitoring is a large part of that design, because it turns single visits into continuous data.
Telehealth in the Future and Remote Patient Monitoring
Remote patient monitoring (RPM) is where telehealth in the future moves from episodic to continuous. A telehealth visit is a moment. RPM is a stream of measurement data that keeps flowing between visits, so clinicians can act on early signals rather than wait for the next appointment.
Providers pair RPM with telehealth for two reasons. First, it supports preventive care. Accumulated readings help clinicians spot trends and intervene early, which is the point of proactive care and one of the clearest paths to lower long-term cost. Second, reimbursement continues to expand under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS), which gives practices a sustainable way to fund the work.
For organizations managing chronic conditions, RPM is a way to improve outcomes and build a durable program at the same time. Because the core RPM management code is billable as “incident to” under general supervision, Medicare providers can contract remote patient monitoring companies to handle the operational load.
What Changed for RPM Billing in 2026
The billing picture has expanded since the original article. The 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule added two RPM CPT codes that close long-standing gaps.
- 99445 covers device supply and data transmission when a patient sends 2 to 15 days of data in a 30-day period. The older code, 99454, still applies at 16 or more days. The two are mutually exclusive in the same window.
- 99470 covers 10 to 19 minutes of RPM management time with a required live, interactive patient interaction. Once time reaches 20 minutes, 99457 applies instead, with 99458 for each added 20-minute increment.
These additions matter because the old rules left short-window and light-touch care unbillable. A patient who transmitted only a few days of data, or needed a brief check-in, produced work a practice could not code. The 2026 changes let providers bill for care they were already delivering. Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) can now bill individual RPM codes at national PFS rates, replacing the sunset G0511 bundle.
One rule has not changed. RPM management codes require documented, live, two-way communication with the patient or caregiver. Automated data alone does not qualify.
The Telehealth Policy Picture for 2026 and Beyond
Policy uncertainty shaped much of the telehealth conversation through 2025. That uncertainty has eased for now. After a brief lapse, the Consolidated Appropriations Act signed in February 2026 extended Medicare’s core telehealth flexibilities through December 31, 2027.
The extension keeps several flexibilities in place. Medicare beneficiaries can continue to receive telehealth in any location, audio-only telehealth remains covered, and physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, and audiologists can keep furnishing telehealth services. The in-person requirement for mental health telehealth is waived into 2028.
For providers planning telehealth in the future, the takeaway is stability with a horizon. The flexibilities are extended, not permanent, so programs built to last should not assume they continue indefinitely without further Congressional action.
How RPM Companies Help With Workflow
The 2023 finding that most organizations lacked telehealth workflows still explains why many practices partner rather than build. Running remote monitoring in-house means device logistics, patient onboarding, data review, and technical support on top of clinical work.
Pricing structures vary by how much of the process a practice wants to keep. Full-service models cover device set-up, patient education, data review, and patient interaction. Basic models generally cover only set-up and education, which leaves data review and patient interaction to the practice. A basic model can return more per patient, but it adds hours to a clinician’s week. Once the cost of that time is counted, alongside shipping, onboarding, and support, a full-service model is often the better investment.
Frequently Asked Questions
1) What is telehealth in the future expected to look like?
Newer Sage Growth Partners data suggests telehealth in the future centers on integration and return rather than adoption. In 2025, 72% of executives called virtual care critical to their delivery model, and half named telehealth a top digital health priority. The focus has shifted from getting telehealth in place to making it pay off through better workflows and remote patient monitoring.
2) Is there a newer report than Telehealth in 2023?
Yes. Sage Growth Partners has published two more recent surveys: Telehealth: The Innovation That’s Not Yet a Habit in August 2023, and Strategic Shift: Why Patient Experience Is Now Healthcare’s Top C-Suite Priority in October 2025. The 2025 report surveyed 101 healthcare executives and is the closest successor to the original Telehealth in 2023 predictions.
3) What are the RPM CPT codes for 2026?
The 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule added 99445 for 2 to 15 days of device data in a 30-day period, and 99470 for 10 to 19 minutes of RPM management time. Existing codes 99453, 99454, 99457, and 99458 remain valid. The new codes are additions, not replacements.
4) Are Medicare telehealth flexibilities still in effect in 2026?
Yes. Legislation signed in February 2026 extended most Medicare telehealth flexibilities through December 31, 2027. This includes any-location access, audio-only coverage, and expanded practitioner eligibility. The flexibilities remain temporary and require further Congressional action to continue past that date.
5) How does remote patient monitoring fit into telehealth?
Remote patient monitoring provides continuous measurement data between telehealth visits. Where a telehealth visit captures a single moment, RPM transmits readings automatically so clinicians can track trends and intervene early. That continuity is central to preventive, proactive care and to the return that the newer telehealth data says executives are still working to achieve.
Understanding Telehealth in the Future
Telehealth in the future has moved past the adoption question that framed the original Telehealth in 2023 report. The newer Sage Growth Partners data shows access is no longer the issue. Integration, workflow design, and measurable return are. Nearly three-quarters of executives now call virtual care central to their delivery model, half prioritize telehealth, and 47% prioritize remote patient monitoring. At the same time, the 2026 CMS billing changes and the telehealth flexibility extension through 2027 give providers a clearer path to build durable programs. The organizations that gain the most will be the ones that redesign care around virtual visits and continuous data, not the ones that simply add a video option.
Tenovi helps healthcare organizations and channel partners deliver remote patient monitoring with cellular-connected devices that transmit patient data automatically through the Tenovi Gateway, with no patient WiFi or app required. Our platform supports chronic conditions including heart disease, COPD, diabetes, kidney disease, and hypertension, and is the only platform to include RPM devices for neuromuscular rehab. To see how it fits your telehealth strategy, get in touch for a free demo and consultation.
