HIMSS has added a pre-conference mobile health symposium to the agenda for the HIMSS14 Annual Conference and Exhibition, giving mHealth advocates a reason for heading down early to the Sunshine State.
The daylong session on Sunday, February 23, kicks off a busy week for the mHIMSS chapter and for mHealth in general. Other events include education sessions tailored exclusively to mHealth topics, an update on Version 2 of the mHIMSS Roadmap, a Mobile Health Knowledge Center in the exhibit hall, results of the 3rd Annual Mobile Survey, and HIMSS Spot Mobile Meet-Ups.
In a recent blog on the mHIMSS website, David Collins, MHA, CPHQ, CPHIMS, FHIMSS, senior director of mHIMSS, said mHealth is making more of an impact on the healthcare landscape, as seen by its influence on the HIMSS14 agenda.
"I know from my interaction with the 4,000+ members of the HIMSS mHealth community the importance of and need for current and ongoing education related to the application of mobile to healthcare," Collins wrote.
The conference kicks off with a full slate of pre-conference symposia on Sunday, Feb. 23, in the Orange County Convention Center. This includes "Mobile Health: Opportunities, Challenges and Value Creation," which takes place from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and begins with an opening keynote from Bakul Patel, senior policy advisor for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Other guest speakers during the day-long event include Robert Jarrin, senior director of government affairs for Qualcomm and a member of the FDASIA Workgroup; Brian Rothman, medical director of perioperative informatics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Marc Berger, vice president of real world data and analytics for Pfizer; and Shawn Jackman, manager of wireless product management and engineering for Kaiser Permanente.
The symposium, which takes place in Room 307A, offers attendees an update of key policy and regulatory issues affecting mHealth, advice on strategic considerations for implementing an mHealth program, and opportunities and challenges to establishing such a program in different clinical and non-clinical settings. It will also feature an update on mHealth projects around the world from Sinisa Vargo, DMD, director of the Croatian Health Insurance Fund.
mHealth will also figure prominently in the HIMSS14 education agenda, with several sessions focused on the topic. Among them are "Securing Patient Data in a Mobilized World" (Monday, Feb. 24, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Room 205A) and "Wearable Devices and Sensor Informatics for Pervasive Healthcare" (Thursday, Feb. 27, 10:30-11:30 a.m., Room 330A).
The mHIMSS group released its first mHIMSS Roadmap at the 2012 mHealth Summit, and came out with an amended version at the 2013 mHealth Summit. While the first version focused on creating a framework for developing and implementing a mobile health strategy, the second zeroes in on mobile apps.
"The mobile health app sector has been a growing object of focus from technology, policy, consumer and healthcare perspectives since the inaugural release of the Roadmap," said David Lee Scher, MD, chairman of the mHIMSS Roadmap Task Force, in an executive summary. "mHIMSS recognizes the importance of mobile apps in the areas of preventative medicine and disease management, consumer and healthcare interests, and the need for assistance on the part of healthcare enterprises and providers in the incorporation of these beneficial tools into an overall mobile strategy."
One of at least 30 presenters at the mHIMSS Mobile Health Knowledge Center in the Exhibit Hall, Scher will offer an update on the roadmap at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 25.
On Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 10 a.m. in the Mobile Health Knowledge Center, Jennifer Horowitz, senior director of HIMSS Analytics, will release the results of the 3rd Annual HIMSS Analytics/mHIMSS Mobile Survey. Previously, the survey had been conducted and the results announced at the mHealth Summit, but officials decided this year to open the survey at the summit and wait until the HIMSS conference to release the results.
In addition, HIMSS will release its second book on mHealth. "mHealth Innovation: Dispatches from the Frontlines of Digital Health" will be featured at the mHIMSS Mobile Knowledge Center and available at the HIMSS Bookstore.
Finally, Gordon said mHealth advocates will have plenty of opportunities to network during HIMSS14, beginning with the HIMSS Communities Open House from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24, and including two HIMSS Spot mobile health "meet-ups" scheduled on Wednesday, Feb. 26. The first, "mHIMSS #Mobiletech Survey Event – 4 Mobile Health Insights to Shape Better Patient Care in 2014" takes place from 12-12:45 p.m., and the second, "mHealth Community Overview," runs from 12:45-1:15 p.m.
HIMSS14 runs from Feb. 23-27 in Orlando, Fla.
