Can hospitals or other health facilities in rural or remote locations leverage resources or staff from facilities in metropolitan areas using high-speed communications?
Yes. The question effectively describes a common vision among healthcare providers. Commonly referred to as telemedicine, increasingly healthcare technology relies on digital technology interconnected via data communications networks. These networks can be interconnected across long distances, only when high-speed services are available in the area. Imaging systems are a great example. Technicians trained to operate systems, such as X-Ray or MRI, can digitally capture an image in one facility and electronically transfer the images to another site for analysis by a remote radiologist. This equipment is common and a functional reality today – so long as both facilities have data connections fast enough to efficiently carry the enormous files produced by the MRI system. While dedicated fiber optic or leased communication circuits are most common today, future adoption of high speed Internet connections promise to dramatically reduce cost of deployment and possible locations limited only b
