Broadband Health Mapping Tool Launched by FCC Connect2Health Task Force

data that can help drive broadband health policies and connected health solutions," said an FCC release Tuesday. Users can generate customized maps displaying broadband access, adoption and speed data combined with health information in urban and rural areas, which can be used to identify gaps and opportunities, it said. “The unique insights revealed by this mapping platform can be utilized by businesses and policymakers to effect change and innovation,” said Chairman Tom Wheeler. The release said: "The picture of health is vastly different in connected communities vs. digitally isolated communities. This holds true across access to care, quality of care and health outcome metrics. For example, obesity prevalence is 25 percent higher and diabetes prevalence is 35 percent higher in these counties (i.e., where 60 percent of households lack access to broadband and over 60 percent lack basic Internet connections at home.)" There's "a significant gap between rural and urban counties," it added. "What we have found in too many places, are skyrocketing rates of chronic disease, crippling access by way of care, and a lack of broadband-enabled health resources that could make a real difference," said Commissioner Mignon Clyburn in prepared remarks on the mapping tool at the Microsoft Innovation and Policy Center. "These are the so-called 'double burden' counties: communities where high health needs and poor connectivity intersect. The Priority 100 and Rural 100 lists we release today identify those counties by name, with the hope this will catalyze action and provide a roadmap for private investment and coordinated public support to follow. Many of these priority counties are concentrated in the South and Midwest, where they average 8% fixed broadband access, have a 34% higher diabetes prevalence and 24% higher obesity prevalence than the national average."