What Does Telemedicine Cover vs In-Person Care? (2026 Guide)

Telemedicine covers roughly 60–70% of what a primary care doctor sees in clinic. The remaining 30–40% genuinely requires in-person care — mostly because something physical needs to be examined, measured, sampled, or operated on. This guide gives you a full map of which side of the line each common concern falls on.

The numbers are consistent across systems: NHS England's COVID-era data, Kaiser Permanente published outcomes, and multiple peer-reviewed reviews in BMJ, JAMA, and The Lancet all converge on the 60–70% figure for primary care.

What does telemedicine cover well?

• Respiratory infections: colds, flu, COVID, sore throat, bronchitis, sinusitis
• Skin conditions: rashes, eczema, acne, fungal infections, warts, suspected skin cancer triage
• Mental health: depression, anxiety, PTSD, OCD, insomnia, eating disorders
• Chronic disease reviews: diabetes, hypertension, asthma, COPD, thyroid, hypercholesterolaemia
• Women's health: contraception, menstrual concerns, menopause, STI screening discussion, PCOS, UTI
• Men's health: erectile dysfunction, hair loss, testosterone, STI screening
• Children's health: common paediatric illnesses, rashes, behaviour concerns, developmental queries
• Sexual health: STI risk assessment, PrEP/PEP, HIV testing referral
• Travel medicine: vaccinations, malaria prophylaxis, country-specific health advice
• Prescription renewal for stable chronic medications
• Lab result interpretation
• Second opinions on existing diagnoses
• Lifestyle medicine: weight, sleep, nutrition, smoking cessation, alcohol reduction
• Post-discharge follow-up after hospital admission
• Minor injuries triage — the doctor can assess via video whether you need A&E

What requires in-person care?

• Physical examination: abdominal palpation, lung/heart auscultation, lymph node or joint examination, pelvic or rectal examination, ENT examination
• Diagnostic imaging: X-ray, ultrasound, CT, MRI, mammography
• Blood draws, swabs, biopsies
• ECG, spirometry, audiometry
• Procedures: suturing, injection of joints, removal of lesions, IUD insertion
• Obstetric care: foetal heartbeat, fundal measurement, ultrasound monitoring
• Vaccinations
• Emergencies: chest pain, stroke symptoms, severe breathing difficulty, serious trauma
• Severe mental illness with safety concerns: acute suicidality, psychosis
• Dental problems beyond pharmacological pain management
• Ophthalmology: anything requiring slit lamp or dilated exam

The grey area: what depends on the case

Some problems sit on the boundary and a doctor's judgement is needed case by case: abdominal pain (sometimes obvious from history, sometimes requires palpation); headache (most are primary, but red flags demand imaging); back pain (usually mechanical, occasionally serious pathology). GeraClinic doctors will tell you directly if they need to examine you and can issue a referral letter if so.

How do labs and scans work with telemedicine?

Your doctor issues a request electronically; you attend a local partner lab or imaging centre; results return to the GeraClinic platform; a follow-up video call reviews them. In markets where GeraClinic has partner lab networks (Armenia, UK, Nigeria, Kenya, India, Brazil, Bangladesh, and more), sample collection can often be arranged at your home.

How do referrals work?

A GeraClinic doctor can refer you to an in-person specialist locally, or to another online specialist within the platform. The referral letter includes clinical notes, medications, and the question for the specialist. Accepted by NHS hospitals (where the private-to-NHS transfer pathway applies), private hospitals, and all major specialist networks.