During the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of telehealth appointments skyrocketed overnight. Telehealth is a safe and convenient way to access crucial care while minimizing the risk of infection for others, and with flu season coming around again, telehealth could help curb the spread of the various influenza strains that kill thousands of people per year.
However, telehealth still isn’t as widely used as it could be, especially among patients in rural areas and others who could potentially benefit the most. Blame the phenomenon known as the digital divide: the uneven distribution of internet access and digital literacy that makes it hard for many Americans to find reliable broadband service.
Fiber internet is one technology that could be a game-changer for the state of telehealth. What makes fiber internet so essential for effective telehealth, especially during flu season when healthcare systems are often strained? Let’s explore the key features of fiber optic technology that could make it a major leap forward for virtual healthcare delivery.
The Role of Telehealth During Flu Season
Flu season is always a challenging time for healthcare systems, especially in rural areas where many residents might lack access to a nearby medical facility. Telehealth has emerged as a crucial tool to tackle these challenges and improve healthcare delivery, with some of its most important benefits including:
- Reduced Risk of Spread: Telehealth lets patients consult with healthcare providers from the comfort of their homes, minimizing the spread of the flu virus in healthcare facilities.
- Breaking Down Barriers: Telehealth can also be a difference-maker for people without easy access to a doctor’s office. It removes the barriers of distance and transportation, making healthcare more accessible for everyone.
- Timely Medical Advice: Virtual consultations let patients get medical advice and treatment more quickly, potentially preventing complications and reducing the severity of illness.
- Continuity of Care: Telehealth helps patients maintain continuity of care with their preferred providers, even during inclement winter weather or when in-person appointments are hard to schedule.
In short, telehealth is a convenient and accessible way to get patients the care they need, when they need it. However, there’s another critical dimension to the major telehealth challenges and solutions: How can providers deliver these services effectively to patients who don’t have access to high-speed broadband internet?
Why Telehealth Needs High-Speed Broadband
A telehealth appointment involves speaking with a medical professional via video conferencing. It might also involve the use of smart devices to track the patient’s vitals, including remote patient monitoring devices and tools like digital stethoscopes and blood pressure cuffs.
All of these parts of the appointment require fast internet service that lets the patient and the doctor send data back and forth in real time. That means high-speed broadband internet — defined by the Federal Communications Commission as internet service with a speed of at least 100mb/s download and 20mb/s upload — is an absolute necessity for effective telehealth delivery.
Nearly all American cities and suburbs have access to high-speed broadband, making telehealth a consistent option for Americans in these areas. In rural areas, however, broadband access may be more difficult to come by. That means telehealth may be less widespread and less effective, especially during crucial periods like flu season — and it’s part of why it’s so important to close the digital divide.
Telehealth and the Digital Divide
When we say “the digital divide,” we’re talking broadly about the gap between Americans with broadband internet access and those without. The digital divide seriously limits educational and work opportunities for those without broadband, but its effect on healthcare can also be significant. In some cases, the digital divide can also spring from age and education, with older people who have less formal education often less able to access digital services.
Without sufficient internet speeds, providers and patients may struggle to understand each other, or diagnostic devices may not work correctly. Patients who don’t understand how to use the internet effectively may not be able to set up or attend an appointment without assistance. And in areas where internet service isn’t available at all, telehealth appointments may simply be impossible.
To add another complication, many of the communities that could benefit the most from robust telehealth access are also the communities struggling with the digital divide in the first place. Isolated rural areas, particularly ones with high poverty rates, are among the best use cases for telehealth, but lack of broadband access in these areas can make it challenging to serve patients remotely.
Could Fiber Internet Help Bridge the Divide?
Fiber internet is one technology that experts hope could help close the digital divide. It’s an extremely fast and reliable internet technology that uses glass fibers and light signals to deliver internet service at unprecedented speeds — and it’s also a great fit for telehealth, particularly during the winter months.
One major advantage of fiber internet for flu season is that it’s highly reliable in all kinds of weather conditions. It’s not unusual to see cable or DSL internet service knocked out by winter weather. Fiber stands up much better to snow, ice, and other winter conditions, so it’s more likely to be available when it’s needed most.
Fiber internet is also well-suited to the demands of telehealth, with high bandwidth that can easily handle the large amounts of data involved in video calls and remote patient monitoring.
Fiber’s low latency minimizes delays, which is crucial for real-time interactions with doctors and transmitting vital health data without lag — no matter how blustery the weather gets.
Finally, fiber is also more secure than standard cable internet, since fiber lines can’t be easily tapped or intercepted. That’s critical for safeguarding the transmission of sensitive personal health data during a telehealth appointment.
The Future of Fiber and Telehealth
Expanding fiber’s reach to rural areas still faces hurdles like cost and affordability, especially when it comes to reaching sparsely populated areas. But with ongoing initiatives, including government programs and public-private partnerships, and growing demand, the future of fiber and telehealth is promising.
Imagine a world where high-quality healthcare is readily available no matter where you live. With a stronger push behind it, fiber internet could be poised to make that vision a reality: overcoming telehealth challenges, connecting rural communities with the care they need and building a healthier future for everyone.