Between the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first three months of 2026, telehealth usage increased by 10.1% across the United States, according to a new report from Fair Health.
Telehealth utilization, measured as a percentage of medical claims, increased from 5.01% of medical claims in Q4 2025 to 5.51% in Q1 2026. The relative increases were 12% in the Midwest, 11.8% in the Northeast, 9% in the South and 8.1% in the West, according to Fair Health data.
The percentage of patients billed for telehealth also increased nationally and in all four regions from the fourth quarter of 2025 to the first quarter of 2026. Nationally, the rate increased by 6.3% from 17.3% in the fourth quarter to 18.4% in the first quarter. The largest relative increase was in the Northeast at 7.3%.
The data is part of Fair Health’s newly launched Quarterly Telehealth Regional Tracker and is based on data from the nonprofit’s National Private Insurance Claims database. The database is built on commercial medical and dental claims from more than 75 contributors across the country, according to the company.
The quarterly tracker allows users to view telehealth infographics (PDF) by U.S. Census region or country. Data includes the top five diagnostic categories by age group. Percentage of medical billing statements. Percentage of patients who received telehealth claims. Urban and rural usage and top five procedure categories.
In the first quarter of 2026, mental health topped every diagnostic category for every age group, nationally and in every region. At the national level, the overall proportion of patients who claimed telemedicine for mental health conditions was 52.1%, compared to 26.9% for children aged 0-9 and 22% for adults aged 65 and older.
Following mental health, other diagnostic categories in the top five were acute respiratory and infectious diseases, overweight and obesity, endocrine and metabolic diseases, and joint and soft tissue diseases.
Established patient offices or outpatient services topped the treatment category (57.2%), followed by psychotherapy services and treatments (35%). new clinics or other outpatient services (7.7%); Synchronized audio-video assessment and management (6.8%) and psychiatric diagnostic procedures (6.7%).
Nationwide and in all regions, telemedicine utilization was also higher in urban areas. According to the report, 18.6% of patients in urban areas received telemedicine claims, compared to 10.3% of patients in rural areas.
However, the national growth rate from Q4 2025 to Q1 2026 was higher in rural areas (7.8%) compared to urban areas (6.2%).
