mHealth Summit 2012 update: Christmas comes early for mHealth enthusiasts

Eric Wicklund

New influences in the mHealth landscape are making themselves apparent as the clock ticks down to this year's mHealth Summit.

The summit, scheduled for Dec. 3-5 at the Gaylord Resort in Washington D.C., promises to be bigger and more diverse this year, according to Richard Scarfo, who has organized the event since its conception five years ago (he was hired by HIMSS shortly before HIMSS acquired rights to the summit this past January). It's a bit longer this year, topping out at three full days, and the Exhibit Hall looks to be larger, with more pavilions and special events.

This year's choice of opening keynote speaker is also telling. Marc Bertolini, chairman and CEO of Aetna, represents a new wave of interest in the mHealth space, with payers ramping up efforts to develop mobile health programs that connect members at home to health and wellness tools, preventive health tips and clinical checklists for before and after a hospital visit. Several of the nation's larger payers are also reporting good outcomes in pilots in which mHealth technology is used to help people with type 2 diabetes manage their health at home.

Take a look at the agenda, and you'll notice something else: Whereas previous summits were heavy on concepts and possibilities for mHealth, this year's summit is shining the spotlight on ongoing programs, from the VA's projects to bring healthcare to veterans to ongoing chronic disease management programs to the growing impact of the mHealth Alliance and GSMA in the global healthcare landscape.
All of which points to the conclusion that mHealth is no longer just for the academic or the entrepreneur, but also very much a part of the provider's universe.

There are also sessions on gaming, app development, aging in place initiatives, public-private partnerships and the ever-popular BYOD debate.

Add to that a pre-conference session hosted by Health 2.0, special breakfast sessions each morning, an interoperability showcase, the ever-popular "super sessions," a mobile health venture fair, co-located meetings and affiliate sessions, and the agenda is filling fast.

Stay tuned to mHIMSS.org for more details.

Eric Wicklund

Editor of mHIMSS.org

Follow Eric on Twitter @eriwick