Electronic Health Records Need To Be Available To All

Broadband-based telemedicine can improve the quality of care and lower costs — particularly by the use of electronic health records (EHRs). Not only can these make records more accessible, but they can assure that patients in need can be closely and constantly monitored.

But a recent article by former Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag on Bloomberg.com raises some serious questions of fairness and equity. In "How My Wi-Fi Scale Adds to America's Class Divide," Orszag marvels that he now has a bathroom scale that automatically sends the results by Wi-Fi to his home computer and then, with permission, to his medical records. But not everyone can afford this technology and Orszag wonders whether, "...all this personal data at a glance may wind up exacerbating the growing gap in life expectancy between people with high levels of income and education and those without."

Orszag notes that the people who most need the new technology are the ones least likely to get it. The answer, of course, is to build broadband-based telemedicine that is accessible to all. "If not," he writes, "just as technology has helped expand income inequality over the past four decades, it may likewise play a major role in expanding life-span inequality."

The Communications Workers of America strongly supports the creation and expansion of robust broadband networks across the country that benefit everyone, regardless of income or educational level.

How My Wi-Fi Scale Adds to America’s Class Divide: Peter Orszag

Bloomberg: Income Inequality