Somesh Chandra: Is telehealth here to stay?

In the early stages of the pandemic, when lockdown meant that many patients were wary of visiting doctor's surgeries in person, the use of digital healthcare services rocketed. The curious thing, though, is that this technology wasn't new. It was entirely possible, pre-COVID, to organise a teleconsultation, but at AXA we found* that, of those who registered for the Virtual Doctor service, 26% went on to use it. After the pandemic hit, that figure leapt to 64%, as the service was used in 65 more countries, totalling 141 by December 2021. Initially, during the first few months of the...