The Difference Between Telehealth vs Telemedicine
Key takeaways
- Telehealth is a broad umbrella term encompassing both clinical and nonclinical remote healthcare services.
- Telemedicine refers specifically to the remote delivery of clinical patient care, such as virtual consultations and post-op follow-ups.
- All telemedicine is telehealth, but not all telehealth is telemedicine.
- Adopting an integrated EHR and practice management system can help streamline both clinical and nonclinical remote workflows.
When comparing telehealth vs telemedicine, the simplest distinction is scope: telehealth is a broad umbrella term encompassing all remote clinical and nonclinical healthcare services, while telemedicine refers strictly to remote clinical patient care. Understanding this distinction can help practice administrators and physicians align their technology stack with modern patient expectations.
Not that long ago, offering virtual medical visits felt futuristic. Today, providing the option of remote care is an operational necessity. Recent shifts in policy have reduced obstacles to virtual visits, making it an effective way to deliver chronic, acute, primary, and specialty care.
Patients increasingly expect to connect with their providers from the comfort of their homes, and rural populations benefit immensely from expanded care options. In fact, according to a National Center for Biotechnology Information study, more than half of rural Americans feel they lack appropriate access to healthcare.
Telemedicine can help bridge that gap. As practices solidify their remote care strategies, clarifying the terminology is a helpful first step. Just as EMR and EHR have distinct meanings, there are distinct differences between telehealth and telemedicine.
What is telehealth?
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) defines telehealth as the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support long-distance clinical healthcare, patient and professional health-related education, public health, and health administration.
Simply put, telehealth is the overarching term for using technology to improve healthcare delivery, including nonclinical administrative and educational services.
Examples of telehealth services
Because it is such a broad category, telehealth takes many forms:
- Public health education: Resources, alerts, and community health updates.
- Professional training: Broadcasts or continuing education for healthcare professionals.
- Health administration: Systems management and nonclinical practice operations.
- Remote patient monitoring (RPM): Gathering and transmitting patient health data (like blood pressure or glucose levels) outside of a traditional healthcare setting.
- Asynchronous services: Transmission of medical reports or digital X-rays that do not require real-time interaction.
- Mobile health: Health information delivered over mobile devices, such as texting patient instructions via patient engagement tools.
What is telemedicine?
Telemedicine is a specific subset of telehealth focused exclusively on the delivery of remote clinical services. When a provider uses secure audio and video connections to evaluate, diagnose, or treat a patient, they are practicing telemedicine.
Beyond the added convenience it offers patients, the benefits of telemedicine — now used by over 80% of physicians — include helping to reduce hospital readmission rates, increasing access to specialists, and providing nonemergent care safely.
Examples of telemedicine in practice
Telemedicine focuses directly on the provider-patient clinical relationship:
- Remote video consultations: Used to diagnose, treat, and manage diseases or injuries.
- Post-op follow-up visits: Conducted through a secure video conference or phone call to check on recovery.
- Remote chronic care management: Virtual visits to monitor the health of patients managing long-term conditions.
- Preventive care support: Remote health visits designed to help patients maintain healthier lifestyles.
Telehealth vs telemedicine: A quick quiz
To put this into perspective, let’s look at a few common scenarios.
- Scenario 1: A public health alert is sent out to a community. This is telehealth because it is an educational, nonclinical service.
- Scenario 2: A provider reviews a digitally shared X-ray. This is telemedicine because it involves clinical decision-making for a specific patient.
- Scenario 3: A medical instructor broadcasts a lecture to students. This is telehealth since the focus is on professional education rather than patient treatment.
- Scenario 4: A physician conducts a virtual post-op visit. This is telemedicine.
Equipping your practice for remote care
Remote care is firmly established in modern medicine. To deliver it efficiently, specialty practices need the right technology. Instead of juggling fragmented software, relying on an integrated platform can help simplify both clinical telemedicine and broader telehealth communications. For instance, using ModMed® Telehealth directly through our all-in-one EMA® system keeps your clinical documentation, virtual visits, and patient messaging in one unified
Interested in learning more?
If your practice is ready to streamline remote care and reduce administrative burdens, schedule an assessment to see how our solutions can help.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as telehealth but not telemedicine?
Telehealth includes nonclinical services like public health alerts, continuing medical education for staff, and administrative health system management. Because these do not involve direct clinical patient care, they are telehealth but not telemedicine.
What counts as telehealth but not telemedicine?
Telehealth includes nonclinical services like public health alerts, continuing medical education for staff, and administrative health system management. Because these do not involve direct clinical patient care, they fall under telehealth but not telemedicine.
Does a specialty practice need separate software for telemedicine visits?
No, a specialty practice does not necessarily need standalone software. Many modern EHR platforms offer built-in telemedicine capabilities. An integrated system allows providers to launch secure virtual visits directly from the patient’s chart, helping reduce duplicate data entry and streamline the workflow.
What are examples of telehealth services that aren’t clinical visits?
Examples include sending automated appointment reminders, broadcasting public health updates, transmitting digital medical records asynchronously, and providing remote educational training for medical students.
Why do payers and health agencies use “telehealth” instead of “telemedicine”?
Health agencies and payers often prefer “telehealth” because it is a more comprehensive term. It covers not just the clinical treatment (telemedicine) but also the administrative, educational, and public health infrastructure required to deliver and manage that care remotely.
This blog is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or medical advice. Please consult with your legal counsel and other qualified advisors to ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and standards.
