FDA to regulate smartphone medical applications; Companies to enter $4 billion insurance exchange market

Apr 18 2012

Health information technology is a huge market and growing.

Politico: FDA Tangles With Wireless Medical-App Makers
An onslaught of mobile health technology has forced an arranged marriage between smartphone app makers and the Food and Drug Administration -- because someone had to regulate them. There's just one problem: Many of the tech wizards aren't used to FDA supervision. And now, both sides are struggling to figure out how to live with each other (Norman, 4/16).

Bloomberg: EHealth-Led Exchanges Eye $4 Billion Market In Health Law
EHealth Inc. (EHTH) and an array of online insurance brokers are eying a possible $4 billion-a-year market, after the Obama administration's surprise decision to let them sell government-subsidized coverage under the health overhaul. If the 2010 health care law survives a Supreme Court review, private brokers can offer the plans starting in 2014, via websites that let consumers compare coverage among a variety of plans the way Expedia users weigh costs and benefits among airlines. That may give the brokers access to as many as 22 million uninsured Americans (Nussbaum, 4/16).

The Dallas Morning News: Will Digital Medical Records Improve Care Coordination?
A digital information exchange allowing authorized doctors in North Texas to see a patient's medical history will soon become a reality. There is plenty of skepticism, however, about whether it will work to lower the cost of care . ... The health information exchange is the first big initiative from an organization of insurers, employers and health care providers in the Dallas area that was created to rein in costs and improve quality (Landers, 4/16).