[1st-mile-nm] Telehealth Report

[Richard Lowenberg]

>From BroadbandCensus:

Telemedicine Could Save $197 Billion, But Only With ?Smart Networks?

http://broadbandcensus.com/blog/?p=957

By Drew Clark, Editor, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, October 24 - Broadband-enabled improvements to health care could
save $197 billion over 25 years, but only if carriers had the incentives and
freedom to deploy so-called ?smart networks,? according a study financed by
AT&T.

Widespread broadband deployment would be necessary to achieve these savings,
according to the study, report author Robert Litan, vice president of research
and policy at the Kauffman Foundation.

The 63-page report, ?Vital Signs Via Broadband: Remote Health Monitoring
Transmits Savings, Enhances Lives,? was presented at a press briefing by
Better Health Care Together. The group seeks comprehensive changes in the
health care system.

	(The complete Report can be downloaded at:
http://betterhealthcaretogether.org/study  )

Senior citizens generally lag in technology adoption. But because they are
likely to be the greatest beneficiaries of widespread broadband-enabled health
monitoring, it may be necessary for the government to incentive broadband
adoption if it wants to realize those savings, said Litan.

Among the incentives that should be deployed, said Litan, are investments in
internet education, rural broadband infrastructure and ?telecommunications
policies that allow broadband providers to experiment with different offering
that attract marginal users without sacrificing profits on other users,?
according to a summary of recommendations.

In his remarks, Litan said: ?We need not only a take-up of broadband, but a
take-up of smart broadband, or smart networks.?

?You have to have a reliable service, and it has to be secure, unlike the
videos that are interrupted,? he continued. ?The broadband provider has got
to have the incentive that will allow for this.?

Litan calculated the value that widespread adoption of telemedicine would, over
25 years, save the country $153 billion (in net present value). If, on the
other hand, pro-provider telecommunications policies were adopted, an
additional $44 billion of savings would be generated.

He calculated the average gain for implementing these policies would be $1.75
billion per year.

The basic idea is that more extensive use of telemonitoring ? or the remote
transmission of vital signs over a telephone or internet connection ? can
keep people out of hospitals and save health care costs.

?Remote monitoring technologies can transmit data on a regular, real time
basis and prevent hospitalizations by identifying and treating problems by
triggering adjustments in care before negative trends reach crisis stage,?
Litan said in the report.

Litan also said that privacy protections for telemonitoring should be no more
restrictive in the broadband environment than they are in the real-world
environment.

Others speaking at the press conference included Joy Hoffman, executive director
of Better Health Care Together, and Neal Neuberger, executive director of the
Healthcare Information Management Systems Society?s Institute for e-Health
Policy.

Neuberger, addressing Litan?s study, said that many telemonitoring
applications do not involve video transmission hence do not require super-fast
broadband connections. Asked why ?smart networks? were therefor necessary
to give priority to particular applications, Litan replied, ?you don?t need
a lot of speed, but your need uninterrupted or continuous service. You need
priority of service.?

?The ambulance has got to have the freeway, and be ahead of other types of
applications,? Litan continued, using an analogy to a real-world highway.

Besides AT&T, supporters of Better Health Care Together include the Center for
American Progress, the Communications Workers of America, Embarq, Intel, Qwest
and Wal-mart.



-- 
Richard Lowenberg
1st-Mile Institute
P.O. Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504
505-989-9110;   505-603-5200 cell
rl at 1st-mile.com  www.1st-mile.com

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