Populus Health Technologies (Populus), a virtual care media and technology company, today announced the release of the “Virtual Care in America: The Populus Report,” a first-of-its-kind research report examining how patients, healthcare providers and pharma marketers define, use and value virtual care.
Based on survey findings from 1,281 respondents, including 1,093 patients, 125 healthcare providers (HCPs) and 63 pharma marketers, the report reveals the extent to which patients rely on virtual interactions with their healthcare providers to manage their health, while showing where the next opportunities are emerging for providers and life sciences brands.
The report — developed in partnership with PM360, DHC Group, and Researchscape International — introduces a more modern way to think about the category with a new definition, “Virtual Care is the category of all digital environments — video, phone, text, email, patient portal and the modalities yet to come — where a patient and a healthcare provider exchange clinical attention.”
“For years, healthcare has used terms such as telehealth, telemedicine, connected care, portal messaging, SMS, email follow-up and asynchronous care as if they were separate experiences,” said Andrew Schulman, Vice President of Marketing at Populus. “The insights uncovered in the report found that patients do not experience them that way. To them, these are all part of how they connect today with their healthcare providers.”
“Virtual care has moved beyond a pandemic-era workaround,” said Edith Hodkinson, Chief Strategy Officer at Populus. “It is now a care environment where patients are showing up, providers are managing real clinical moments and pharma marketers have an opportunity to deliver education and support in ways that are useful, measurable and connected to outcomes.”
The report’s central idea, “Virtual Engagement Drives Real Outcomes,” reflects a category that has moved beyond convenience into a more strategic role in healthcare delivery, patient engagement and pharma marketing.
Key Findings from the Virtual Care in America: The Populus Report
Virtual care is improving access to care
The report finds that 76% of patients say virtual care makes it faster and easier to access healthcare, while 54% actively chose a virtual care visit over an in-office visit when both were available. Speed also matters: 45% cited faster availability as a reason for choosing virtual care.
Patients trust and value the virtual care experience
Patients reported high levels of satisfaction, safety and comfort in virtual care settings. The report finds that 87% of patients were completely or very satisfied with their last virtual care visit, 88% felt extremely or very safe using virtual care and 86% were extremely or very comfortable discussing personal or sensitive topics virtually.
Virtual care is connected to behaviors that matter
Providers report improvements among patients using virtual care across several care behaviors: 81% reported improved follow-up appointment completion, 54% observed improved medication adherence and 51% reported improved chronic disease management.
For many providers, virtual care is already part of practical day-to-day care, including follow-ups, prescription management, refills and chronic care support.
Virtual care creates new engagement moments for pharma marketers
The report identifies the pre-visit window as an underused opportunity for patient education. The report finds that 51% of patients are focused on their screen before and during a virtual care appointment, and 46% would be interested in receiving health information or educational content while waiting.
Pharma marketers are also seeing value. According to the report, 78% say virtual care offers better or much better ROI versus traditional digital health advertising, 79% say it accelerates treatment initiation and 48% say it offers better attribution than other digital channels.
Patients want more support, and providers are open to appropriate pharma presence
The report finds that 73% of patients would find patient support program enrollment extremely or very valuable during or after a virtual visit. At the same time, 53% of providers find pharma presence in virtual care acceptable or helpful, while 57% rarely or never encounter pharma brand messaging in virtual care settings. Populus identifies this as a clear gap between patient demand, provider openness and current pharma execution.
“The opportunity is not simply more media, but better presence: useful education, relevant support and smarter follow-up across the virtual care journey,” said Hodkinson.
A New Framework for Pharma Marketers
Virtual Care in America: The Populus Report is organized around six themes: Speed to Care, Trusted Platform, New Ways to Engage, Integrated Impact, Quality Outcomes and Permission Granted. Together, they show where virtual care is delivering value, where it remains fragmented and where pharma has room to lead.
For pharma marketers, the practical takeaway is clear: virtual care should not be planned as a list of disconnected placements. It should be planned as one connected category built around the moments where patients are paying attention before the visit, during the visit, after the visit and between visits.
The report also points to several conclusions for the healthcare ecosystem:
- For many patients, particularly those requiring specialty care, virtual care can mean the difference between receiving care and delaying or forgoing it altogether.
- For providers, virtual care is becoming an important way to support follow-up, prescription management, adherence, treatment-plan compliance and chronic disease management.
- For pharma marketers, virtual care creates a way to connect pre-visit attention, clinical workflow, post-visit support and between-visit engagement into a more cohesive patient journey.
The report is the first edition of an ongoing Populus thought leadership franchise, with future work expected to include annual refreshes, therapeutic-area deep dives, specialty cuts, AI-focused research and frameworks for integrated virtual care planning and measurement.
Webinar Series and Report Access
Populus will host a series of webinars that explore the report’s findings in greater depth, featuring industry experts to bring the report to life and hosted by Andrew Schulman, Vice President of Marketing at Populus. The first webinar, focused on patients, will take place at 12:30 pm (EST) on June 18, 2026, followed by a second webinar on June 25, 2026, centered on healthcare professionals. To request access to the full report, visit www.populushealthtech.com/the-populus-report. To sign up for the upcoming webinars, click here.
About the Virtual Care in America: The Populus Report
Virtual Care in America: The Populus Report is based on multiple surveys conducted on behalf of Populus. The provider survey included 125 U.S. HCPs and was conducted by DHC Group in late February 2026. The pharma marketer survey included 63 U.S. marketing professionals in the pharma industry and was fielded by PM360 from February 26 to March 25, 2026. The patient survey included 1,093 U.S. adults aged 18 and older and was fielded by Researchscape International from February 18 to March 16, 2026. Patient results were weighted to be representative of the overall population of telehealth visitors.
About Populus Health Technologies
Founded in 2019, Populus is a Princeton, N.J.-based virtual care media and technology company that connects life science brands to patients and healthcare professionals at the precise moment when care consultations take place. Its suite of engagement solutions empowers brands to reach both audiences with precision, at scale and with measurable impact through 1:1 attribution. To learn more about Populus, visit www.populushealthtech.com. Follow Populus on LinkedIn to learn the latest company news.
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