The group, supporting the health technology attempts of the Federal Communication Commission, issued new priority lists of “critical need” counties in broadband and health, which are among those most in requirement of broadband health solutions or are “digitally isolated.”
The findings were involved in the group’s update of its “Mapping Broadband Health in America” platform, which the federal agency issued on the day of Thursday. The latest set of information depicts the latest complete annual fixed broadband data from the FCC and updated health data from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s County Health Rankings.
“As telehealth, telemedicine and other cutting-edge mHealth initiatives gain momentum across the country, this web-based mapping platform enables more effective, data-driven decision making at the intersection of broadband and health,” claims Michele Ellison, chair of the Connect2Health Task Force FCC.
The fixed broadband data in the mapping update was released in the year of December 2016, covering information submissions as of December 2015. The health information is drawn from the 2017 release of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation County Health Rankings & Roadmap. This map data update provided the Task Force with a chance to look at broadband and health data between years.
The group’s estimation of places most needing broadband health support are dubbed “The Priority 2017” and “Rural Priority 2017.” It targets to mention places of the country that are seeing increases in chronic diseases and shortages of medical services.
“We identify that the upturn in closures of rural hospitals and medical facilities, mentioned in recent research at the University of North Carolina, is of high concern to many,” Ellison claims. “The mapping platform shines a critical spotlight on the requirement for broadband health solutions in rural and digitally isolated counties where physician shortages are more than double the national average. It also indicates the significance of initiatives to promote broadband infrastructure deployment.”
Among the findings in the 2017 report:
- The number of individuals living in “double burden” counties—those with high levels of chronic sickness and lacking broadband access—has increased to more than 36 million, in accordance with the 2015 data. Almost half of U.S. counties have high burdens of chronic disease as well as a requirement for greater broadband connectivity.
- More than 60% of rural Americans live in “double burden” counties, while less than 5% of urban America falls into the similar category.
- Few 214 counties—175 of which are primarily rural—have broadband access below 50% and diabetes and obesity rates above the national average.
- Preventable hospitalizations are 150% higher in the least connected counties compared with other counties.
The Connect2Health Task Force also launched a new analytical product, the Positive Trend Counties inventory, which compares broadband and health data year by year, hence identifying priority counties that have made progress on broadband or health measures, no longer meeting the thresholds as “critical need” counties.
The report mentions the issues the nation faces in better using broadband services to care for needy populations, says Mignon Clyburn, commissioner of the FCC.
“I’m glad that the Commission is demonstrating its continued commitment to the Connect2Health Task Force and the Mapping Broadband Health in America platform with the release of today’s update,” she says. “For far too several rural and underserved consumers, the broadband health picture remains bleak.
“The work of the Connect2Health Task Force is far from done. Armed with the robust input from stakeholders across the country along with the data and information that is pouring into the Commission in response to the latest Connect2Health Public Notice, the Task Force staff are working to make suggestions to the Commission about how best to architect broadband health policy to meet the requirements of rural and underserved Americans.”
No comments:
Post a Comment