How Internet Service Providers Will Help Advance Telehealth

Internet service providers (ISP) are beginning to play an important role in advancing the availability of telehealth solutions for people living in their own homes. 

Several recent partnership agreements suggest that these ISPs will become even more important players in the telehealth field in the future.

Those agreements include the following: 

• Cox Communications announced on Feb. 19 that it would work with the Ohio-based Cleveland Clinic to launch a new telehealth company called Vivre Health. 

• Two other ISPs -- Comcast and Time Warner -- have introduced telehealth and video conferencing services, according to HIT Consultant.

• Philips announced on March 3 that it has chosen AT&T as the wireless carrier for its GoSafe mobile medical alert system. Philips is a LeadingAge Silver Partner and CAST Supporter. GoSafe uses 6 location technologies that allow call center employees to locate seniors needing assistance even in areas where GPS is not available, according to Long-Term Living magazine.

A Masterstroke

Industry experts see the Cox-Cleveland Clinic partnership as a “masterstroke” for Cox.

Vivre Health will use broadband Internet connections to foster in-home monitoring and treatment featuring video consultation, according to Reuters. The Cleveland Clinic will offer its expertise to help create new services for patients. Cox will provide the technology.

Cox already provides Internet and other broadband services to hospitals, according to HIT Consultant. It is the nation’s third-largest cable TV company and currently serves approximately 6 million residences and businesses. Health care customers represent about 10% of Cox's business services clients.

To date, Internet companies have been reluctant to move into rural areas where service delivery can be expensive according to Healthcare Dive. But the ability to sign up rural residents for broadband service, while offering them telehealth services, could open a new line of business for these providers, according to the publication.

“If this arrangement meets its potential, Cox and competitors will be seeking similar partnerships nationwide,” writes Healthcare Dive’s Anne Ziegler.

Investing in HealthSpot

Cox Communications also has invested in HealthSpot, according to a company statement.

HealthSpot’s health care delivery platform combines cloud-based software with the HealthSpot station. Patients use this walk-in kiosk to interact with board-certified health care providers using high-definition video conferencing and a suite of connected medical devices. Retailers like Rite Aid are already piloting the telemedicine kiosks, according to HIT Consultant.