This article, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, examines the trends in clinical outpatient encounters within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system between January 2019 and August 2023. The study focuses on the prevalence of in-person, video-based, and telephone-based care before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings show that the pandemic led to a decrease in in-person encounters, which were replaced by telephone and video-based encounters. However, in-person care has since rebounded, particularly in primary care services. Telemedicine, including video-based care, now accounts for a significant portion of outpatient care, particularly in mental health services. The study highlights the need for further research on the quality, safety, and health outcomes of telemedicine in this new equilibrium. [Extracted from the article]