In his State of the Union Address last week US President Obama emphasised the importance of the high-speed wireless coverage plan. “Within the next five years, we will make it possible for business to deploy the next generation of high-speed wireless coverage to 98% of all Americans. This isn’t just about a faster internet and fewer dropped calls. It’s about connecting every part of America to the digital age. It’s about a rural community in Iowa or Alabama where farmers and small business owners will be able to sell their products all over the world. It’s about a firefighter who can download the design of a burning building onto a handheld device; a student who can take classes with a digital textbook; or a patient who can have face-to-face video chats with her doctor.” View this extract on YouTube.
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Hope springs eternal, Steve 😉
High-speed wireless and broadband is not a healthcare initiative but an FCC money pit for three administrations (the ‘last mile’ obsession). (BTW on e-books–Kindle works on 3G, always has!)
Video consults aren’t being roadblocked by lack of broadband. They are by (1) lack of insurance plan reimbursement and (2) state laws that prevent cross-state licensure for consults. (American Well, send a note to the Prez’s speechwriter.)
To quote Peggy Noonan, the speech was ‘small bore and off point’. Especially as ‘healthcare reform’ made eHealth businesses radioactive for 18 months, and now just recovering…the shame is that a law that Congress did not understand, and HHS is implementing, now will be ruled on by the US Supreme Court on its very constitutionality. And real reform…somewhere in the ether.