Broadband Can Alleviate the Health-Care Crisis

There’s a health-care crisis in the country and it’s hitting rural areas particularly hard. The US could face a shortage of 95,000 physicians by 2025, according to a recent report from the Association of American Medical Colleges. But health care’s physician distribution problem, with too many doctors in urban areas and not enough in rural locations, could be alleviated by community broadband. With over 700 municipal networks, 108-plus electric co-op’s, and 2,000 wireless ISPs, as well as hundreds of telehealth project teams and vendors, community broadband is poised to help the US weather the impending health-care storms. But that’s assuming these two industries find each other to form symbiotic relationships.

[Craig Settles assists cities and co-ops with business planning for broadband and telehealth. He has surveyed economic development professionals nationwide about the impact of telehealth and community broadband.]