In many ways, the U.S. is still behind the curve when it comes to using technology in medical care, not because the technology industry isn’t interested in providing software and hardware, but because of a failure on the part of doctors to use the technology and on the part of Medicare and other government-sponsored health programs to pay for health outcomes rather than procedures, said Dr. Kaushal.

Plus, in many areas, especially rural ones where physicians are scarce, the broadband network just isn’t up to speed. The Mayo Clinic/Intel study will involve video conferencing between patients and doctors to ascertain patient fitness — something that could benefit from better broadband and even HD quality. In a presentation before the FCC last week, Dr. Kaushal said that using e-care could save $700 billion over the next 15-20 years.

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