Healthcare and Broadband

Few industries are as data-intensive as healthcare, and none have a more pressing need to transfer information as accurately and instantaneously as possible. To meet these demands the field of telemedicine has evolved to handle tasks including the management of medical records, transmission of X-ray and MRI results, and remote consultations with physicians. At the very foundation of this communications infrastructure is broadband technology, enabling an unprecedented volume of data to stream through networks across a wide range of frequencies.

Rural Challenge

But what of the more than 30 percent of federally funded rural healthcare clinics that can’t afford secure and reliable broadband services? And what of the eight percent of Native American health service providers who have no broadband access at all? The Federal Communication Commission has a national broadband plan which understands this need, and has already recommended making high-speed Internet service a viable way to connect healthcare providers, patients, and hospitals. Such an effort has actually been a pilot project at the FCC since 2007, but has attracted little interest because of various bureaucratic restrictions (despite money drawn from an $8 billion annual phone subsidy).

FCC Solution

Thankfully on July 15^th the FCC introduced their new healthcare connectivity program with the specific goal of expanding investment in broadband for medically underserved communities across the United States. The goal would be to invest up to $400 million annually to empower healthcare professionals and the more than 2,000 rural hospitals and clinics they serve with the communications technology necessary to provide their patients with optimal healthcare—regardless of where they live. As envisioned the program would:

• Partner with public and nonprofit healthcare providers to invest millions in new regional and statewide broadband networks
• Make broadband connectivity more affordable by sharing half of the monthly recurring network costs with hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare providers
• Deliver connectivity where it is needed most today to include skilled nursing facilities and renal dialysis centers, along with off-site administrative offices and data centers that perform critical support functions

The FCC has also stated it would increase the portion of subsidized health provider service costs from 25 to 50 percent, and would pay for 85 percent of the construction costs for new or upgraded broadband networks where needed. The agency would also expand eligible rural health care providers to approximately 12,000 from about 9,800 entities today, and include skilled nursing facilities, acute care facilities, off-site administrative offices and data centers, and renal dialysis centers.

Program Benefits

Such an enormous investment in broadband connectivity would not only improve medical care, but could also help reduce healthcare costs through optimizing efficiencies and potentially reducing medical errors. Private industry would be stimulated through job creation related to infrastructure builds and the expanded implementation of healthcare technological solutions, while the ultimate end-user, the patient, benefiting by receiving tools otherwise only available in the largest and most sophisticated medical centers.

Healthcare Communications Opportunity

As the healthcare community progressively embraces information technology and the communications tools it has fostered, the advantages gained through broadband have been felt by millions of patients and caregivers worldwide. Going to the Internet for healthcare-related information is now common, as people seek answers from multiple sources, including their peers. Websites such as WebMD and even Wikipedia provide an amazing amount of healthcare information, while readily available tools and resources, including desktop and mobile application, do everything from help track a patient’s blood glucose level to plan diets and keep track of doctor’s appointments.

Unfortunately for certain areas of the country, however, Pew Research Center surveys reveal that rural areas statistically lag far behind urban and suburban areas in terms of home broadband access, putting these residents at a marked disadvantage. Without speedy connections that enable access to  the healthcare platforms, applications, and technologies, rural healthcare information seekers are unable to get the data they need. Hopefully the FCC program will help compensate for this disparity, and eventually lead to improved broadband access for patients throughout these under-served areas.

Michael Spitz is a Senior Digital Strategist with Ignite Health. Follow him on Twitter: @SpitzStrategy and read the Ignite Health blog.