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Lack of broadband hurts hospitals.

Article Excerpt
IN THE PIKE COUNTY MEMORIAL HOSpital, patient records still are kept by hand.

When a patient needs a second opinion, instead of having his medical records fired off over a broadband Internet connection, he must carry them to another specialist.

Rosemary Fritts, administrator of the Murfreesboro hospital, said her 32-bed facility can't afford to add another broadband connection to help with the delivery of patient records.

"We're a tiny, tiny hospital," Fritts said.

Dr. Ann Bynum, though, hopes help is on the way.

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and other health care organizations such as Baptist Health of Little Rock and the Arkansas Department of Health have formed a consortium to apply for a $15 million grant from the Federal Communications Commission to help cover the cost of installing a broadband infrastructure for health care facilities in Arkansas, said Bynum, director of UAMS's Rural Hospital Program.

"We bet every state has applied for it, so we don't know if we will get it or not," Bynum said.

Bynum said she should receive an answer on the application by the end of summer.

"Figuring out how to pay for broadband is a real problem for rural hospitals," Bynum said.

Broadband Internet access to hospitals is becoming a...