[1st-mile-nm] Children's Partnership Report on E-Health for Children

[Richard Lowenberg]

The Children's Partnership has published another in it's continuing series
of excellent research reports and recommendations.   They have also issued
an accompanying report: Meeting the Health Care Needs of California's
Children: The Role of Telemedicine.   Telemedicine is a primary
application and requiring use of affordable and widely accessible
broadband infrastructure, especially in rural areas, such as here in NM.
rl


www.childrenspartnership.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Programs/EHealthAgendaforChildren/E_Health_Agenda_for_.htm

www.childrenspartnership.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=11378


Defining and Promoting an E-Health Agenda for Children

Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) are significantly
changing the health care system in the United States, and the pace of
change is accelerating. ICT is impacting how health care information is
gathered and shared, how patients educate themselves and participate in
medical decisions and how payments are calculated and made. It is also
altering how patients handle medical conditions and improve their health
as well as howpublic health issues are managed.

Yet, as this electronic revolution gathers momentum there has been
virtually no public discussion about how ICT tools could improve health
care for the nations children. Nor is there discussion about the relevance
of these ICT tools to childrens unique health care needs  including those
children who are low-income and most in need of better health care. At
this time, when large amounts of public and private dollars are being
invested in this new field, it is crucial to ensure the money is spent in
ways that benefit children.

There are more than 74 million children and young people under age 18 in
the United States today. They account for 12.3% of the $1.7 trillion
dollars spent in the U.S. on health care. A great many U.S. children do
receive quality health care. However, despite the significant investment
to ensure that all Americas children receive a healthy start in life, more
than 11.7% of children -- more than 8 million children-- do not have
health insurance and many more receive less than adequate care. For
example, 10.5% of children under age 18 go without seeing a physician
during the year.

The Children's Partnership is exploring ways to create a better
understanding of which aspects of emerging information technologies can
benefit the health of our nations children most and begin to build public
support to advance a successful E-Health Agenda for Children that ensures:

    * Affordable health insurance for all children;
    * Comprehensive, accessible and high quality care;
    * Public health education and measures that promote child health; and
    * Quality, accessible medical and health information for parents and
youth.

Components of our E-Health Agenda for Children Include:
E-Enrollment
Information and Communications Technology can be used to make health
insurance enrollment and renewal more efficient, more responsive to family
needs, and more accountable to the public.

E-Health Snapshot: Harnessing Technology to Improve Medicaid and SCHIP
Enrollment and Retention Practices reviews promising opportunities for
improving our public health programs through effective use of available
technology.
Telemedicine
Telemedicine, the application of Information and Communications Technology
to provide health care at a distance, is becoming a vital tool in meeting
the health care needs of low-income and underserved children.

Meeting the Health Care Needs of California's Children: The Role of
Telemedicine describes how telemedicinethe application of Information and
Communications Technology (ICT) to provide health care services at a
distanceis used to improve the health of Californias children, especially
those who are low-income or living in medically underserved areas. The
Brief provides an overview of the benefits of telemedicine for children
and families, health systems, and communities. It also outlines challenges
to successful adoption of telemedicine and provides concrete
recommendations for ensuring that telemedicine reaches its full potential
in meeting the health care needs of Californias most vulnerable children.

Download Meeting the Health Care Needs of California Children in Schools
and Child Care: Telemedicine Can Help to learn how telemedicine can help
California schools and child care centers meet the health care needs of
the children and communities they serve.

------------------------------------------------
Richard Lowenberg
P.O.Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504
505-989-9110,  505-603-5200 cell

New Mexico Broadband Initiative
www.1st-mile.com/newmexico
------------------------------------------------