The FCC devoted 25 pages to healthcare technology issues in the plan released last week, which calls for the nation to have 100-megabit Internet connection to 100 million U.S. homes by 2020.
Some of the proposals for healthcare initiatives include expanding electronic health records, video consultations and remote patient monitoring.
The adoption of the Health IT proposals in the Broadband Plan could, according to the FCC, save up to 39,000 lives annual with prompts to physicians to prescribe influenza and pneumonia vaccinations. National adoption of electronic health records could save hospitals as much as $371 billion over the next 15 years by alerting physicians and patients to drug allergies and interactions.
Remote consultations and “telehealth” techniques could give facilities access to world-class specialists.
The plan calls for the department of Health and Human Services to make e-care initiatives a top-priority and to work with federally administered providers of care including the Veterans Health Administration and the Bureau of Prisons so they can act as role models and test beds for health IT use.
The proposal also calls on regulatory agencies to streamline their processes to more easily facilitate the use of technology. Examples cited in the report include streamlining the credentialing of physicians and state-by-state licensing requirements.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Alice Straight
Quelle/Source: TMCnet, 22.03.2010
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