Craig Settles is on a campaign to help communities see that telehealth is key to economic development and you can’t do telehealth without broadband. Next Centruy Cities higlihgts his reasoning…

Telehealth is more than video chat with your doctor. It means using intranets and Internet networks to observe, diagnose, initiate or otherwise medically intervene, administer, monitor, record, and/or report on the continuum of care so that residents can heal and stay healthy.

Telehealth increases broadband’s economic development impact, and can add revenue streams for the network and/or the community. For example, 26% of economic development professionals in a national survey felt using telehealth to attract doctors and medical specialists would have a definitive impact on local economies.

Another important benefit…

Broadband and telehealth can draw other healthcare professionals to your community. For example, “We have less than half of the psychiatric providers needed to meet the U.S. mental health demand,” says Encounter Telehealth CEO Jennifer Amis. “In the rural areas we may have less than 20% of the providers needed.”

And a list of telehealth benefits…

In addition to attracting medical professionals, telehealth’s economic benefits include (more details here about here [https://tinyurl.com/yxmevaq9])

• Slowing or reversing hospital closings

• Reducing unnecessary visits to the ER

• Attracting medical research grants

• More mental healthcare services staying local

• Keeping seniors living at home longer