TTA Archives 2005-2012

The headline may be doomy-gloomy to grab attention, and it does, but perhaps not in the way intended.  An interview with Dr. Mohit Kaushal, director of health care for the FCC’s Broadband Strategy Initiative in the interestingly named GigaOM, jumps off from the Intel/Mayo Clinic/GE study into broadband, telehealth and telemedicine.  While Dr. Kaushal projects a possible $700 billion in savings via ‘e-care’ over the next 15-20 years, blame is put on the usual culprits:  ‘failure on the part of doctors to use the technology and on the part of Medicare and other government-sponsored health programs to pay for health outcomes rather than procedures’ plus less broadband access in rural areas (which is why you see satellite dishes by most homes).  Yet three paragraphs down now it is made clear that the FCC and FDA will be in the future jointly regulating home health and mobile health devices.  Recommendations, ‘setting frameworks, ‘taxonomy of terms such as e-health, telemedicine, telehealth and e-care’–just like ‘conversation’–it all makes this editor’s [Donna] teeth hurt.  Article