Viewpoint: Telecommunications and Internet Broadband Policy: Sorting Out the Pieces for Telerehabilitation

Technological change is accelerating and with it regulatory upheaval. Most of us agree that providing universal telecommunication services to all our citizens is a worthy ideal. Nonetheless, many of us do not agree that regulation should be the means to make broadband Internet services widely available. This Viewpoint begins sorting out pieces of the emerging United States, regulatory and policy puzzle for broadband Internet with an eye to the interests of telerehabilitation providers and consumers. Just how might changes in legal authority, regulation and agency jurisdictions impact us?Key words: telecommunications regulation, telerehabilitation, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Telecommunications Act of 1996, National Broadband Plan; Comcast vs. FCC; electronic health records (EHR); personal health records (PHR); health information technology (HIT),