By 2018, Kaiser Permanente will perform more virtual visits than in-person office visits.

This bombshell of sorts came to us from Dr. Robert Pearl, executive director and CEO of the Permanente Medical Group and president and CEO of the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group. Pearl was on a keynote panel Tuesday at the 13th annualWorld Health Care Congress in Washington, and spoke to MedCity News briefly afterwards.

Obviously, telehealth technologies such as secure e-mail, telephone and video will not replace all care anytime soon. Some procedures, such as radiology tests, biopsies and surgeries, of course, have to be done in a clinical setting, but Pearl was referring to office visits.