Over the last two days we’ve partnered with the Food and Drug Administration to host a wireless medical technology showcase. With over twenty exhibitors displaying their cutting edge devices and six superb panels it has been an eventful meeting. We’ve put together a video blog looking at some of the latest devices in the medical arena. Join Chairman Genachowski, FDA Commissioner Peggy Hamburg and Federal Chief Technology Officer Annesh Chopra as we have a look.

It’s been several months since the release of the National Broadband Plan and things are still extremely busy. The feedback on the healthcare chapter was very positive and we are now very excited to be working with the FDA and holding a joint meeting next Monday and Tuesday. The FCC has worked with the FDA for many years and we are looking forward to enhancing this co-ordination for future devices and applications.

The area of mobile health is a new and very innovative area within healthcare and holds the promise of both cost reduction and improved outcomes. Our goal is to clarify and delineate the respective areas of expertise and jurisdiction between the agencies. The meeting marks the beginning of a process through which the agencies will provide appropriate clarifications in the future based on the input gathered.

The response to the meeting has been tremendous with over 250 people signed up to attend including Julius Genachowski JD, chairman of the FCC and Margaret Hamburg MD, commissioner of the FDA, and Aneesh Chopra, White House Chief Technology Officer.  Over 20 of the most innovative companies in the space will be showcasing their solutions; everything from wireless medical technologies that can restore function in paralyzed limbs to technologies that can measure heart function anywhere and anytime including in a patient’s home.

There will also be a series of sessions, which will consist of presenters followed by round table discussions. I am also thrilled at the representation we have from numerous stakeholders within these sessions. Don Jones, Adam Darkins MD, Joe Smith MD PhD and Kaveh Safavi MD amongst many more will be providing their invaluable insights to the conversation. If you can't be there in person, watch online at fcc.gov/live.

Chairman Genachowski had it exactly right when he said: “we see the digital seeds sprouting—high-speed Internet beginning to produce medical miracles, and evidence of the potential to save hundreds of billions in health care costs.” I’ve had the good fortune of leading the Connected Health team here at the FCC to make sure the federal government can help those seeds become forests.

Next week, we are very excited to be participating at the HIMSS conference in Atlanta, the largest and most important health IT conference in the country. If you are there, please stop by our Tuesday (March 2nd) session to learn more about the Plan’s working recommendations for healthcare. We’re scheduled for 8:30-9:30 AM in Room C306 at the convention center. 

One message of the entire plan is that broadband is only valuable when it supports a vibrant eco-system of devices, software, and uses that make all our lives better. This couldn’t be more true for health IT; it will require a dramatic and coordinated approach across the federal government and private sector to realize this vision. To that end, I’m excited to be joined by many senior health IT officials on Tuesday, including:
 

• Dr. Charles Friedman, Deputy National Coordinator for Health Information Technology in the Office of the Secretary for Health and Human Services
• Peter Levin, Chief Technology Officer of the Department of Veterans Affairs;
• Mark Rives, Director of Information Technology Operations at the Indian Health Service, and
• Erik Garr, General Manager of the National Broadband Plan

I hope I’ll see many of you there. And I’d love to hear what you think of our ideas. I discussed them at a high level last week at the Commission Meeting and we’ll be getting into a lot more detail Tuesday.  Hopefully this blog can be a great place to continue the conversation after the conference!

-Dr. Mo

Last week at the Commission meeting, the Broadband Taskforce outlined key gaps in broadband service that need to be addressed. There are connectivity gaps in the healthcare sector that I think are important and worth highlighting.