Broadband for elderly and disabled could generate billions for economy
and cut care costs
20 December 2005
A report by the US New Millennium Research Council shows that accelerated
broadband deployment to older Americans and people with disabilities could
deliver hundreds of billions of dollars to the economy in potential health
care savings and other major benefits.
The report outlines the large cost savings and higher national output
that could result from wider introduction of cutting-edge broadband
technologies for services such as telemedicine and telework. It also
estimates costs savings from expedited broadband in other health care,
employment and independent living arenas. The benefits are so great for the
elderly and disabled — as well as the entire US economy — that accelerated
broadband should be made a much higher national priority than it is today.
As in other developed countries, there has been a boom in the uptake of
broadband. At least one in three US households is estimated to have a
broadband connection. But the early adopters of new technology tend to be
the young. Little attention has been paid to how new technology could
benefit the 35 million Americans over 65 and the estimated 36 million under
65 with disabilities. The number over 65 is expected to double by 2030.
New technologies are available that can help healthcare providers and carers
look after elderly people in the home. These range from emergency telephone
lines triggered by a wireless-linked button on a wristband or necklace, to
more sophisticated devices such as, heart monitors, fall monitors and
abnormal behaviour detectors that can remotely alert patient-care centres. A
telephone-based care service is already used by some social services in the
UK, but has limited interaction and uses an ordinary phone line.
The always-on broadband connection would allow much greater use of
technology to provide services in the home. The major stumbling blocks in
developed countries have been the reluctance of economic ministers to
allocate significant budgets for technology for the care of the elderly and
the lack of awareness of decision makers in health and social services.
The Millennium Research Council report says that the economic benefits of
broadband can come from three main sources: lower medical costs; lower costs
from delayed or avoided institutionalisation; and additional economic output
by participation in the labour force. The cost savings will come from
broadband enabling telemedicine and telecare in the home, such as
disease-management programmes that require constant communication between
patients and care providers. Elderly people will be able to stay in their
homes longer, thus saving costs of expensive residential care. Broadband
will also enable some of the elderly and disabled to engage in economic
activity.
In the USA, healthcare lags behind every other major service sector in
the adoption of information technology. Investment has been directed towards
expensive equipment for acute care such as scanners for medical imaging, but
at the neglect of routine and chronic care. There is a distinct lack of use
of information technology for record keeping, prescription ordering,
appointment booking etc, resulting in costly inefficiencies in health care.
The patients that could benefit the most from information technology are
those with chronic diseases that require continuous monitoring and frequent
care. Large investment will be needed to take full advantage of information
technology.
Leaving broadband deployment as it is, the estimated cumulative economic
benefit is $89-150 billion by 2010, and with accelerated deployment,
$163-277 billion. By 2030 the cumulative economic benefit would be $927-1338
under the current situation, and $1459-2185 billion with accelerated
deployment. By comparison, the federal government spent about $360bn in 2004
on medical care for senior citizens under the Medicare and Medicaid
programmes. With the number of elderly expected to double by 2030 and, in
addition, the spending is also likely to increase in real terms 3-4% per
year, the cost of Medicare and Medicaid by 2030 is estimated to be over $970
billion at 2005 prices. This will put a large burden on the economy and it
is one that every developed nation will have to address.
Links
The New Millennium Research Council
http://www.thenmrc.org/
The report can be downloaded as a PDF at
http://www.thenmrc.org/archive/Litan_FINAL_120805.pdf
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