SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --According to the White House, the U.S. spends $2.2 trillion each year in health care, and Americans spend more on health care than on food or housing. An upward trend in health care cost is projected over the period of 2015-2021 at an average rate of 6.2 percent annually, reflecting the net result of the aging of the population, several provisions of the Affordable Care Act, and generally improving economic conditions reported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Many experts believe that broadband enabled health may be a critical answer to controlling costs, while enhancing quality health care, and is being considered by many to be the next great frontier of American medicine. A recent study by U.S. Telecom suggests that health care expenditures could be cut by $200 billion over the next 25 years using broadband. High-speed transmission capability has generated efficiencies such as faster patient diagnoses, reduced medical errors, and additional control over skyrocketing patient care costs. Successful broadband adoption requires implementation of broadband-dependent applications that add value to health care organizations, businesses and consumers. This requires that clinicians and consumers are broadband technology-literate.

These trends were the catalyst for the California Community Colleges' Health Workforce Initiative (HWI) that led to the development of a new broadband enabled health care course for California nurses. HWI Director Linda Zorn said, "This is such a timely course given all of the health care changes and trends taking place in California. We were fortunate to have received a grant from the University of California Davis eHealth Broadband Adoption Project, so that we can offer this course at no charge to nurses for a limited time."

The self-paced, online course provides six contact hours for California nursing continuing education units and includes topics such as: a) The Importance of Broadband for Health Care Delivery; b) The Future is Now: New Technologies for Better Health; c) eHealth; d) Consumer Focused Applications and Devices; e) Clinical Health Informatics: An Overview for Nurses; and f) Nursing Considerations and the Future of Telehealth.

To learn more about the course or to register, go towww.freeRNceus.org.

The available funding used to offer the course at no charge for California registered nurses ends 6/30/13.

The Health Workforce Initiative is part of the California Community Colleges Economic and Workforce Development program. Course materials were developed through funding from the University of California Davis Health System award No. 06-43-B10584 from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NIST or the U.S. Department of Commerce.

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Grant-Funded Broadband Enabled Health Care Online Course Released For California Nurses