After peaking during the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual care utilization has settled into a hybrid rhythm—one that blends digital tools with in-person services. While some observers interpret this normalization as stagnation, members of the Senior Executive Healthcare Think Tank see something else entirely: a reset that creates space for smarter, more intentional use of virtual care.
While telehealth visit volumes have declined from pandemic highs, organizations that embed virtual care into longitudinal care models continue to see gains in patient satisfaction, access and efficiency, particularly for chronic disease management and preventive services. The opportunity, experts agree, lies not in doing more virtual visits—but in applying virtual care where it can have the greatest clinical and financial impact.
Drawing on their experience across medical devices, AI-enabled care-at-home, culturally responsive wellness and payer-led care delivery, Think Tank members outline where virtual care still holds untapped promise—and how healthcare leaders can unlock it.
“Untapped opportunity lies in integrating consumer-facing diagnostic and therapeutic devices.”
From Crisis Response to Continuous Care at Home
Eugene Zabolotsky, CEO of Health Helper, has spent nearly three decades designing consumer-facing medical devices that enable self-care outside traditional clinical settings. He sees today’s slowdown in telehealth adoption as a signal that the industry must evolve beyond video visits alone.
“During the pandemic, virtual care focused largely on mental health and crisis support,” Zabolotsky says. “Today, untapped opportunity lies in integrating consumer-facing diagnostic and therapeutic devices for musculoskeletal rehab, women’s health, dermatology, weight management and general wellness.”
Zabolotsky emphasizes that these tools enable “earlier intervention, better outcomes and lower costs through continuous, proactive care,” rather than episodic treatment triggered by acute events. This aligns with growing evidence that expanded use of remote patient monitoring has been associated with fewer hospital readmissions and improved chronic disease control when paired with clinician oversight.
For companies like Health Helper, the future of virtual care is not a replacement for clinicians but an extension of their reach—bringing therapeutic support into daily life in ways that reduce dependence on medications and costly interventions.
The Case for a Unified Virtual Care Operating System
Mark Francis, Chief Product Officer at Electronic Caregiver, Inc., has seen firsthand how rapid telehealth adoption created unintended complexity for providers. As organizations rushed to deploy solutions, many ended up with fragmented systems that now hinder scalability.
“Telehealth adoption has slowed since the pandemic peak as we have entered a new norm of hybrid care,” Francis says. “The benefit of data obtained outside the clinic is no longer disputed. Now, the issues are finding the right blend of virtual versus in-person care and how best to allocate resources.”
Francis notes that many health systems emerged from the pandemic with “six different virtual care solutions with six different interfaces and no data sharing,” calling that fragmentation “a no-go in the post-pandemic world.” His solution is an open, unified platform model that integrates directly into the EHR and across virtual care offerings.
An approach like Electronic Caregiver’s Addison Care platform, he explains, creates “a unified OS or ‘single pane of glass’ interface” that simplifies workflows and improves ROI. For many healthcare organizations, interoperability remains one of the top determinants of digital health success, particularly as organizations shift from pilots to enterprise-scale deployments.
“By offering online preventative care services, we help users address challenges before they escalate into chronic conditions or costly interventions.”
Preventive and Culturally Responsive Virtual Care
For Feri Naseh, Founder and CEO of MeTime Healing LLC, the next phase of telehealth must address populations that traditional care models often underserve. She points to expatriates and global citizens as one such group, noting persistent barriers related to culture, language and lifestyle.
“Even though telehealth adoption has slowed, there are significant untapped opportunities in preventative and culturally sensitive virtual care,” Naseh says. “Expatriates and global citizens often face barriers in accessing care that resonates with their cultural background or lifestyle.”
At MeTime Healing, Naseh’s team delivers online wellness workshops, stress management programs and personalized therapy sessions designed to intervene before conditions escalate.
“By offering online preventative care services, we help users address challenges before they escalate into chronic conditions or costly interventions,” she says.
Virtual care is not just for reactive care, Naseh adds, but also for “proactive, accessible and culturally tailored wellness programs that truly improve outcomes.”
“Virtual care’s most crucial impact lies beyond routine video visits.”
Embedding Virtual Care Into Clinical Workflows
Harikrishnan Muthukrishnan, Principal IT Developer at BCBS FLORIDA, views virtual care through the lens of operational integration. With experience modernizing complex healthcare systems across three continents, he believes the biggest gains come when virtual care supports continuity rather than convenience alone.
“Virtual care still holds significant untapped potential when applied to the right pain points in healthcare delivery,” Muthukrishnan says. “Its most crucial impact lies beyond routine video visits.”
He highlights post-discharge monitoring, micro-interventions for chronic disease and hospital-at-home coordination as high-value use cases. These models focus on “continuity, early intervention and timely escalation rather than episodic care.”
When virtual care is embedded in clinical workflows, supported by remote monitoring and transparent accountability,” Muthukrishnan says, “it helps detect issues earlier, reduce avoidable readmissions and emergency visits, and lower overall costs, all while maintaining personalized, accessible care centered on real patient needs.”
How to Leverage the Telehealth of Today
- Expand virtual care beyond video visits. Integrate consumer-facing diagnostic and therapeutic tools that support continuous care at home.
- Simplify the virtual care ecosystem. Invest in unified platforms that integrate with the EHR to reduce fragmentation and improve ROI.
- Design for prevention and cultural relevance. Use virtual care to deliver proactive, culturally sensitive wellness services that engage patients earlier.
- Embed virtual care into care pathways. Align virtual tools with clinical workflows to support post-discharge care, chronic disease management and early intervention.
The Next Chapter of Virtual Care
Telehealth’s post-pandemic slowdown is less a sign of diminished relevance than a signal that the industry is entering a more disciplined, value-driven phase. The next wave of its impact will come from how thoughtfully digital tools are integrated into care delivery, clinical workflows and patients’ everyday lives.
For healthcare leaders, the opportunity now is not about reviving telehealth’s pandemic-era momentum, but about refining it, treating virtual care not as an add-on, but as a core capability of modern healthcare delivery. Those who do will define the next phase of hybrid care.
