mHealth Task Force to Release Findings and Recommendations to Accelerate Accessibility and Adoption of Mobile Healthcare in the United States

mHealth Task Force co-Chairs and report authors, Partners Healthcare Systems Director Dr. Julian Goldman, Qualcomm Senior Director Robert Jarrin and Health Analytic Services CEO Douglas Trauner, gather at ITIF to discuss ways to advance healthcare delivery through the use of mobile health

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski will appear today with the authors of a new report that calls on government, academia, and industry to expand their collaboration and adopt policies aimed at enabling and proliferating mobile health technologies. 

In June 2012, FCC Chairman Genachowski assembled a group of the nation's leading wireless health care technology industry, government, and academic experts for a summit on mHealth. The participants of this event created the mHealth Task Force to develop concrete recommendations to accelerate the adoption of mHealth technology. At the meeting, Chairman Genachowski asked Dr. Julian Goldman of CIMIT/MGH, Robert Jarrin of Qualcomm Incorporated and Douglas Trauner of Health Analytic Services, Inc. (TheCarrot.com), to volunteer to lead this effort and author the report.

The mHealth Task Force has now identified several opportunities to foster the broad adoption of mobile health technology. The recommendations examine how Federal agencies should increase collaboration to promote innovation, avoid regulatory duplication and build upon existing programs to expand broadband access for health care. 

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation today will host a panel discussion with the authors of the mHealth Task Force report and Chairman Genachowski.

When:  Monday, September 24, 2012 - 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Where:  The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
            1101 K Street, NW (Suite 610A)
            Washington, DC 20005

Who:    Julius Genachowski, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission
            Julian Goldman, Medical Director of Biomedical Engineering, Partners Healthcare System;
            Director, CIMIT Program on Interoperability; Attending Physician, Massachusetts General
            Hospital 
            Robert Jarrin, Senior Director of Government Affairs, Qualcomm 
            Douglas Trauner, CEO, Health Analytic Services, Inc. (TheCarrot.com)

Moderator: Robert D. Atkinson, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

The recommendations in the report are created with the overarching goal that "by 2017 mHealth, wireless health and e-Care solutions will be routinely available as part of best practices for medical care with appropriate reimbursement incentives."

"Health care delivery is at a critical juncture in the United States both in terms of quality and cost," said Julian Goldman, Medical Director of Biomedical Engineering at Partners Healthcare System. "The mHealth Task Force has presented clear recommendations to help accelerate the safe implementation of communication technologies to enhance care and decrease costs."

"Ubiquitous mobile technologies have transformed many areas of our lives and the national economy.  Health information technologies such as mobile health are beginning to globally revolutionize healthcare to more efficiently and effectively monitor patients, develop analytical trends, reduce costs and ultimately save lives," said Robert Jarrin, Senior Director of Government Affairs at Qualcomm.  "The recommendations from the mHealth Task Force aim to accelerate wireless health and facilitate the delivery of care to quickly and easily reach those who need it."

"Capturing and sharing information through mHealth technologies and platforms has the ability to improve health care and lower patient costs," said Douglas Trauner, Chief Executive Office at Health Analytic Services (TheCarrot.com). "Working across a broad coalition of stakeholders, the mHealth Task Force goals offer a guide to how we can enhance the accessibility and quality of health care by 2017."

The full report and video from the panel discussion will be available at: http://www.itif.org/events/recommendations-mhealth-task-force

About Health Analytic Services, Inc.
Health Analytic Services, Inc. (HASI) provides industry leading, cloud-based health solutions for improved patient care coordination outside the clinical setting. The company's award winning product, TheCarrot.com, is a clinically validated, mobile and online service that helps healthcare providers coordinate discharge planning, chronic care services and patient self-management. Using the platform of TheCarrot, healthcare providers, employers, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and research organizations can easily create, publish, and manage solutions for reducing readmissions, managing post-discharge care and enhancing wellness.

About the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF)
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank at the cutting edge of designing innovation strategies and technology policies to create economic opportunities and improve quality of life in the United States and around the world. Founded in 2006, ITIF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, non-partisan organization that documents the beneficial role technology plays in our lives and provides fact-based analysis and pragmatic ideas for improving technology-driven productivity, boosting competitiveness, and meeting today's global challenges through innovation. For additional information, visit ITIF at www.itif.org or contact Alexis Fearon at [email protected] or 202-524-4390.

About Partners HealthCare
Partners HealthCare is an integrated health system founded by Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. In addition to its two academic medical centers, the Partners system includes community and specialty hospitals, community health centers, a physician network, home health and long-term care services, and other health-related entities. Partners is one of the nation's leading biomedical research organizations and a principal teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.  Partners HealthCare is a non-profit organization. For more information about the Medical Device Interoperability research program, please visit http://www.mdpnp.org.

About Qualcomm
Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) is the world leader in 3G and next-generation mobile technologies. For more than 25 years, Qualcomm ideas and inventions have driven the evolution of digital communications, linking people everywhere more closely to information, entertainment and each other. For more information, visit Qualcomm's website, OnQ blog, Twitter and Facebook pages.

SOURCE Health Analytic Services, Inc.