Stories that show how broadband applications can improve our quality of life are everywhere. Particularly amazing are the stories about how modern medicine is taking advantage of today’s new technology through telemedicine, remote surgery, computerized systems and health monitoring. The advances we have seen in the past 10 years are truly amazing.

So why are critical medical records are still on paper, shelved in doctor’s offices, and sometimes even in cities where the patient no longer lives?

Last week, a group of health providers, patients and industry groups launched the HealthITNow! Coalition. Its goal is to promote the rapid deployment of health information technology and thus provide instant access to a patient’s complete health history, test results and records.

The Rand Corporation estimates that Health IT could save consumers $81 billion annually in health care expenses. It would provide better support for medical decisions by making up-to-date medical records available at a moment’s notice — anywhere in the country. And most importantly, it could help reduce the tens of thousands of deaths that occur each year as a result of medical errors.

To promote the deployment of health information technology, HealthITNow! is calling upon the government to establish standards, provide incentives and use Health IT in its own programs. That would be a significant step toward a national Health IT system.

But equally important is a continued commitment to national and state initiatives that seek to increase broadband deployment. The effectiveness of nationwide Health IT (like many other Internet applications in a variety of industries) is dependent upon the comprehensive availability of broadband. Health IT doesn’t work if health care providers and patients don’t have the broadband necessary to access it.

Broadband will be the link to government policies supporting vital programs like Health IT and delivering these services throughout the nation. But we need to make sure companies are free to innovate – and not hemmed in by unnecessary or burdensome regulations.

Health IT could vastly improve the quality of our lives – but only if we also have widespread access to broadband. We need to stay focused on making both a reality.

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