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Background The COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally reshaped healthcare delivery worldwide, accelerating the adoption of telemedicine. This study aimed to examine patterns of teleconsultation use in Polish primary care across pandemic and post-pandemic phases. Methods We retrospectively analysed anonymized medical records from a nationwide primary care network ( N = 54,430 patients; 720,133 consultations, January 2020–December 2024). The dataset comprised 507,668 in-person visits (70.5%) and 212,465 teleconsultations (29.5%). Variables included patient age, sex, consultation type, and clinical actions (prescriptions, referrals, diagnostic tests). Results Teleconsultations accounted for 29.5% of all visits ( n = 212,465). Before the pandemic, all consultations were in-person, whereas during lockdown teleconsultations peaked at 78.5% ( n = 35,840). Their share declined to 65.1% in the first wave and 18.5% in the second wave, then stabilized at 11.8% ( n = 18,223) during the state of epidemic threat and 14.9% ( n = 32,153) in the post-COVID phase. Differences between periods were statistically significant (e.g., lockdown vs. pre-COVID: χ 2 = 46,451.9, p 0.001; post-COVID vs. pre-COVID: χ 2 = 5,454.5, p 0.001). Younger and middle-aged adults used teleconsultations proportionally more often than those ≥60 years, who consistently preferred in-person care. Remote visits were more frequently associated with prescription issuance, whereas in-person consultations more often involved diagnostic tests or specialist referrals. Conclusion Teleconsultations surged to nearly 80% of visits during lockdown and stabilized at 12–15% post-pandemic. Persistent demographic disparities and modality-specific clinical profiles highlight the need for tailored strategies, strengthened digital infrastructure, and clear guidelines to ensure safe and equitable integration of telemedicine into routine primary care.
Zakrzewski et al. (Fri,) studied this question.