The world of robots and artificial intelligence has largely lived in imaginations and on the silver screen. Today, an army hospital in San Antonio is applying these new technologies to change the way we provide health care. A medical robot is being used at Brooke Army Medical Center that gives doctors and patients a chance to communicate and allows doctors to give instructions to nurses or residents at bedside.

The federal government received 2,200 applications for the first round of broadband stimulus funds - easing concerns that demand would be low. In total, $28 billion was requested, but only $4 billion of the total $7.2 billion will be doled out in this round.

"Broadband is the new essential infrastructure," according to Susan Crawford - a member of the president's National Economic Council. Broadband will help doctors, nurses, teachers, students, police officers and more do their jobs better and more efficiently.

Many people in Minnesota and Wisconsin can access the Internet. But, as many experts have shown, there are still issues, namely: speed, quality, reliability, and affordability of their connections.

Health Data Management recently reported on the ability of telemedicine to bring 21st century medical technology to Americans living in rural communities. Many of these health benefits, however, are unavailable to those without broadband connectivity.

A new research study reveals that many American households now consider broadband Internet access a necessity. Broadband at home, the study concludes, provides over $30 billion annually in benefits to consumers in the areas of education, health care, work, news, entertainment and civic affairs.

Recently, the American Heart Association called for greater access to telemedicine in rural areas. Specifically, the AHA's policy statement called for tools like videoconferencing to be used to allow neurologists to examine stroke patients, who otherwise might not have access to the care they need. The AHA noted that not only do rural areas often not have the specialists that stroke patients need, but that they often receive care from emergency or primary care settings - where chances of the misdiagnosis are much higher.

Medical experts recently released a white paper that touts telemedicine as a core component of health care reform in the United States. Telemedicine will control cost inflation and provide additional benefits that "greatly exceed the costs," according to the white paper. Health-e-Access Telemedicine Network run through the University of Rochester Medical Center is a great example of the potential of telemedicine.

Leaders in the education and healthcare industries have come together to form a coalition to promote broadband access in schools, libraries, and healthcare facilities. The formation of the public-private partnership Schools, Health, and Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition was announced Thursday, June 11 at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, in Washington, D.C.

Verizon Communications is proposing to sell landlines in 14 states to Frontier Communications Corp. - a move that has raised concerns from the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). The sale could be a setback to the push for expanded broadband access to underserved and unserved areas. Without expanded broadband access, stories like that of Gabrielle Ramirez, whose long-undiagnosed disease was identified using telemedicine, would not be possible.