at home longer and helps avoid unnecessary hospital time. In the long-term, this could potentially result in less burdening of the healthcare system and consumption of resources. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were large increases in the use of telemedicine for primary care visits within the United States, increasing from an average of 1.4 million visits in Q2 of 2018 and 2019 to 35 million visits in Q2 2020, according to data from IQVIA. The telehealth market is expected to grow at 40% a year in 2021. Use of telemedicine by General Practitioners in the UK rose from 20%-30% pre-COVID to almost 80% by the beginning of 2021. More than 70% of practitioners and patients were satisfied with this. Boris Johnson was said to have ‘piled pressure on GPs to offer more in-person consultations’ supporting a campaign largely orchestrated by the Daily Mail. The Royal College of General Practitioners said that a patient ‘right’ to have face-to-face appointments if they wished was ‘undeliverable’. Technology advancement The technological advancement of wireless communication devices is a major development in telehealth. This allows patients to self-monitor their health conditions and to not rely as much on health care professionals. Furthermore, patients are more willing to stay on their treatment plans as they are more invested and included in the process as the decision-making is shared. Technological advancement also means that health care professionals are able to use better technologies to treat patients for example in maternal care and surgery. A 2023 study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons showed telemedicine as making a positive impact, with expectations exceeded for those physicians and patients who had consulted online for surgeries. Technological developments in telehealth are essential to improve health care, especially the delivery of healthcare services, as resources are finite along with an ageing population that is living longer. Licensing U.S. licensing and regulatory issues Restrictive licensure laws in the United States require a practitioner to obtain a full license to deliver telemedicine care across state lines. Typically, states with restrictive licensure laws also have several exceptions (varying from state to state) that may release an out-of-state practitioner from the additional burden of obtaining such a license. A number of states require practitioners who seek compensation to frequently deliver interstate care to acquire a full license. If a practitioner serves several states, obtaining this license in each state could be