What role does broadband play in disaster response and recovery? An important and versatile one, according to a panel of experts who spoke today at the Brookings Institute. The panel, titled “Telehealth and Mobile Communications: The New Frontier in Modern Emergency Preparedness,” featured Dr. Alexander Vo, Executive Director of the AT&T Center for Telehealth Research and Policy at the University of Texas at Galveston, Marion Orr, Director of the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions at Brown University, and Joe Becker, Senior Vice President of Disaster Services at the American Red Cross.

Becker discussed the results of a recent survey that aimed to determine the likelihood of people to evacuate when faced with the prospect of a looming natural disaster. He also talked about how social media is dramatically changing the way leaders in the emergency response sector are doing business, citing the American Red Cross specifically. Becker also touched on the importance of leveraging technologies that people use in their every day life and making them part of the disaster response equation.

Dr. Alexander Vo discussed a recent study released by the University of Texas Medical Branch titled, “UTMB Telemedicine Disaster Response and Recovery: Lessons Learned from Hurricane Ike.” The study examines the role of broadband in delivering telemedicine applications, especially in the event of a natural disaster or major emergency. Vo stressed the importance of telemedicine networks partnering with state and local governments as well as commercial broadband providers in order to ensure that the information is delivered reliably. Dr. Vo made what is sure to be a splash for those who get caught up in the “rankings” game. When asked what country is setting the example in telemedicine programs, Dr. Vo answered the United States in both application and practice, with a major contributing factor being broadband infrastructure availability.

Click below to watch more from Dr. Vo in his exclusive interview with NextGenWeb.

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The Path to a High Performance U.S. Health System
A 2020 Vision and the Policies to Pave the Way
The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System
February 2009

o Accelerating the spread and use of HIT can save as much as $261 billion.
o Provide funding to support health information networks and assistance for safety-net providers and small.

Click here to read the full study: www.commonwealthfund.org

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Clinical Information Technologies and Inpatient Outcomes: A Multiple Hospital Study
By Ruben Amarasingham, MD, MBA; Laura Plantinga, ScM; Marie Diener-West, PhD; Darrell J. Gaskin, PhD; Neil R. Powe, MD, MPH, MBA
Archives of Internal Medicine
Volume 169, Number 2, January 26, 2009

• A 10-point increase in the automation of notes and records was associated with a 15% decrease in the adjusted odds of fatal hospitalizations

• Clinical information technologies hold great promise as a tool to improve hospital medicine. We found that, for certain conditions, greater automation of a hospital’s information system may be associated with reductions in mortality, complications, and costs, suggesting that information technologies that are properly designed and executed around clinical workflows could meet that promise.

Click here to read the full study: www.ama-assn.org

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The Digital Road to Recovery: A Stimulus Plan to Create Jobs, Boost Productivity and Revitalize America
The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation
January 2009
By Robert D. Atkinson, Daniel Castro and Stephen J. Ezell

• ITIF estimates that spurring an additional investment of $30 billion in America’s IT network infrastructure in 2009 will create approximately 949,000 U.S. jobs
• Investments in America’s digital infrastructure will lead to higher productivity, increased competitiveness, and improved quality of life in the moderate to long term.

Click here to read the full study: www.itif.org

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Enabling Healthcare Reform Using Information Technology
Recommendations for the Obama Administration and the 111th
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society
December 17, 2008

• 2009 is the year for healthcare reform in the United States. The federal government must take action.

• It is essential that health IT be harnessed as a tool to transform healthcare, improve quality by delivering information where and when it is most needed, reduce costs, empower consumers in their healthcare decisions, and provide for the privacy and security of personal health information.

Click here for the full study.

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Accelerating Progress: Using Health Information Technology and Electronic Health Information Exchange to Improve Care
State Alliance For E-Health

• Health information technology (HIT) and electronic health information exchange (HIE) are critical tools in states’ efforts to transform health care in this country.
• HIT has strong potential to drive health system improvements, and states have taken steps in recent years to promote widespread use of HIT and enable access to information through electronic exchange.

Read the full text here: www.nga.org

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Digital Quality of Life: Understanding the Personal and Social Benefits of the Information Technology Revolution

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
By Robert D. Atkinson and Daniel D. Castro
October 1, 2008

• In the new global economy, information technology (IT) is the major driver of both economic growth and improved quality of life.
• IT is the key enabler of many, if not most, of today’s key innovations and improvements in our lives and society €”from better education and health care, to a cleaner and more energy efficient environment, to safer and more secure communities and nations.
• Although the emerging digital economy has produced enormous benefits, the best is yet to come.

Click here to read the full study.

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Striking Jump In Consumers Seeking Health Care Information
Center for Studying Health System Change
August 2008

• In 2007, 56 percent of American adults €”more than 122 million people €”sought information about a personal health concern online, up from 38 percent in 2001.
• It is encouraging that so many consumers across all age, education, income and racial/ethnic groups report positive effects from obtaining health information online.

Click here to read the full study

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The Increasingly Important Impact of Wireless Broadband Technology and Services on the U.S. Economy
Ovum
July 2008

• By 2016 the value of the combined mobile wireless voice and broadband productivity gains will reach $427 billion per year.
• Between 2004 and 2005, the productivity enhancements generated by the use of mobile wireless broadband tripled in value.
• In 2005, productivity improvements due to use of mobile broadband solutions across the U.S. health care industry were worth almost $6.9 billion. By 2016, that number will triple to $27.2 billion.

Click here to read the full study.

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FCC Fifth Report
June 12, 2008

• Advanced telecommunications capability is meeting the challenge.   Capacity and availablity are increasing.
• Broadband depolyment is increasing to important contituencies like rural Americans, the disabled, and minorities.
• OECD rankings are not accurate.

Click here to read the full study.

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