Telemedicine is increasingly getting the spotlight in the healthcare space. But while its applications are being applauded, it’s easy to forget that it’s not always a possibility everywhere. In areas without good broadband, citizens can’t get good telehealth services.
Broadband analyst Craig Settles took a closer look at this topic during a webinar hosted by VSee earlier this year. And in a recent phone interview, he expanded on why telemedicine and broadband are intertwined.
One of his goals is to encourage the community broadband and the telehealth industries to collaborate and build a relationship. “The two industries can help each other,” Settles said.
After all, the industries are working toward a similar goal.
“They’re trying to achieve the same thing, which is getting people benefits that make their rural life or their urban life easier,” he said.
Settles further emphasizes this point in a few reports listed on his website. The first, “Telehealth & Broadband: In Sickness and In Health,” looks at how broadband impacts telemedicine that is practiced in various healthcare facilities. The second, “Telehealth & Broadband: In Sickness and In Health, Part 2,” examines telemedicine applications and how the technology can assist individuals.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
In the latter report, Settles defines the relationship between the telehealth and community broadband industries as symbiotic. Telemedicine needs quality broadband. Meanwhile, broadband network owners want to gain as many subscribers as possible, and technology like telehealth can help grow their subscriber base. Plus, both types of organizations share the fact that they’re often dedicated to assisting low-income and disadvantaged individuals.
With that in mind, Settles’ report goes on to detail various use cases for telemedicine. It can be applied to the mental health space to help patients have easier access to psychiatrists. It can be used for home healthcare and remote patient monitoring as well. Even teledenistry is catching on and allowing more consumers to stay up to date with their oral care.
Broadband plays a vital role in ensuring each of these applications is a success.
Settles summed it up nicely: “There are lots of people even in the biggest cities that cannot get or afford broadband. If you don’t have that connectivity, all these marvelous inventions and therapies won’t matter because those people can’t get to it.”
Photo: IAN HOOTON, Getty Images
