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Internet Medicine: How Broadband Can Provide Health Care to Rural America
By: Marijean Jaggers | 08/25/2010
My son has a new job working for Ronald McDonald House Charities. His stories about the organization have reminded me how lucky we are to live in a community with numerous doctors and great hospitals with all the capabilities we could ever need, all just a few miles from our home. Thinking about those families with children in the hospital, sometimes for great lengths of time, who are away from home and making the Ronald McDonald House their temporary residence has reminded me of how many Americans live in rural areas -- too far (a minimum of 60 miles to qualify for RMH housing) to run back and forth to a hospital daily.
While these thoughts were on my mind, I heard a story on NPR about broadband Internet access helping to provide health care services to rural populations. I thought about Skyping with my doctor, decribing my symptoms and walking away with advice or a prescription. I can honestly say the experience would be quite similar to the in-person one, minus the germ-infested minutes wasted in the waiting room. It seems to me that fast-tracking broadband to rural areas is a very smart health care investment.
Granted, not every medical situation will be able to be treated this way, but the expansion of capability could go a long way in providing earlier diagnoses, and preventing higher-risk health issues in our rural areas.
Do you think broadband is the right investment to expand health care to underserved populations?
Posted in Digital Communications
comments
Ashlyn Brewer says:
Wed, August 25, 2010 at 8:19:am
Growing up in a small town I was fortunate to never go without excellent care, but I know others that weren’t so lucky. I think digital could be an excellent thing for patients—IF practicioners and patients are trained on it properly.
Annie Haarmann says:
Wed, August 25, 2010 at 7:58:am
I can tell you I have seen how fantastic this is firsthand. I worked as the PR Manager for a regional rural health center that served a population of 500,000+ families over 4 counties, most of whom were below the poverty line. In some areas the ratio of patients to physicians was as high as 5,000 to 1. There just simply aren’t enough doctors serving these areas, so bringing them in virtually is a cost-effective and immediate way to address this issue.
Another way I saw this technology utilized was in cases where the patient did not speak English. By using virtual connections, health centers are now able to have a doctor and patient in a room together, with a translator brought in virtually to interpret what the doctor is saying. These patients would not have access to services otherwise because of the language barrier.