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1 + 1 = 3 ... The Healthcare and Broadband Equation
Colleagues,
Thank you to MedTech-IQ member, Christine Stineman for the inspiration and contribution ...
The world of broadband and healthcare are changing rapidly, let us count the ways ...
... A recent report, "Telemedicine and the Economic Stimulus: Broadband Opportunities in a Swelling Market", from research firm Pike & Fischer, predicts that within five years, the market for telemedicine devices and services will generate $3.6 billion in annual revenue. They attribute the growth to:
* Advances in wireless broadband networks, smart phones and data compression technologies;
* The $18 billion federal Health Information Technology (IT) stimulus package; and
* The need to curb rising health care costs
... ABI Research predicts that 15 million mobile & wireless health devices will be in use in the U.S. by early 2012 for the purpose of remotely monitoring the well-being of elderly or at-risk people ...
... New global communications infrastructures are becoming operational that provide high-speed, low-cost Internet connectivity to emerging markets in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East...
... In Amsterdam, the Academic Medical Center is using RFID ubiquitously throughout the institution to improve the eficiency of medical logistics and effectiveness of patient safety ... While South Korea is leading the world in broadband internet access...
... While in the United States, UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. are building a nationwide network linking patients and physicians via video and medical-information technology ... while a wave of telehealth, wireless and health IT applications are being launched by high profile companies including Wal-Mart, GE, Intel, Google, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Philips, Qualcomm, Siemens, Texas Instruments, Bosch, Medtronic and St. Jude Medical ...
... Simultaneous with the above, the first round of the U.S. federal "Broadband" initiative exceeds $4 billion, and there are numerous inclusions referencing telemedicine/eHealth project funding ... amounting to over $100 million. Potential telemedicine funding and policy initiatives can be found in U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA), Health and Human Services (HHS), National Institutes of Health, Agency for Health Research and Quality, Center Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)...
The landscape is shifting radically. Everyone is talking about it, but now it is time to focus and act on the "Big Picture". Emerging telecommunications infrastructure, "Cloud Computing", mobile device proliferation, geo-positioning systems, modern semantic search, Health 2.0 social media tools, advanced human-computer interfaces, and low cost storage have altered the market permanently. They are beginning to markedly transform and re-conceptualize the way astute observers think about healthcare delivery and medicine, on a global basis.
The need to integrate broadband technology into everyday medicine is apparent. A patient and her doctor in a small town in Ohio, can – and should have – access to a specialist at the Cleveland Clinic, without having to make the trek to Cleveland. In many cases the physicians can decide a course of treatment in real time, saving the time and cost of an in-person visit.
The same holds true for a patient without routine access to quality care in a clinic in Africa or Southwest Asia. The technology is becoming rapidly available to allow access to life-saving capabilities enabled by boundless, mobile, cost effective broadband connectivity.
This capability can also be harnessed to address the ultimate limiter of global healthcare ... human capital. Physicians and healthcare providers in general, must devote exorbitant amounts of time training to proficiency, and then staying current in their areas of expertise. The beauty of human capital though, is that it is unlimited. We should aggressively develop the systems of advanced distributed learning necessary to support and augment their training on a global basis.
In the U.S., the time is upon us to comprehensively develop sustainable models that allow the small-practice physician in the U.S. to adopt modern methods of record-keeping, communicating with the local pharmacies, and being able to use broadband both for direct patient interventions and continuing education. Globally, the same holds true for broadband capabilities that can extend access to care to rural and medically under-served areas.
The attainment of critical mass is imminent. We must develop now, the "Triple Helix" - Academic, Industry, Government" - strategies that can capture the full power of healthcare and broadband telecommunications, so that 1 + 1 = 3 in the near future.
ENJOY!
CC
Thank you to MedTech-IQ member, Christine Stineman for the inspiration and contribution ...
The world of broadband and healthcare are changing rapidly, let us count the ways ...
... A recent report, "Telemedicine and the Economic Stimulus: Broadband Opportunities in a Swelling Market", from research firm Pike & Fischer, predicts that within five years, the market for telemedicine devices and services will generate $3.6 billion in annual revenue. They attribute the growth to:
* Advances in wireless broadband networks, smart phones and data compression technologies;
* The $18 billion federal Health Information Technology (IT) stimulus package; and
* The need to curb rising health care costs
... ABI Research predicts that 15 million mobile & wireless health devices will be in use in the U.S. by early 2012 for the purpose of remotely monitoring the well-being of elderly or at-risk people ...
... New global communications infrastructures are becoming operational that provide high-speed, low-cost Internet connectivity to emerging markets in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East...
... In Amsterdam, the Academic Medical Center is using RFID ubiquitously throughout the institution to improve the eficiency of medical logistics and effectiveness of patient safety ... While South Korea is leading the world in broadband internet access...
... While in the United States, UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. are building a nationwide network linking patients and physicians via video and medical-information technology ... while a wave of telehealth, wireless and health IT applications are being launched by high profile companies including Wal-Mart, GE, Intel, Google, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Philips, Qualcomm, Siemens, Texas Instruments, Bosch, Medtronic and St. Jude Medical ...
... Simultaneous with the above, the first round of the U.S. federal "Broadband" initiative exceeds $4 billion, and there are numerous inclusions referencing telemedicine/eHealth project funding ... amounting to over $100 million. Potential telemedicine funding and policy initiatives can be found in U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA), Health and Human Services (HHS), National Institutes of Health, Agency for Health Research and Quality, Center Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)...
The landscape is shifting radically. Everyone is talking about it, but now it is time to focus and act on the "Big Picture". Emerging telecommunications infrastructure, "Cloud Computing", mobile device proliferation, geo-positioning systems, modern semantic search, Health 2.0 social media tools, advanced human-computer interfaces, and low cost storage have altered the market permanently. They are beginning to markedly transform and re-conceptualize the way astute observers think about healthcare delivery and medicine, on a global basis.
The need to integrate broadband technology into everyday medicine is apparent. A patient and her doctor in a small town in Ohio, can – and should have – access to a specialist at the Cleveland Clinic, without having to make the trek to Cleveland. In many cases the physicians can decide a course of treatment in real time, saving the time and cost of an in-person visit.
The same holds true for a patient without routine access to quality care in a clinic in Africa or Southwest Asia. The technology is becoming rapidly available to allow access to life-saving capabilities enabled by boundless, mobile, cost effective broadband connectivity.
This capability can also be harnessed to address the ultimate limiter of global healthcare ... human capital. Physicians and healthcare providers in general, must devote exorbitant amounts of time training to proficiency, and then staying current in their areas of expertise. The beauty of human capital though, is that it is unlimited. We should aggressively develop the systems of advanced distributed learning necessary to support and augment their training on a global basis.
In the U.S., the time is upon us to comprehensively develop sustainable models that allow the small-practice physician in the U.S. to adopt modern methods of record-keeping, communicating with the local pharmacies, and being able to use broadband both for direct patient interventions and continuing education. Globally, the same holds true for broadband capabilities that can extend access to care to rural and medically under-served areas.
The attainment of critical mass is imminent. We must develop now, the "Triple Helix" - Academic, Industry, Government" - strategies that can capture the full power of healthcare and broadband telecommunications, so that 1 + 1 = 3 in the near future.
ENJOY!
CC
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