Many look forward to our digital futures being centred on High Definition video downloads, social networking and on-line gaming.  Others see much wider societal benefits.  New initiatives in e-Health and e-Education are two areas set to have a significant impact in our lives.  These government-led initiatives drive taxpayer investment in urban and rural broadband programs, forcing New Zealanders to be more than passive participants in the ultra-fast digital economy.

Developing a culture of use of the new technologies is key to ensuring a return on the broadband investment.  Last week, Rural Connect explored e-Government, an area where the government is directly encouraging our day to day use of the Internet.  This week we look at e-Health, another area that the government have a strategic interest in.

e-Health is about using technology to make a difference in an individual’s health care.  For us, it is about the quality of and access to health care, and it is about patient safety.  For the government, it is also about reducing costs.  Health Minister Tony Ryall is looking for e-Health systems to realise $700M in savings over five years.

Steven Joyce, the Minister for Communications and Information Technology, says the government has prioritised health-care centres for the roll out of the urban and rural broadband programs.  “We know that this technology will transform health care in this country, so we’ve committed to providing (ultra fast broadband) access to all registered health care centres by the end of 2015.”

Among other benefits, Tony Ryall says “Tele-health technologies will allow patients to self-monitor their health at home with appropriate medical oversight – including the ability for doctors to visually inspect health issues with high-definition, two-way video-conferencing.” 

This is a big step froward for urban dwellers.  Many rural people will have to wait for the next phase of rural broadband provisioning to realise the same benefits.  This is because rural people will not have equal access to the ultra-fast broadband speeds that the new services require.

The areas in which e-Health will make an impact are many and varied. From electronic health records, through tele-medicine, to e-Prescribing and e-Referrals.

Electronic health records are due to be in place by 2014 under the National IT Plan for Health that is to be published next week.  Privacy and security of information concerns will make this a contentious area.  

Telemedicine is about physical and psychological treatment at a distance.  A recent demo was compelling but it required data speeds of around 30Mbps and a low latency (the delay, for example, between moving the scalpel and seeing the incision).

Aged care over the Internet will become big business when the cost benefits of using this technology to keep the aged in their own homes becomes evident.

Mobile health is about the use of mobile devices to collect, monitor and send health care information to practitioners.  Devices are now available that monitor blood pressure in the home or on the road, sending the test results back to the GP’s office.

e-Prescribing systems allows doctors to send prescriptions to pharmacists electronically. Designed to reduce prescribing errors they will save pharmacists and doctors time and money, be safer and so result in fewer hospital admissions.  The system is expected to be rolled out in 2012.

e-Referral systems allow GPs to access specialist doctors at remote locations.  A trial at the Northland District Health Board (NDHB) has demonstrated substantial benefits in a number of areas including “...improved patient safety, increased process efficiency, and the continuous improvement of referral quality.”

This is a brave new world that is coming to a home near you, soon.