on the horizon
By Brandon Klein
Broadband Impact
5G to make positive impact in health care
T
here may not be any evidence that 5G technology impacts your health, but there is evidence that the technology will soon make an impact on the health care world. In telecommunications, 5G is the next generation of mobile broadband that will replace or complement 4LTE, bringing faster download and upload speeds and reducing the time it takes for devices to communicate with wireless networks. “5G has the potential for profound change because of speed – what takes six minutes to transmit with 4G 36
is reduced to less than four seconds,” Pedro Pereria writes in a blog post for the Computing Technology Industry Association. Mobile carriers have already begun rolling out the technology in select cities over the last few years and as the technology picks up speed, experts expect the technology to positively impact the health care system. “5G technology will help turn antiquated health care systems in hospitals into smart hospitals that can deliver remote health care services to patients around the world,” Marco Stracuzzi
writes in a blog post for software company Telit. Stracuzzi says 5G is expected to grow the telehealth market, citing a prepandemic study that the telehealth market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 16.5 percent from 2017 to 2023. “Faster network speeds and the quality of care will allow doctors to engage remotely with patients at home or in field hospitals without the worry of network blackouts, disconnections or lag time,” he writes. “In the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic … the techwww.healthynewalbanymagazine.com
