Coalition Applauds Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee for Examining Federal Regulations of Mobile Medical Applications and Possible Legislative Solutions

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Health IT Now Coalition applauds the members of the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee for holding a hearing to discuss the potential effects of current and a potentially new regulatory framework for health information technology.

"Health IT has incredible potential to improve access to care and promote better health outcomes for patients while lowering overall costs. In order to maximize these technologies, such as cloud-based electronic health records (EHRs) and mobile medical applications, it is critical to modernize the federal regulatory process so that health technologies keep pace with consumer use of IT applications," said Joel White, Executive Director of the Health IT Now Coalition. "It was clear at the hearing today there is broad support for congressional action to clarify the duplicative and confusing regulatory framework for health IT. We look forward to supporting Congress and the Administration in these efforts," said White.

The hearing explored the recent final guidance on mobile medical applications released in September by the Food and Drug Administration as well as recently introduced legislation by Rep. Blackburn and five other Members of Congress, both Republican and Democrat.

Jim Bialick, Executive Director of the Newborn Coalition, a Health IT Now Coalition member, testified before Tuesday's Health Subcommittee hearing, "Examining Federal Regulation of Mobile Medical Apps and Other Health Software."

"Our ultimate goal is to improve health outcomes and lower costs for newborns and their families and we fundamentally believe the expanded availability and use of medical device data is central to this pursuit.  Mobile apps, smartphones and tablets are easily accessible, intuitive, and commonly used by parents.  These technologies will continue to play a central role in healthcare but their impact will be stunted unless there is a concerted effort to allow these technologies a way to access and creatively use clinical data to better inform the decision making by both providers and parents in the ongoing care of a newborn," Bialick told the subcommittee. "Congress should reevaluate the current process, including FDA's draft guidance on mobile applications, and pass legislation to promote safety and advance innovation."

IBM, another member of the Health IT Now Coalition, also testified. "Healthcare is one of the most data rich environments today. Advanced analytics combined with cognitive computing and natural language processing can help doctors efficiently access and make use of this ocean of information to achieve individualized, evidence-supported medicine. But to unleash the potential of technology innovation, Congress must provide clarity in the regulatory environment. IBM thanks Reps. Marsha Blackburn, Diana DeGette and their colleagues for introducing bipartisan legislation that will establish greater regulatory clarity surrounding healthcare software and foster technological innovation that will improve patient care," said Zachary Lemnios, Vice President of Strategy at IBM Research.

The Health IT Now Coalition promotes the rapid deployment of heath information technology. Health IT will benefit patients and health care consumers while supporting health practitioners to make smart decisions about patient care while promoting efficiency. For more information, visit www.healthitnow.org.

SOURCE Health IT Now Coalition