Telemedicine

In a recent two-part series, the Sacramento Bee reported on hospital acquired infections that kill an estimated 12,000 people in California annually.  Many if not most victims are older patients whose immune systems are not as able to fend off bugs that pose less danger to younger individuals.

Elderly patients confined to nursing homes are also at risk.  This constitutes a major concern given demographic trends pointing to a booming population of those aged 65 and over.

One of the best means of reducing transmission of any communicable disease is what epidemiologists refer to as social isolation: avoiding proximity and contact with infected and potentially infected individuals.

For older patients, one the best means of achieving this is to obtain necessary medical care in their own homes rather than health care facilities.

An fast emerging means of delivering medical care can help make this possible: telemedicine.

Telemedicine is defined by the American Telemedicine Association as “the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications to improve patients’ health status.”

Telemedicine includes remote patient monitoring allowing medical professionals to check a homebound patient’s vital signs such as blood glucose or heart ECG and a variety of other indicators. Such services can be used to supplement the use of visiting nurses, according to the organization.

Because of the generous bandwidth needed for video consultations and medical telemetry, telemedicine requires robust, highly reliable Internet telecommunications infrastructure.  But many American homes aren’t connected.

In May 2011, the Federal Communications Commission reported a “significant and persistent deployment gap” in Internet telecommunications infrastructure keeps an estimated 26 million Americans offline, lacking even basic Internet service.

A major reason is constructing and operating this infrastructure is costly and the return on investment too lengthy for investor-owned providers.  Alternative business models must therefore be employed to connect the premises of those who could potentially benefit from telemedicine.

The Camino Fiber Network Cooperative is pursuing an alternative approach in El Dorado County.

The cooperative is based on a proven, century-old business model used in many areas of the United States where investor-owned utilities cannot profitably deliver service.  Cooperatives provide services at cost to their member-owners.

The cooperative plans to construct fiber optic to the premises telecommunications infrastructure with sufficient capacity to reliably support telemedicine, allowing residents to receive many medical services in their own homes and avoid exposure to health care facility-acquired infections.