Broadband Breakfast on October 7, 2026 – Connectivity and Medicine
How can better connectivity lead to better health?
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Broadband Breakfast
Broadband is fast becoming as essential to healthcare as the stethoscope, powering telehealth visits, remote patient monitoring, and real-time data sharing between providers. Join Broadband Breakfast Live Online as experts in medicine, technology, and policy examine how connectivity is reshaping patient care, and where gaps in access still leave rural and underserved communities behind. We'll explore what networks, funding, and regulatory frameworks are needed to make connected care work for every patient.
Panelists
- Robbie Blish, Director of Public Safety Connectivity Initiatives, AMBCOPS.org
- Dr. Arshia Khan, Professor, Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Computer Science, University of Minnesota Duluth
- Andrew Solomon, Senior Program Manager, MCD Global Health
- Reid Plimpton, Program Manager, MCD Global Health
- Drew Clark (moderator), CEO and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast
Robbie Blish is a retired Chief of Police with 35 years of law enforcement experience in Vermont and Florida and since 2021 has been involved with the expansion of broadband and mobile broadband in rural communities. He currently works with Mac Mountain, a New England based company working with rural communities to expand broadband coverage as well as with AMBCOPS.org and YOWIEPatrol.org, two programs of the Doris Buffett Legacy Foundation that help communities identify and map gaps in mobile broadband coverage. His work focuses on improving rural connectivity, strengthening public safety, and building community partnerships.
Dr. Arshia Khan is Professor, Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Computer Science, University of Minnesota Duluth. She holds a bachelor of engineering in computer-engineering, an M.S. in computer science and a Ph.D in information technology. Her research efforts are directed at growing the emerging new field of biomedical and health informatics, specifically in the areas of neuroscience and therapeutic robotic assistive technology in combination with sensors and IoT (Internet of Things). This research, which combines her computer science and engineering skills with medicine, offers promising solutions to chronic neurodegenerative problems such as dementia and elderly care. Her research requires strong and varied interdisciplinary collaborations with experts in fields of cardiothoracic surgery, neuropsychology, psychology, physical therapy, dietetics, nursing and occupational therapy.
Andrew P. Solomon, MPH, is Senior Program Manager for Digital Health and Augmented Intelligence (AI) at MCD Global Health, where he is leading the launch of the Maine Rural AI Hub and oversees implementation of telehealth and remote patient monitoring projects under Maine's CMS-funded Rural Health Transformation Program. Andrew has spent more than a decade building technology-enabled programs that bring care closer to rural communities. Through MCD's Northeast Telehealth Resource Center, he has worked with more than 600 health care organizations and agencies to design, implement, and optimize telehealth programs. His work has included establishing the Maine eConsult Network, launching the Seacoast Care Collaborative for Maine's unbridged island communities, directing a regional COVID-19 telehealth resource center, and leading a rural workforce development collaborative with three New England universities.
Reid Plimpton is the Program Manager for the federally funded (HRSA/FORHP) Northeast Telehealth Resource Center (NETRC), a member of the National Consortium of Telehealth Resource Centers, where he provides assistance to organizations while they develop, implement, and expand telehealth programs. He manages the day-to-day operations of NETRC and directs resource development with partners at MCD Global Health, and the University of Vermont. Mr. Plimpton tracks and analyzes telehealth reimbursement policies, legal and regulatory issues, telehealth technology and equipment, model program outcomes, funding opportunities, and the overall telehealth landscape. He serves as a regional liaison promoting networking between telehealth professionals, including leading the organization of the annual Northeast Regional Telehealth Conference and the Northeast Telehealth Leadership Forum
Breakfast Media LLC CEO Drew Clark has led the Broadband Breakfast community since 2008. An early proponent of better broadband, better lives, he initially founded the Broadband Census crowdsourcing tool to collect and verify broadband data left unpublished by the Federal Communications Commission. As CEO and Publisher, Clark presides over the leading media community advocating for higher-capacity internet everywhere through topical, timely and intelligent coverage. Clark also served as head of the Partnership for a Connected Illinois, a state broadband initiative.
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