Stephen Sprunk wrote

...

...

I meant my reply to be directed only at "telemedecine", where the patient is at home and consults their general practitioner or primary care physician via broadband for things like the flu or a broken arm. While there's lots of talk about this in sci-fi books, there's no sign of this making any significant inroads today, nor does it qualify as a "killer app" for home broadband.<<<

Cost and trouble has been too high. Widespread broadband could change this. Assisted living facilities, with wealthy retired baby boomers will be a high payoff market. We're already seeing some clinics and physicians who encourage e-mail with patients. Video is far better to assess the patient's attitude/condition even without any instrumentation