Unlocking the formula for successful connected care

Despite continued technology advancements in the connected care field – and the desire of consumers to adopt these solutions – there remains significant barriers to advancing greater adoption of connected care across healthcare.

Creating a sustainable, connected care program requires careful planning and consideration of a range of factors, including patients' and providers' access to reliable internet and technology. By considering these factors, healthcare practices can effectively incorporate telehealth and other connected care solutions into their practice and provide high-quality remote care to their patients.

Bringing connected care into the modern practice

Connected care, which refers to the use of technology to deliver healthcare remotely, has seen rapid growth in recent years. Connected care is expected to continue playing a vital role in the future of healthcare, with telehealth, remote monitoring and hospital-at-home areas gaining the most traction. Hospital-at-home is one of the fastest growing trends in connected care. It’s not only more convenient for patients but also more cost-effective. Hospital-at-home can include intravenous therapy, wound care and rehabilitation.

In North America alone, over 30 million people use connected care solutions such as medical alert systems, remote patient monitoring (RPM) and medication management solutions. Both providers and patients recognize the benefits of connected care. 82% of providers said connected care could detect healthcare issues earlier; 80% of consumers believe that connected care improves direct patient-doctor communication.

Other connected care solutions, like telehealth, are seeing significant growth. In fact, 72% of medical groups expect patient demand for telehealth to increase or stay the same this year. This trend is likely to continue, as telehealth has proven to be a convenient and effective way for patients to access healthcare, particularly those living in rural areas or with mobility issues.

Overcoming barriers to connected care

Given the broad support of connected care by providers and patients, it's not surprising that almost all healthcare practices (94%) anticipate investing in technologies or related solutions that support connectivity and telehealth.

To support connected care services, it’s crucial that healthcare practices have a reliable and secure network in place, including having a strong internet connection with sufficient bandwidth to support connected care applications and services. In addition to the network infrastructure, healthcare practices must have the necessary hardware and software to support connected care. This may include devices such as laptops, tablets and smartphones for staff and patients, as well as telemedicine software and other healthcare-specific applications.

Enhancing security and privacy of patient data is also critical in the world of connected care. To protect patient information, IT teams should implement strong security measures such as encryption, secure login protocols and firewalls.

Providing connectivity where patients and staff need it, such as in their homes, is essential for patients to receive quality virtual care and monitoring as well as for providers and staff facilitating these services remotely. However, broadband access is one of the biggest hurdles connected care must overcome to continue to expand. Rural and underserved populations who benefit the most from connected care approaches are also those with the least access to broadband or high-speed internet.

Currently, almost 24 million people in the U.S. are without broadband access, with the majority (19 million) living in rural communities. Internet service and equipment costs can also be a financial burden for some patients.

Bringing broadband to practices and patients

Healthcare practices share responsibility for ensuring patients, providers and other staff have the connectivity in their homes and workplaces to support connected care solutions. This is often a bigger challenge than many may initially recognize. Patient needs and staff locations can change over time. Managing devices, activation and technical support can be challenging and costly for healthcare practices, especially when IT teams are already burdened with overseeing a complex network.

To help rural communities and other underserved areas lacking access to high-speed internet, the Federal Communications Commission has launched the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). This broadband initiative is the single largest distribution of Universal Service Fund (USF) dollars made available to communications service providers in U.S. history. Under RDOF, a total of $20.4 billion has been allocated for the construction of broadband networks in rural communities.

Eligible areas include those without current (or already funded) access to adequate broadband service, defined by the FCC as 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream (25/3).

To help close the broadband access gap, Charter Communications has announced it expects to invest $5 billion dollars in expanding its network, offset by $1.2 billion it expects to win in support from RDOF. This public-private partnership will allow Spectrum Enterprise, a national provider of scalable fiber technology solutions and a part of Charter Communications, to connect more than a million currently underserved, mostly rural families and small businesses to reliable broadband service.

Other FCC programs include the Rural Health Care Program, which funds eligible healthcare practices for telecommunications and broadband services necessary to deliver care. These two programs are a good start in helping bring internet access to patients and in helping providers deliver more connected care options to their patients.

The future is connected – make sure your practice is, too

Healthcare practices can streamline connectivity care challenges by working with a trusted partner to manage their connected care needs. A trusted information and communications technology (ICT) vendor can help your practice understand and then deploy that essential broadband foundation. They can also help you determine not only where your network is at this moment, but also where it needs to be to continue your connected care journey.

For more information on how Spectrum Enterprise can help your medical practice create a strong foundation for connected care, visit enterprise.spectrum.com/healthcare.