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Home-based remote disease management technologies and telemedicine can improve the quality of life for rural patients while reducing the nation's health care burden, a telecommunications leader specializing in broadband communication in rural areas testified before a federal advisory committee on June 9.

"However, none of this is possible without access to a quality high-speed broadband Internet connection," said Jay Maxwell, CEO at Pixius Communications, Wichita, Kan. "While this access is common in urban and suburban areas, it is almost a luxury in rural America. Is it a coincidence that rural America is also an area that is unserved or underserved by medical facilities and practitioners? Rural America is an area with a population that is aging and placing increased demands on scarce healthcare resources."

Maxwell testified in Rapid City, S.D., at a public hearing of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services, established to advise the Department of Health and Human Services. In Kansas, he noted, 29% of the population is rural but only 4% of the doctors.

"In South Dakota, the most remote areas of the state are the nine Sioux Indian reservations," Maxwell testified. "The health statistics on the reservations resemble those of a Third World country. The reservations must be a high priority for broadband."

The nation knows where the aging live and where health care resources exist, Maxwell noted. But what isn't accurately known is where quality high-speed broadband Internet service is provided. "Before we can connect the country, we need to know with greater accuracy who currently has coverage," he said. "I urge HHS and all federal departments to work together to determine in greater detail who has service and who needs service. By doing this, you will pave the way toward a more effective means of delivering health care to rural America."

Funds for the Department of Agriculture in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act would significantly increase telemedicine and broadband programs in rural America, Maxwell said. Other ARRA funds administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration will target additional rural broadband programs.

"We urge HHS to coordinate to the maximum extent possible with both USDA and NTIA to maximize the use of broadband funds with an eye to improving rural health care," he said.

For a copy of Maxwell's complete testimony, click here.

--Joseph Goedert