NCBCP Headlines
Healthcare’s Digital Revolution – Why The Future Is So Bright
By Melanie Campbell, President and CEO, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation & Convener, Black Women’ s Roundtable
Politic365
Apr 16, 2013
If someone you know has ever had laser or ultrasound eye surgery, then thank Dr. Patricia Bath. Twenty-five years ago, Dr. Bath patented the Laserphaco Probe, a laser eye treatment she created after years of research, and, in doing so, she became the first female African-American doctor to patent a medical device. Advances in digital health are changing our lives for the better and empowering us all to make better informed decisions and live healthier lifestyles.
April is National Minority Health Month. With the health and quality of life challenges facing the minority community, this is a great opportunity to reflect on the technological and medical advances that are transforming healthcare, offering the promise of more affordable and accessible medical options and the advantages of patient-centered care.
As Dr. Bath’s work shows, medical research never stops. Every great invention begs the question, “How can this be done better?” So, imagine Dr. Bath’s laser cataract machine linked with a high-speed broadband Internet connection and controlled by an expert physician in a teaching hospital 400 miles away.
This is an example of telemedicine — high quality medical diagnosis, care and treatment provided over high speed advanced broadband networks. These high-speed broadband networks are driving innovative healthcare advances and making quality medical care more accessible and affordable to patients.
This month, The Washington Post highlighted the promise of this telemedicine trend, noting, “Although telemedicine has been practiced for decades, a burst of innovation in recent years has greatly improved its quality.”
For many minority communities, which have long suffered from a lack of affordable and accessible healthcare, this promise is breathtaking: Stethoscopes with microphones can allow a physician hundreds of miles away to carefully listen to your child’s lungs and heart and provide a medical assessment. Cardiologists on videoconference can watch echocardiograms and MRIs and make instant diagnoses, even as they speak with patients and keep them updated during the evaluation.
Read the full article at Politic365.com
