Dr. Joseph Kvedar
Director, Center for Connected Health

As we see it, there are four cornerstones of connected health: the collection and transmission of accurate physiologic data, patient access to their own personal data, data-driven coaching and an optimal provider involvement. Steps taken this past year will prove to have gone a long way toward the eventual creation of one interconnected network of health information technology.

Americans are living longer, resulting in growing numbers of people who are more susceptible to chronic illnesses requiring ongoing medical attention and treatment. At the same time, the gap between numbers of primary care physicians and nurses and the demand for their services continues to widen. Our health care infrastructure is proving inadequate, as well.

Connected health services over broadband can help us meet this challenge. Organizations like ours at the Center for Connected Health are developing applications to increase access to quality health care, improve the delivery of medical services and control skyrocketing health care costs.

Technology-enabled connected care gives patients the ability to monitor their medical condition at home and play a greater role in managing their own care. They can spend less time in the hospital and more time at home with their families and, ultimately, help to improve their quality of life and treatment outcomes.

Broadband allows care providers to be more alert to current needs and address issues in a timelier manner. It expands consultative capabilities and can give patients a higher level of care, and more timely interventions, without the need for expensive, time-consuming hospital visits.

Over the past year, the dialogue was advanced throughout the country, including at the Center for Connected Health’s annual Connected Health Symposium. The Symposium brought together an expansive audience ranging from health care professionals to government leaders to wireless broadband providers to explore connected health opportunities. Each year the forum provides a platform for MDs and nurses to engage in conversations about technology-based applications in cardiac care, medication adherence, dermatology, remote monitoring, mental health and numerous wellness programs, all actively advanced by the Center for Connected Health.

Our Center — a division within Partners HealthCare in Boston — is involved in programs that demonstrate the value of connected health technology for cardiac patients and diabetes patients, increasing the efficiency of their care and improving their quality of life. Employees of forward-thinking companies are also benefiting from our programs, including SmartBeat, a hypertension self-management service we offer to self-insured employers. In the field of dermatology, the Center is helping doctors and patients use digital cameras and the Internet to facilitate diagnosis and treatment.

But many of the connected health initiatives rely on the widespread availability of high-speed Internet service. The most innovative online health care services we can envision are worthless if patients and providers don’t have access to the communications technology that supports them.

The U.S. is making advances in broadband availability, but much work — and much investment — must still be done. As we embark on a new year, it is critically important that the government create and maintain a business environment that will encourage Internet service providers to continue investing heavily in a sophisticated, reliable national network.

We believe that 2008 was a great year for the medical community in general, and the state of connected health care more specifically. The future is bright thanks to new applications and programs utilizing broadband to deliver top-quality health care throughout the U.S. We hope this increased understanding and awareness will prove useful in the ongoing collaboration between medical professionals, health care providers, communications providers and policy makers so this exciting concept can become an integral part of the future of American health care.

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