Every year in America more than 100,000 people die in hospitals as the result of medical errors. Many of those errors happen because critical information about a patient wasn’t available when treatment decisions were made, or because care givers misread handwritten prescriptions or notes.

Tragedies like this could be prevented through widespread use of electronic medical records that, with appropriate security precautions, could be accessed instantly when they are needed. Yet only 14 percent of U.S. physicians use electronic medical records.

Broadband access to the Internet is essential to maximize the effectiveness of health information technology, specifically as it relates to the implementation of Electronic Health Records (EHR). EHRs give providers instant access to the complete health history, test results and records of their patients. Doctors can obtain complete medical histories at the touch of a button, leading to fast and effective treatment decisions. EHRs can also help doctors get immediate information and medical history of an unconscious patient in an emergency or crisis.

However, without broadband, these efforts cannot be used to their full potential. For instance, applications that will embed in EHRs – video consults, large file advanced imaging, and remote guided surgeries – are not effective or even usable without high speed connectivity. Other innovations, like remote monitoring of patient vital signs at home, can save countless time and dollars in office visits and quickly alert clinicians to potential medical problems.

Absent a clear and workable broadband policy from the FCC and Congress, uncertainty about the future may dampen investment in critical infrastructure to promote adoption and technology use. Making high speed connectivity available to doctors and their patients at a reasonable cost is the job of America’s broadband networks. Health providers need to fold technology into their practices, which means vendors need to develop products that work for our health care workforce. And patients need to engage in their care. Together we can deliver the next generation of health that leverages technology to improve care and lower health costs.

Joel White is the Executive Director of the Health IT Now Coalition.

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It was the look on my father’s face when we got in his cherished white Tornado and handed me the keys with a sigh that said it all. He really loved cars. Perhaps it was being raised without one as a child of the depression. Maybe it was his hometown, a city in the heartland of automotive innovation and a short drive to Detroit. He lived the birth of the Zollner Pistons. He saw 10,000 workers make International Harvester Trucks and he saw the impact of the invention of the gasoline pump in Fort Wayne. His gold watch was testimony for 40 years at Tokhiem, one of the three gas pump manufacturers in town. I remember how he loved buying the latest new car and telling Mother that he would “hand it down” to one of the five kids. When those keys to the Corvair and especially the powder blue ’65 Mustang reached my hands, I felt the power of a Hoosier “car guy.” Could the INDY 500 be in my future?

But this day, with failing eyesight, he did not even try to take the test. He would not drive again. He felt like a teenager with no wheels. Stuck at home. Dependant on others for mobility. As a diversionary strategy we convinced my technophobic mother that a computer with dial-up would be a good investment for Dad and keep him out of her hair. Boy was it ever. He became a Senior Geek. And I learned a lot about life enhancing linkages. His desire to learn about using a computer soon got beyond what I could offer so we decided to hire a senior mentor from the nearby high school. This tech tutor for Dad meant a great deal for both. Since most of his grandkids were out of town, it was his weekly tutoring by a teenager that got him hooked online. With special magnification (even as his macular degeneration progressed) he learned finance software, paid bills, sent cards to grandkids, and shared photos with retirees online.

But this is also a story of opportunity lost. Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) began to take over his life. Even with two nurses in the family, the disease was disabling him. My wife, Mary, would often say “I just need to lay eyes on Art.” As a seasoned cardiology nurse she knew all the visual clues that were critical to managing the effects of the disease and improving the quality of his last months. Once I asked his cardiologist, “what percentage of your heart patients that enter the hospital would not need hospitalization if you could physically see them in the home before an emergency admission?” His reply: 50% of hospital visits could be reduced.

Life enhancing linkages are now being developed using broadband. Congestive Heart Failure telehealth services are showing us a new way to deliver home based services that improve care, support caregivers, and reduce the cost of unneeded emergency room visits and hospitalizations. There are a number of CHF Telehealth projects that have been generating positive results. Parkview Health Systems in Fort Wayne is in the early stages of a CHF Telehealth project. The Veterans Administration has a program as well.

This year the Center for Technology and Aging made five awards to demonstrate how remote patient monitoring technologies can improve the quality and efficiency of chronic disease management and post-acute care of older adults. One of the award recipients was the New England Healthcare Institute to work with CHF patients. The potential for these broadband Telehealth services to improve care and save money is very substantial. Nationwide 8 out of 10 older Americans suffer from one or more chronic illnesses including CHF. It is estimated that successful use of remote monitoring technologies could reduce the costs chronic disease by over $200 billion over 25 years by reducing emergency room (ER) visits, hospitalizations, hospital remissions and other healthcare services. In a survey of healthcare enterprises that have implemented the MeKesson Telehealth Advisor, results included a 66% reduction in ER visits and 52% reductions in hospital costs.

My father would have enjoyed the benefits of these new broadband life enhancing linkages. They will make later years in life a better experience for millions of Americans.

Graham Richard “America’s Broadband Mayor,” Mayor of Fort Wayne, Indiana (2000-2007), posted this for NextGenWeb and can be reached at gr@grahamrichard.com.

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Several new electoral trends emerged during the recent presidential election that accounted for Barack Obama’s victory and his nomination as the 44th president of the United States. This historic victory was the result of several different factors, not the least of which was the role that technology played throughout the election cycle. The Obama campaign harnessed the power of broadband unlike anything the political world had ever seen.

This morning National Journal and Powell Tate hosted a discussion with some of the leading journalists and pollsters who covered the race from start to finish. It was a dynamic, substantive and at times light-hearted discussion on the Obama victory and what it means for the American political landscape.

Be sure to check back soon for exclusive NextGenWeb video footage of the event as well as more live streams that deliver democracy right to your doorstep – or laptop. That’s the power of broadband.

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It feels like every day we’re reminded of how broadband access can significantly improve the lives of individual Americans — and quite frankly our planet.

The latest news is a study by the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), which finds that broadband technology can substantially impact our environment, our economy and our nation’s security. How? By helping to cut carbon emissions, boosting the economy and reducing our reliance on foreign oil.

The GeSI study, “SMART 2020: Enabling the Low Carbon Economy in the Information Age,” outlines the specifics of how information and communications technology can enable a significant reduction in carbon emissions in the United States through 2020. Equally important, it shows how this can happen without diminishing our quality of life.

The study shows that information and communications technologies, including broadband, could cut annual CO2 emissions in the United States between 13 and 22 percent through 2020. That equals savings in fuel and energy costs of between $140 billion and $240 billion. That could mean reducing our total oil consumption between 11 and 21 percent and our imports of foreign oil between 20 and 36 percent.

Of course, broadband isn’t the only player in these stunning predictions. But it is a foundational technology that enables other contributions, such as smart electrical grids, better designed transportation systems, smart buildings and travel substitution (bringing the work to the employee rather than the employee to the work).

We continue to build a vast arsenal of concrete evidence of the advantages of broadband access. It is a compelling case that our nation’s leaders cannot ignore. But of course, broadband technology cannot help when it isn’t ubiquitous. Our public policies must encourage investments that build this broadband foundation throughout the country.

If broadband is the base of a pyramid, then this GeSI study adds one more layer, one more innovative solution to our nation’s most pressing challenges.

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This week NextGenWeb attended a panel hosted by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation on “The Impact of IT on Energy.” The room was filled with leaders from H-P, Cisco, AT&T, Verizon and Dell. We heard about the energy challenge. But today’s talk was different because a solution was offered — and its name is broadband.

A comprehensive energy plan accounts for more than broadband. But it’s worth noting everyday examples of how broadband can help. Take music. Downloads from high-speed Internet connections cut back on the energy used in the shipping and production of CDs €”not to mention the gas guzzled to drive to a local record store (remember those?). On the work front, video conferencing allows for reduced energy consumption and travel costs. There’s also a push underway to create Smart Grids, which allow you to monitor and adjust your home energy consumption throughout the day. If you live in Austin, Texas, wouldn’t it be cool (no pun intended) if your air conditioner told you when it needed to run, reducing waste and your energy bill?

These solutions aren’t concepts, they’re choices that are possible today, and they all stem from broadband. It’s just one more way this exciting technology is offering innovative solutions to some of our nation’s most pressing challenges €”so long as we have policies that continue to encourage robust investment in this essential modern infrastructure.

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Latino Leaders Network Luncheon: honoring Henry Bonilla and Lionel Sosa with featured guests Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and Congressman Luis Fortuño

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Nextgenweb recently caught up with Matt Britten, winner of a MySpace online video competition that awarded him full media credentials throughout the DNC 2008 Convention. Matt came to Denver—traveling all the way from New York City €”hoping to be able to utilize new technologies, made possible by broadband, to tell the story of the convention from a personal perspective and put a new spin on “interactive media.” From MySpace to Twitter to Newsvine, technology and the Internet have enabled Matt to accomplish these goals and bring the convention to life from the point of view of a true “Citizen Journalist.”

Click below to see our mobile interview with Matt and learn more about his story.

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