FDA Outlines Oversight of Mobile Medical Applications

Pet MacKay photo

2011 is turning out to be an evolutionary year for the growing mobile healthcare industry.  In 2007, the iPhone, while not the first handheld applications platform, arguably revolutionized the way modern consumers use telephones.  Around this time healthcare visionaries also foresaw the integration of what I call “user space” with medical enterprises, and a general change in the way ‘patients’ interact with providers – or even take charge of their own wellness.  In addition, the Continua Healthcare Alliance was born, a consortium uniting healthcare and technology companies to focus on standardizing connected devices.  I predict this standardization will drive commoditization (as the inverse – utilizing consumer platforms in healthcare – takes hold), and the Android platform has accelerated this movement.

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