Jonathan Gitlin, Science Writer for ArsTechnica, posted a great piece on how broadband is bringing the promise of health care to rural America:

“If you happen to live in one of the country’s major cities, concerns over access to healthcare tend to be of the financial sort, rather than geographical. But, for the millions of Americans who live in rural locations, being able to find a specialist isn’t necessarily something that can be taken for granted. In a state like the one I live in, patients might have to travel for several hours before they reach a neurologist or oncologist.

Telemedicine seeks to solve this problem by bringing the doctor to the patient without spending all that time on the road. Think of it as videoconferencing on steroids, with two-way audio and video communication, along with the ability to exchange other data, such as imaging results.”

Doctors perhaps better than anybody understand the promise broadband brings to health care.  From the technology-enabled applications that allow us to remotely care for more patients than ever before to the shortage we face in nurses and intensivists, broadband carries with it solutions to a burdened American health care system.

Studies have found that remotely monitoring patients with chronic illnesses could enhance patients’ quality of life by saving the stress and travel of repeated office visits and cut health care costs 25 percent, or some $350 billion annually. 

So why connected health you still ask?  There is a convergence of two trends that are the catalyst for connected health.  First, a growing capacity challenge – the shortage of care providers nationwide.  By some estimates, the health care industry is short about 800,000 nurses.  Many telemedicine centers have two nurses overseeing 150 patients via telemonitoring.  Compare this to the average homecare nurse who can visit only about 5 patients in a typical day.

Second, a growth in chronic illness.  The prevalence of heart failure has increased 500% over the last 30 years. The number of Americans with diabetes as doubled in the last 20 years.

Nobody is saying that broadband is the silver bullet solution.  But it should no doubt be a keystone part of any discussion aimed at addressing America’s biggest health care challenges.  And what we need first and foremost are the high-speed, high-capacity networks that make possible the eHealth programs that Jonathan references in his post.  That’s not a cheap proposal, but fortunately America’s broadband providers are stepping up to the plate.  This year alone they’re investing $60 billion in communications infrastructure upgrades to be sure the foundation is there for connected health programs to flourish.  This investment is only part of America’s broadband success story.  Public-private collaboration between local communities, government and industry is also playing a huge role in the rapid deployment of broadband to those areas in need of access.  And don’t just take it from us, check out our States Connected through Broadband page to see what initiatives are happening in your area. 

For more information, please visit our eHealth page and watch our feature on the Center for Connected Health affiliated with Partners HealthCare in Boston. 

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