To finish “broadband and healthcare” week, NextGenWeb had another opportunity to tour the AT&T Innovation Center. Larry Crenshaw, Technical Director for AT&T’s Innovation Center, demonstrated the innovative ways broadband is now being used in the healthcare field. He demonstrated how a small box can become a doctor’s office and even the benefits of having patients records online can improve diagnosis and save money on repeated tests.

As this week has shown, broadband has the power to greatly improve our healthcare system. Patients can now get one-on-one care from a physician even if they are in remote areas of the nation. Broadband allows the world to connect, and having doctors and medical providers on the same page with their patients allows for better treatment and practices.

To learn more about the ways AT&T is using broadband to make advancements in the medical field, watch below:

No Comments »

On Friday, NextGenWeb attended the National Summit of Clinicians for Healthcare Justice. During one of the panels, Dr. Andrew Narva discussed his work in telenephrology, using telehealth communications to work with patients who suffer from diabetic and kidney diseases. NextGenWeb has often mentioned the importance of broadband working to improve healthcare and Dr. Narva’s use with telenephrology is exactly that.

Dr. Narva focuses a good deal of his efforts in the American Indian community. Both kidney disease and diabetes are a growing concern among American Indians, at a rate of three times higher than the average population. The cost of receiving care is often high and the location of help centers is few. With the use of broadband and telehealth, American Indians are able to receive the care and support they need from doctors with just a click of the mouse.

Dr. Narva is one of the only doctors using telehealth methods on tribal lands. He uses broadband to connect American Indians on rural tribal lands to doctors and nurses in real time. Healthcare professionals even have access to electronic health records. Having access to this information allows many doctors to understand the patient’s medical history. This type of technology can be used to greatly improve the health of not only American Indians, but anyone who lives in an area not close to medical clinics. Patients are able to get the information they need and specific care from healthcare professionals by connecting with broadband internet.

No Comments »

At a breakfast panel on the Hill yesterday, the Democratic Leadership Council hosted a conversation about “What Can Washington Do to Spur Business to Invest $1.8 Billion Currently Sitting Idle?”. Over coffee and pastries, Ed Gresser, DLC President, Hal Singer, Navigant Economics, and Rob Atkinson, of ITIF, discussed US business investment and the economy.

Ed Gresser addressed the numbers behind the current economic crisis and reasons for the slow climb to recovery. There are currently 15 million people out of work and the economy is growing at a sluggish pace. The reason, he said, is that people are not spending enough money to sustain the recovery. Gresser suggested we need creativity and energy in helping the economy move faster in the right direction. But what are the policies that will help us create more jobs? Broadband growth is a good start!

Last to speak, Rob Atkinson also jumped on the importance of broadband during the current state of the economy. Broadband is one key area where growth has occurred and it has the potential to stem even further. Investments into broadband are important for the reason that it is a platform technology. If better broadband is created, better applications will follow.

To hear more discussion about the economy and the effects broadband has on it, watch the video below.

No Comments »

Stay tuned for Next Gen Web’s coverage of Supernova Forum 2010: Perestroika, held July 29-30, 2010 in Philadelphia, PA.

No Comments »

On Tuesday, June 22, Third Way hosted an event titled, “Back in Black: A Plan to Defeat the Deficit.” The event featured a keynote address from Majority Leader, Steny H. Hoyer, as well as a panel discussion from Robert Bixby, of The Concord Coalition, Robert Greenstein, from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and the Honorable David Walker, of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. Click below to watch archived footage of the event.

No Comments »

With health care taking center stage in national policy debates, it is only fitting that some of the top e-health innovators in the U.S. will be gathering for an unconference in the fall to brainstorm on the future.

BIL:PIL is seeking to change the landscape of health care through science, technology and public policy. This TED-like event features over 100 speakers and 500 attendees.

Some of our e-health favorites on the agenda so far:
• Dr. Val Jones, CEO of Better Health (@drval)
• David Williams, Founding Executive, PatientsLikeMe.com (@DSWIII)
• David Hale, Project Manager, Pillbox. National Library of Medicine/NIH (@lostonroute66)

There is still time to add your name to the list. Speaker submissions will be accepted until September 30th. What broadband-powered innovation in health care would you share?

No Comments »

House Majority Whip James Clyburn joined broadband advocates, providers and policymakers to discuss how the FCC’s National Broadband Plan will affect the broadband stimulus.  Clyburn believes that broadband is essential to the recovery effort today.

Most of the communities that Clyburn represents were left out of earlier census tracks, and he is working tireless to make sure that that the recovery package will not repeat those mistakes.   The communities that Clyburn represents in South Carolina stand to recover, as does the entire nation, through broadband.  “Networks are very important to communities like mine.”

Clyburn believes strongly in the tremendous potential of broadband to advance education and health care.  “We can’t do health care correctly if we don’t do broadband sufficiently.”   He further made a special call to action for rural broadband, saying that connecting these communities will help them pull out of unemployment.   “It will move rural communities into our new economy.”

And by new economy, he surely he means our broadband economy.

No Comments »

The latest unconference to hit DC is Gov2.0Camp, and it is taking place at the Duke Ellington School in Georgetown tomorrow and Saturday. Don’t let the informalities fool you! The conference will convene 500 participants, has long been sold out, and is drawing the biggest names in government and new media to discuss the use of social technologies to create a more effective, efficient and collaborative U.S. government on all levels (local, state and federal).

The event has impeccable timing. News just broke today that the General Services Administration has signed agreements with several Web 2.0 services, including Flickr, YouTube, and Vimeo, to ensure federal agencies that use these new-media tools are safe from legal liability. Barack Obama also just completed the first-ever online town hall with a sitting President, allowing viewers to watch and submit questions from WhiteHouse.gov.

As the government follows President Obama’s lead and continues to grow online, both in transparency and interactivity, broadband becomes even more of a necessity. Gov2.0Camp will be exploring this and many other issues. You can follow the conversation on Twitter via the hashtag #gov20camp, join the online community GovLoop, and of course, watch for continued coverage on NextGenWeb.

No Comments »

New York Leads Nation in Electronic Medical Records Systems
eMax Health
March 11, 2009

Click here to read the full article: www.emaxhealth.com

No Comments »

The top strategists from recent political campaigns took to the stage to present “What Your Start-Up Can Learn from Barack Obama and Howard Dean” at South by Southwest on Saturday. Although many in the political world of Washington, DC, have been carefully considering each campaign’s approach for months, this discussion was unique because the panelists were applying their political experiences to technology start-up businesses.

Clay Johnson of Sunlight Foundation captured the audience’s attention right off the bat when he asserted that even new technology businesses need to have an opponent. Just as Barack Obama was fighting against the status quo and Howard Dean was fighting against the Iraq War, start-ups need to similarly address an enemy, whether that is boredom, connectivity, or whatever a new business seeks to address. And just as the candidates did, new businesses need people to understand why their product or service means change for them.

Jake Brewer, the Internet Director of the Energy Action Coalition, enumerated several concepts from campaigns that tech start-ups should embrace. Brewer encouraged start-ups to think like a movement and to be open and authentic. More concretely, he also believes that email and video are still keys to engaging the public. And finally, he urged start-ups to fail and learn from the ways that they fail, just as many campaigns do.

Michael Bassik, a longtime political strategist and currently Chief Digital Officer for Air America Media, believes that start-ups also should consider taking a localized approach. This includes localizing online marketing, website content, email marketing, mobile marketing, and more. Taking a cue from Obama, Bassik is confident that providing a local connection will be extremely valuable to even a national business marketing campaign.

Scott Goodstein was the power behind Obama’s innovative mobile campaign, known best for embracing shortcodes and giving mobile subscribers first-to-know information. Goodstein urges start-ups not to be afraid to experiment with new technologies and to use short-term testing to see which approaches are most effective. Citing the viral video success of the Obama campaign’s Will.i.Am video, Goodstein noted that consumer attention is a great way to validate tactics.

Finally, Mary Katherine Ham represented the Republican angle of the panel. Ham is from Weekly Standard and was formerly a conservative blogger for TownHall.com. Listening to your consumers is a great tool for start-ups which Ham saw the Dean campaign do by using feedback from supporters to craft fundraising messages. Her final advice — to communicate on a gut level and make sure not too use too much of your own jargon.

No Comments »