The mHIMSS rearview mirror - February 2013

David Collins

Ever wonder where the time goes? It’s already March, and HIMSS13 is finally here. So what was new and cool from the world of mHIMSS in February?

Building up to HIMSS13 in the Big Easy was the driving focus for the month of February. Lots to tune into for mHIMSS at HIMSS13, including the Roadmap Workshop; new videos featuring the value of mHealth, the mHIMSS Roadmap, and the value of mHIMSS, all at the mHIMSS Booth; the mHIMSS Tweet-Up; the mHIMSS Inaugural reception; and lots of cool presentations at the Mobile Knowledge Center.  Check out the HIMSS13 Google Hangout to learn more about Innovation, Consumer Engagement, and Mobile.

mHIMSS is proud of its release of the mHIMSS Case Study: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The mHIMSS team and volunteers traveled to CHOP and spent the day there learning and interviewing key staff to understand their approach to mHealth.

The Feb Twitter Chat focused on User Interface/User Design, and the February Open Mic series had a great discussion on mHealth privacy and security, with emphasis on the challenges of BYOD. Visit the mHIMSS LinkedIn Group to check out lessons learned from the discussion.

The mHIMSS Corporate Relations Roundtable heard an excellent presentation by Dr. Levy about the CallDr app, a resource for enhancing specialists' consults, making the process more seamless and effective than ever before.

Highlights of the mHIMSS Roadmap were shared in a webinar titled "Managing Multiple Technologies" which showcased tips on mobile deployment in healthcare.

Happtique released its final app standards. “Happtique Certification Standards and associated Performance Requirements are explicitly designed to not only complement the objectives (existing regulations and guidelines) of key Federal agencies – namely, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) – involved in the regulation of mobile health applications, but also raises the bar for a growing segment of apps that are currently not subject to heightened regulatory oversight. Therefore, the Happtique Certification Standards should be interest to all app developers who create products for the mobile health market.”

The FCC hosted its Broadband Summit to “identify and discuss best practices learned from broadband adoption programs and academic studies/surveys, and how implementation of these best practices can close the broadband adoption gap among Americans – particularly low-income households, racial and ethnic minorities, seniors, rural  residents, residents of Tribal lands and people with disabilities.”

The DOD released its Commercial Mobile Device Implementation Plan  “that supports the department’s June 2012 Mobility Strategy with specific goals and objectives in order to capitalize on the full potential of mobile devices. The implementation plan focuses on improving three areas critical to mobility: mobile devices, wireless infrastructure, and mobile applications, and works to ensure these areas remain reliable, secure and flexible enough to keep up with fast-changing technology.”

And the ONC is now accepting applications for potential membership for the Food and Drug Administration Safety Innovation Act (FDASIA). The group is looking to develop a report on an appropriate, risk-based regulatory framework pertaining to health information technology and mobile medical applications. Register at ONC's Workgroup Application Database (due March 8).

Check out Tom Martin’s blog on what mHIMSS has coming up in March.

We’d love to meet you in person at the mHIMSS Booth at the mHIMSS Tweet-Up on Monday, March 4, from 3-4 p.m. CT.

David Collins, MHA, CPHQ, CPHIMS, FHIMSS, is the senior director of mHIMSS, the mobile initiative of HIMSS.  He has been on more than 30 site visits assessing HIMSS Davies Award candidates and is past liaison to the HIMSS Patient Safety Quality Initiative. He is a 2012 Baldrige Award Examiner.