Episode 9

Internet Availability with Chris Hutchings

Published on: 17th June, 2022

In this episode,

Cam talks to Chris Greene Hutchings to talk about Internet Availability and Broadband. Tune in to hear about why broadband is the super social determinant of health, what healthcare organizations can do to improve internet access, and resources for Michigan.

“I see the lack of access to the internet as a brick wall.

I believe we're at an important time in history right now. we can make investments and we can do the hard work of bringing the right people together and having the right conversations and we can create a foundation that will bring returns to generations that go beyond us. You can do more than you think is possible. Healthcare can be such an inspiring voice for people to come together and make it happen”

Have any questions or topics you'd like us to cover? Want to be a guest on our podcast? Contact us HERE!

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

Transcript
Chris Greene Hutchins:

I see the lack of access to the internet as a brick wall.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

I believe we're at an important time in history right now.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

we can make investments and we can do the hard work of bringing the right

Chris Greene Hutchins:

people together and having the right conversations and we can create a

Chris Greene Hutchins:

foundation that will bring returns to generations that go beyond us.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

You can do more than you think is possible.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Healthcare can be such an inspiring voice for people to

Chris Greene Hutchins:

come together and make it happen

Triston:

welcome to a virtual view where we talk about telehealth,

Triston:

healthcare and everything in between.

Cameron Hilt:

I have the pleasure with speaking with Chris green today on our

Cameron Hilt:

podcast to talk a little bit more about.

Cameron Hilt:

Broadband.

Cameron Hilt:

Chris, why don't you give a little bit of an introduction to our audience of just

Cameron Hilt:

your experience in broadband and just a little bit of information about your.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Sure.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

I'm Chris green Hutchings and I'm the program manager for the Michigan

Chris Greene Hutchins:

moonshot which is a collective call to action to bridge the

Chris Greene Hutchins:

digital divide here in Michigan.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

We are working in collaboration with merit network and some other

Chris Greene Hutchins:

nonprofits based here in Michigan.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And our goal is to work with.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Local communities that want to expand the number of residents

Chris Greene Hutchins:

that have access to broadband.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

So maybe I'll back up a little bit and talk about how I ended up in this role.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

I graduated years ago with a degree in liberal arts and shortly thereafter, I

Chris Greene Hutchins:

moved back to my hometown of traverse city, Michigan, and I was working in a

Chris Greene Hutchins:

small medical clinic there in town, and really got to see , that great cross

Chris Greene Hutchins:

section of society that you get exposed to when you work in the healthcare field.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And ultimately we decided to relocate to Anarbor and I then took a job at

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Michigan medicine this time in the information technology department.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And I worked there for many years worked.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

To being the chief of staff for the it department there.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Obviously we did quite a bit of networking at that time the concept

Chris Greene Hutchins:

of telemedicine was pretty new.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

It was more of an experimental thing that maybe we might dabble with on

Chris Greene Hutchins:

the side, trying to think through the networking implications of having,

Chris Greene Hutchins:

access to, proprietary and protected health information at a remote location.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

You guys remember.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And then I moved over to Beaumont health, which is another large

Chris Greene Hutchins:

healthcare provider here in Ms.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

To head up their office of the chief information officer.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Now, while I was working at Beaumont, one of the many duties that I had was

Chris Greene Hutchins:

promoting telehealth use Beaumont had about 4,000 physicians that were working

Chris Greene Hutchins:

with us in one capacity or another.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And We started doing these road shows where we would, provide

Chris Greene Hutchins:

dinner for and a presentation about how telemedicine was the future

Chris Greene Hutchins:

and people should really sign on.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And after doing this for well over a year, I think we had gotten a few times.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Uh, Providers to sign up.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And so it was still something that we were promoting at the time when the

Chris Greene Hutchins:

COVID-19 pandemic surfaced in Michigan.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And for those first, oh, I don't know, two months let's say that it was in Michigan.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Beaumont health was really the epicenter of the care that was being provided to

Chris Greene Hutchins:

COVID positive patients at that time.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

At that time, Beaumont had eight hospitals around the Metro Detroit region.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And I remember there was a time when about 80% of the people who were COVID positive

Chris Greene Hutchins:

in Michigan were in one of our hostile.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And then they had asked Beaumont asked staff if they would like to be reassigned

Chris Greene Hutchins:

to help address the COVID pandemic.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And I raised my hand and I got to work in our emergency response center and it was.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

A very exciting thing for me to do because I felt so close.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

We put together these dashboards so we could see, how many people

Chris Greene Hutchins:

are waiting at each of our ERs.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

How long have they been waiting?

Chris Greene Hutchins:

How many people are in beds?

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Looking at , all of the the key information that we need

Chris Greene Hutchins:

to look at to manage resources across this large health system.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And it was so exciting to me to be so close to patient care.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

I think I had forgotten, that back in those days, working at that small.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

How neat it was to be able to interact directly with patients.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

I remember, back in the day I used to cover for our receptionist at lunch.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

So I would see all of the patients that came in and help them, fill

Chris Greene Hutchins:

out their paperwork back in the day and working in the emergency

Chris Greene Hutchins:

management center was a way for me to.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

I feel a lot closer to those health outcomes.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

So when the opportunity came to be a part of the Michigan moonshot and translate my

Chris Greene Hutchins:

knowledge of healthcare and my knowledge of technology into something that is

Chris Greene Hutchins:

going to help improve overall health in Michigan, I was really excited about

Chris Greene Hutchins:

this job and I still can't believe that I have this job because I'm so thrilled

Chris Greene Hutchins:

to be able to take these things that I know and put them into practice.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

So I'm just really happy that I can work with communities and help them

Chris Greene Hutchins:

find a path because let's face it.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

There are a lot of people who would benefit from telemedicine that just

Chris Greene Hutchins:

can't get internet at their house.

Cameron Hilt:

Yeah, absolutely.

Cameron Hilt:

And it's great to hear, you've had the experience from multiple different

Cameron Hilt:

perspectives and, when it comes to broadband, there's so many different

Cameron Hilt:

disciplines that, that touches.

Cameron Hilt:

So you know, the variety of different experiences they've,

Cameron Hilt:

you've been able to have.

Cameron Hilt:

I think really helps to build a good foundation understanding of the need

Cameron Hilt:

for broadband access as well as to have, the technical expertise to be

Cameron Hilt:

able to work in that particular space.

Cameron Hilt:

Chris Greene Hutchins: yeah, it's been helpful.

Cameron Hilt:

It's also, interesting because when you work with technology specifically

Cameron Hilt:

infrastructure like fiber internet it's so much more clear cut than.

Cameron Hilt:

Modern health care, right.

Cameron Hilt:

working, especially with these large health systems, they're almost like a

Cameron Hilt:

university where there are all of these different disciplines and leaders and,

Cameron Hilt:

strategic directions that somehow come together and have to work together.

Cameron Hilt:

Where, as when you're working at an organization that's providing,

Cameron Hilt:

middle mile infrastructure, like it's pretty clear exactly what we do.

Cameron Hilt:

And how we work together and make it happen.

Cameron Hilt:

It can be difficult for people who are in those more straightforward

Cameron Hilt:

industries to understand why is it so hard to work with healthcare?

Cameron Hilt:

There's definitely some value in being able to understand the

Cameron Hilt:

intricacies of how decision-making happens in a complex organization

Cameron Hilt:

and the interplay of interests.

Cameron Hilt:

So for many years both at Michigan medicine and it.

Cameron Hilt:

I was involved in it governance specifically.

Cameron Hilt:

Decision-making about how to invest money that had been set aside for

Cameron Hilt:

information technology projects.

Cameron Hilt:

I wish the general public knew how earnest.

Cameron Hilt:

People in healthcare, we're about trying to do the very best thing and

Cameron Hilt:

do the most good with the minimal amount of money that is available.

Cameron Hilt:

Yeah, absolutely.

Cameron Hilt:

And, as you, you made this transition to work with a specific broad band

Cameron Hilt:

focused in the midst of the pandemic.

Cameron Hilt:

And so I'm curious, what did broadband access look like in

Cameron Hilt:

Michigan prior to the pandemic?

Cameron Hilt:

And has there been significant strides and improving broadband access

Cameron Hilt:

across the state during the pandemic?

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Sure.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

The assessment that was done just prior to the pandemic, I believe was in 2018,

Chris Greene Hutchins:

we assessed that there are about 350,000 households in Michigan that cannot

Chris Greene Hutchins:

get internet access for love or money.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And I want to give you some examples just within the last two months, I

Chris Greene Hutchins:

spoke to someone about a week ago, who said that they called the nearest

Chris Greene Hutchins:

internet service provider and said, what can I do to get internet at my house?

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And the service provider said, it's expensive for us to invest

Chris Greene Hutchins:

in, this hardware we have to install to get to your house.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

But, it would probably cost if you could pony up about $11,000, we

Chris Greene Hutchins:

might be able to make that happen.

Cameron Hilt:

Wow.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And then probably two weeks before that I was

Chris Greene Hutchins:

in a meeting with someone else, similar situation, she called her local ISP.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

They said, there's a gap of about $60,000 to get internet to your area.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And so , unfortunately, the benefit during the pandemic was that everyone became very

Chris Greene Hutchins:

suddenly aware that this was a problem.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

There's something we call the education gap which was quantified in a research

Chris Greene Hutchins:

that merit network did with the Quello center in Michigan state university,

Chris Greene Hutchins:

where they looked at a variety of school districts around the state.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And we're able to actually assess the difference in student performance

Chris Greene Hutchins:

between students who had internet access at home and those who did not.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And there's some really great summaries out there if you want to read more,

Chris Greene Hutchins:

but I'll just leave you with this little piece, is that students who

Chris Greene Hutchins:

do not have internet access at home on average, they have a half a grade

Chris Greene Hutchins:

lower than the students who do.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And they are awareness that came out of the pandemic that we

Chris Greene Hutchins:

needed to address those issues.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

The majority of the work that was done to provide internet

Chris Greene Hutchins:

to cover those gaps during the pandemic were temporary measures.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

So they were things like lending hotspots to people to take home

Chris Greene Hutchins:

helping people cover the cost of the increased data cap on their cellular plan

Chris Greene Hutchins:

so that they could use their cellular phone as a hotspot for a device at home.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And then there were some creative solutions.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

People were driving buses around that would provide wireless service.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

We'll be in your neighborhood from nine to noon on Tuesdays,

Chris Greene Hutchins:

come outside and sit in a launch.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And do your homework then.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

The good news is the pandemic inspired people to realize there was

Chris Greene Hutchins:

a problem and take action for it.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

The challenge there is.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

It takes quite some time to plan and raise the funds for, and build the

Chris Greene Hutchins:

infrastructure that is missing to get internet service to these neighborhoods

Chris Greene Hutchins:

and homes that do not have it today.

Cameron Hilt:

Yeah.

Cameron Hilt:

And it's interesting to see, that's why some of these creative solutions have.

Cameron Hilt:

Been birthed out of this particular issue , there's a lot

Cameron Hilt:

of money to, bring that broadband, especially when you're looking at.

Cameron Hilt:

More rural areas or perhaps you're looking at areas where there's perhaps terrain

Cameron Hilt:

that makes it difficult to put in cables, such as water mountains, things like that.

Cameron Hilt:

To where, they're having buses that drive around and provide wifi as well.

Cameron Hilt:

As we've seen several.

Cameron Hilt:

Throughout the pandemic several libraries that are starting to, allow people to

Cameron Hilt:

come into their parking lot, get access to wifi through that means as well.

Cameron Hilt:

And these are good.

Cameron Hilt:

But I guess from those who maybe aren't as familiar with what the

Cameron Hilt:

process is of installing fiber and maybe why it's so expensive.

Cameron Hilt:

Can you just elaborate on that for a little bit?

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Sure.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

I will admit that most of my work is done with community organizing

Chris Greene Hutchins:

and on the planning side.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And we do have people that are engaged here at merit network who work with

Chris Greene Hutchins:

communities to do the engineering and the planning and the project

Chris Greene Hutchins:

management for the construction.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

But I guess that's the key word right?

Chris Greene Hutchins:

There is construction.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

So in order to get, reliable high-speed internet to folks we're

Chris Greene Hutchins:

talking about building something and like many things that rely on power,

Chris Greene Hutchins:

the further away you get from the source, the weaker the signal is.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Let's say you're going to run fiber optic cables out to a tower.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And from that tower, you're going to transmit a wireless signal that

Chris Greene Hutchins:

people can then receive in their homes through a special, recent.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Even if we're talking about something as simple as that there's a limited

Chris Greene Hutchins:

range which that tower's going to be able to serve, and you've got to

Chris Greene Hutchins:

pay for running the wire out there.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Finding the site, building the tower, installing the equipment

Chris Greene Hutchins:

that's on the tower, installing the equipment that's in the home.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And so I guess what my point is, either way you slice it, we're talking about

Chris Greene Hutchins:

constructing thousands and thousands of miles of fiber optic infrastructure

Chris Greene Hutchins:

and the other challenges, even if fiber optic cable is running down your street,

Chris Greene Hutchins:

there may not be a drop where it can actually come to your home and it costs

Chris Greene Hutchins:

money for the company to come in and install that drops so that you can.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

So one of the reasons it costs a great deal and take some amount of time is

Chris Greene Hutchins:

that we're talking about infrastructure.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

I know there was a time when people would think about high-speed internet

Chris Greene Hutchins:

in the same way we might think about cable TV oh it's something nice to have,

Chris Greene Hutchins:

but it's a luxury, it's not something you need, you can get by without it.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Today.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

I think we could all agree that having access to high-speed internet is a lot

Chris Greene Hutchins:

more like water electricity and heat.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

It is critical.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

So here's a great idea.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

I was at the Michigan rural health conference just last month.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And I was talking with two case managers from spectrum who work in

Chris Greene Hutchins:

rural counties here in Michigan.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And one of them said to me, a big part of our work is going out to the

Chris Greene Hutchins:

patient's home and helping them figure out how they can access services online.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And she said, it's a real problem because.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Many of our patients don't have internet at home, but air even areas in Michigan.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And I'm sure there are in other areas of the Midwest that don't

Chris Greene Hutchins:

even have cellular service.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

So here are these case managers coming into a home and they're planning to use

Chris Greene Hutchins:

their cell phone as a hotspot so they can help this patient go online and

Chris Greene Hutchins:

apply for the services they need and they still don't have access and more and more

Chris Greene Hutchins:

government services are moving online.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

So I think we can all agree that it's become a necessity

Chris Greene Hutchins:

for life in the 21st century.

Cameron Hilt:

Absolutely.

Cameron Hilt:

That's a great point.

Cameron Hilt:

It's a necessity, just like water and electricity.

Cameron Hilt:

, to build.

Cameron Hilt:

Broadband infrastructure into a mountain is an astronomical task.

Cameron Hilt:

And so for the individuals that are living in those communities

Cameron Hilt:

it's difficult to even get.

Cameron Hilt:

Government support or other support, that's going to be substantial enough to

Cameron Hilt:

really help bring those resources to them.

Cameron Hilt:

And it's sad to see that in some of these communities that, because of the cost

Cameron Hilt:

and because it is infrastructure, that it is so difficult to be able to get these

Cameron Hilt:

communities connected to these resources.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

But it is an exciting time right now because

Chris Greene Hutchins:

last November Congress passed the infrastructure, investment and jobs act.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And in that there are over $48 billion in programs that are

Chris Greene Hutchins:

dedicated to getting broadband.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

To places like that, places that are on the side of a mountain, places that

Chris Greene Hutchins:

are on islands, places that are out in the middle of a very lowly populated

Chris Greene Hutchins:

area where a regular telecom company would never build infrastructure

Chris Greene Hutchins:

because they can't expect to generate a profit from that infrastructure.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

So it's a really exciting time because what seemed impossible

Chris Greene Hutchins:

before is becoming past.

Cameron Hilt:

Absolutely.

Cameron Hilt:

And we've seen more state governments really.

Cameron Hilt:

Focus on this as a particular concern.

Cameron Hilt:

I know in Indiana specifically, there was a large amount of funding from the state

Cameron Hilt:

that went out to broadband initiatives.

Cameron Hilt:

And and I do want to mention, the few examples we've talked about is more

Cameron Hilt:

rural, but urban communities too, still struggle with having, high speed internet.

Cameron Hilt:

And that becomes a problem for all of the reasons that Chris and I.

Cameron Hilt:

I already mentioned here.

Cameron Hilt:

So it's not a issue specific to rural.

Cameron Hilt:

A lot of our urban communities, suburban communities may have some

Cameron Hilt:

of these similar struggles as well.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

It, and it comes from that history of this not

Chris Greene Hutchins:

developing as public infrastructure, but as private for-profit.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And that made sense until it became a necessity for daily life.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

So now the government is stepping in and making the means

Chris Greene Hutchins:

for us to make that happen.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

However, I really.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

I was glad to be invited on the show today because I really want

Chris Greene Hutchins:

to share that message that it's not guaranteed that your community or the

Chris Greene Hutchins:

community where your patients reside is going to receive the funding and

Chris Greene Hutchins:

be able to build this infrastructure unless someone is taking proactive

Chris Greene Hutchins:

measures to make sure it happens.

Cameron Hilt:

Absolutely.

Cameron Hilt:

So how can organizations help address some of these broadband challenges

Cameron Hilt:

that their communities face.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

I think the first and most important

Chris Greene Hutchins:

message I want to share.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

You can do more than you

Chris Greene Hutchins:

think more than you

Chris Greene Hutchins:

think is possible.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And it requires a few, probably like most good things, right?

Chris Greene Hutchins:

A few passionate stakeholders.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

One rather simple thing that can make a big impact is if you are with a local

Chris Greene Hutchins:

healthcare provider, Really does not matter the size of the organization,

Chris Greene Hutchins:

writing a letter to your county board of commissioners on behalf of your

Chris Greene Hutchins:

organization and letting them know about the impact that access to high-speed

Chris Greene Hutchins:

internet could have on the health of people in the county can make a huge

Chris Greene Hutchins:

impact on whether or not your county, your leadership at the county level

Chris Greene Hutchins:

decides are we going to invest on.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Expanding animal control or do we want to invest in getting some of

Chris Greene Hutchins:

our most disconnected residents connected to the services?

Chris Greene Hutchins:

That can make a big difference.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Other ways that people can get involved is coalition building.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

So libraries are very interested in this.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

I think I've mentioned local governments, but oftentimes

Chris Greene Hutchins:

there are nonprofits starting the conversation amongst other human

Chris Greene Hutchins:

services groups that are in your area.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

It doesn't mean that you have to own making it happen.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

But

Chris Greene Hutchins:

healthcare can be such an inspiring voice for people to

Chris Greene Hutchins:

come together and make it happen.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Because as I mentioned before, It's not guaranteed that any community is

Chris Greene Hutchins:

going to get the funding that they need to build this, unless they have some

Chris Greene Hutchins:

powerful local stakeholders who were willing to work together to advocate

Chris Greene Hutchins:

for putting together a plan, putting together grant proposals and ultimately

Chris Greene Hutchins:

overseeing construction, whether that's managing it within your locality or

Chris Greene Hutchins:

partnering with, a technology committee.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

There are many roads forward, but they all start with local conversations.

Cameron Hilt:

I think an important piece that you touched on there is,

Cameron Hilt:

it takes a collaboration amongst multiple industries and specialties

Cameron Hilt:

to really make this happen.

Cameron Hilt:

, we know this is an issue for our patients and is impacting

Cameron Hilt:

access to care for our patients.

Cameron Hilt:

And so how can we work with these different community leaders, non-profits

Cameron Hilt:

governments technology companies to see how we can come together

Cameron Hilt:

really help meet the need of this.

Cameron Hilt:

And I think, that takes some of the pressure off It's not saying that,

Cameron Hilt:

health care organizations figure it out, you know, you can do it.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

You're smart.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

You have people.

Cameron Hilt:

It's going to be one of those things of, really

Cameron Hilt:

leaning into multiple different specialties and seeing how you all

Cameron Hilt:

can work together to solve that

Chris Greene Hutchins:

yes.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

I see the lack of access to the internet as a brick wall.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

So if I was coming at that from a healthcare provider perspective,

Chris Greene Hutchins:

I would say, oh, I want to reach out to these patients.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Oh, hit a brick wall.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

They don't have access to the internet.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

I guess I have to turn around now.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And what they don't know is on the other side of that brick wall are

Chris Greene Hutchins:

dozens of people, organizations, people like the Michigan moonshot.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

I want to bring that wall down.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And the people on the other side of the wall have the tools.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

They have the know-how, they have the connections, they're all set.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

They just need someone to push on the wall and they will help bring it down.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

That's why I want people who are involved in the healthcare industry

Chris Greene Hutchins:

to know, . The people who you want to work with to make it happen, are out

Chris Greene Hutchins:

there and they're ready to work and they will be inspired to make it happen.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

If you can work with.

Cameron Hilt:

Yeah.

Cameron Hilt:

And I think, that's.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

That's

Cameron Hilt:

the thing with a lot of, some of these large issues and to

Cameron Hilt:

your point, Chris, , really knowing that there are resources out there and

Cameron Hilt:

sometimes that can be the biggest barrier.

Cameron Hilt:

You just don't know who's working in that area, what organizations are doing

Cameron Hilt:

this and unless you're sitting down and.

Cameron Hilt:

Really researching what organizations are there or you happen to

Cameron Hilt:

just stumble upon someone.

Cameron Hilt:

It can be hard to make some of those connections.

Cameron Hilt:

And But when you can make those connections, how much of an impact

Cameron Hilt:

that can have, and, we're always looking to see how can we have

Cameron Hilt:

collective impact in our communities.

Cameron Hilt:

And we can't do that in silos.

Cameron Hilt:

We do have to work with others and figure out opportunities to collaborate

Cameron Hilt:

in order to make that happen.

Cameron Hilt:

And you've hit on it a few times and I wanted to just dive

Cameron Hilt:

into this a little bit deeper.

Cameron Hilt:

We've talked about.

Cameron Hilt:

The lack of broadband or lack of high-speed internet, impacts

Cameron Hilt:

access for care for patients.

Cameron Hilt:

But broadband specifically has been called out as the super

Cameron Hilt:

social determinant of health.

Cameron Hilt:

So can you just explain a little bit more from your perspective why broadband

Cameron Hilt:

now is being called out as, an even larger predictor of poor health outcomes?

Cameron Hilt:

If it can't be addressed.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Yes, I'm glad you brought that up.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Cam.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

I think there's a fairly common way of talking about

Chris Greene Hutchins:

social determinants of health.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

That goes something like this, to 55 year old males walk into an emergency.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And, without knowing anything about their medical history or their genetic

Chris Greene Hutchins:

code, I can tell you what their outcome is going to be based on the

Chris Greene Hutchins:

zip code on their driver's license.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And then that kind of starts the conversation about there are these factors

Chris Greene Hutchins:

that need to be overcome in order for us to have a healthier in a similar

Chris Greene Hutchins:

way, a study was done that was published earlier this year about COVID mortality.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And they found that the number one factor that correlated with COVID

Chris Greene Hutchins:

mortality was internet speed at home.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Sorry, I'm getting a little worked up here.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

I just think that's absolutely ridiculous.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

That is as upsetting thinking about that.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

It's your zip code, but even that, because we know there are

Chris Greene Hutchins:

situations where one neighborhood has internet and the next doesn't and.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Knowing that not only information is power, apparently information is health.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And how do we make that happen?

Chris Greene Hutchins:

I'm here to tell you there, there is a way to make that.

Cameron Hilt:

It's always heartbreaking to hear that when you live in a community

Cameron Hilt:

where you have easy access to broadband or high speed internet that we often

Cameron Hilt:

take for granted is such a predictor for health for communities outside that maybe

Cameron Hilt:

don't have access to those resources.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

The things that's frustrating cam is that.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Years ago, the federal communications commission created this working

Chris Greene Hutchins:

group called connect to health and this task force put together

Chris Greene Hutchins:

a map where they overlaid.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

A map, showing access to broadband with a map of healthcare outcomes.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And that's been around since 2016.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And then they came back around in, I believe it's 2019 and

Chris Greene Hutchins:

they identified counties.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Around the United States that were most in need of investment to increase

Chris Greene Hutchins:

access to high speed internet, because they were certain, it would improve

Chris Greene Hutchins:

health outcomes in those counties.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And five of those counties are right here in Michigan.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And as far as I can tell, I've not been made aware of any

Chris Greene Hutchins:

investment in those counties to.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And that's one of those frustrating things we have right.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Where we know there's good information, but how do we get it into the right hands?

Chris Greene Hutchins:

The business case is certainly there.

Cameron Hilt:

Yeah when we have access to this information, making sure the

Cameron Hilt:

individuals who are making decisions on either where the money goes for those

Cameron Hilt:

particular projects or has the know-how to make it happen really has that

Cameron Hilt:

information and can move things forward.

Cameron Hilt:

And I think with the COVID-19 pandemic, as we've talked about,

Cameron Hilt:

it has placed a very special spotlight on this particular issue.

Cameron Hilt:

We had children that for the first time, we're having to figure out

Cameron Hilt:

how to do virtual school and the assumption that every child that was

Cameron Hilt:

in school had access to internet.

Cameron Hilt:

If anyone has.

Cameron Hilt:

Assumption before that was shot in the past two years.

Cameron Hilt:

And so I, I feel encouraged that, there's been a lot of hardship that

Cameron Hilt:

has come through the pandemic, but highlighting some of these issues

Cameron Hilt:

and bringing more attention to some of these issues is something that

Cameron Hilt:

I think will have a lasting impact for broadband access in communities.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Yes.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

I believe we're at an important time in history right now.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

Where we can make investments and we can do the hard work of bringing the

Chris Greene Hutchins:

right people together and having the right conversations and that we can

Chris Greene Hutchins:

create a foundation that will bring returns to generations that go beyond us.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

And that's a very exciting prospect for us to be able to have that kind of impact.

Cameron Hilt:

Absolutely.

Cameron Hilt:

And that is always one of our biggest hopes when we're working in healthcare

Cameron Hilt:

is how do we build a better foundation for the future and how do we address.

Cameron Hilt:

Some of the inequality that exists in our current system to provide equitable

Cameron Hilt:

care to all communities, regardless of where they're located, regardless

Cameron Hilt:

of their racial or ethnic background.

Cameron Hilt:

And I think it's encouraging to see what some of this will look like in the future.

Cameron Hilt:

And even some of the changes that we've already seen.

Cameron Hilt:

In the past couple years, and, as we get close to wrapping up our time today,

Cameron Hilt:

Chris, I want to give just a little bit of time for you to talk through.

Cameron Hilt:

Are there any other resources that you would recommend for an audience if they

Cameron Hilt:

want to learn more about broadband, if they want to learn more about, how does

Cameron Hilt:

broadband impact health what are some resources that you would share with them?

Cameron Hilt:

. Chris Greene Hutchins:

Cameron Hilt:

website, Michigan moonshot.org.

Cameron Hilt:

We have a great deal of information.

Cameron Hilt:

We have webinars on a regular basis.

Cameron Hilt:

We have a great educational resource called the broadband framework that is

Cameron Hilt:

soup to nuts from the beginning of what exactly is broadband all the way to,

Cameron Hilt:

maybe you decide that you want to run broadband for your for your community.

Cameron Hilt:

So it's everything in between.

Cameron Hilt:

It's all online and free.

Cameron Hilt:

We have, other things such as, newsletters and.

Cameron Hilt:

We have two wonderful annual events that people might be interested in as well.

Cameron Hilt:

But there are some other organizations out there who are

Cameron Hilt:

also doing great work in this space.

Cameron Hilt:

I want to recommend the tele-health equity coalition, which I think

Cameron Hilt:

is how you and I met camp.

Cameron Hilt:

The insure the uninsured project they are actually doing.

Cameron Hilt:

Quite a bit in the realm of what we would call digital equity and how that

Cameron Hilt:

contributes to the health of folks who are uninsured, actually health.gov

Cameron Hilt:

has information about internet access.

Cameron Hilt:

, of course I recommend the tele-health resource centers and

Cameron Hilt:

the rural health information hub.

Cameron Hilt:

They both have good information if you're looking for it.

Cameron Hilt:

Those are all great resources, Chris.

Cameron Hilt:

And I just want to thank you just for, taking some time just to come

Cameron Hilt:

and chat with us about broadband.

Cameron Hilt:

I'm looking forward to being able to have conversations with you more in the future.

Cameron Hilt:

But just want to thank you for your time and for your expertise today.

Chris Greene Hutchins:

thank you so much for having me.

Caroline Yoder:

Thank you for listening to a virtual view.

Caroline Yoder:

You can find more information about today's episode in the show notes below.

Caroline Yoder:

If you would like to support our podcast, please rate and review us

Caroline Yoder:

on your favorite podcast player.

Caroline Yoder:

Do you have any questions or topics you'd like us to discuss?

Caroline Yoder:

If so, contact us at info at UMTRC dot org or through the

Caroline Yoder:

form found in the show notes.

Caroline Yoder:

Also, we'd like to give a special thanks to our editor.

Caroline Yoder:

Finally a special thanks to the health resources and service administration.

Caroline Yoder:

Also known as HERSA.

Caroline Yoder:

Our podcast series of virtual view is sponsored in part by hearses telehealth

Caroline Yoder:

resource center program, which is under hers is office of the administrator and

Caroline Yoder:

the office for the advancement of tele.

Caroline Yoder:

The content and conclusions of this podcast are those of Cameron hilt of the

Caroline Yoder:

UMTRC and should not be construed as the official policy of, or the position of

Caroline Yoder:

nor should any endorsements be inferred by HERSA, HHS, or the U S government.

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A Virtual View
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As a federally funded program of the Indiana Rural Health Association (IRHA), the Upper Midwest Telehealth Resource Center provides a comprehensive set of telehealth clinical and technical assistance services leveraged into products of lasting value to rural providers. Many of the resources found on the website are related to reimbursement and the development of sustainable telehealth programs. The UMTRC region encompasses the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. We have created this podcast as an additional outreach tool for savvy individuals like yourself to assist you in learning more about access to healthcare, telehealth, and virtual visits.

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