Mobile trends, FDA regulations to be explored at Digital Health Summit 2011

Mobile technology has changed the way we live our lives. Going beyond business productivity, mobile devices have become the preferred way for consumers to manage everything from their finances to personal health, with the latter being the fastest growing corner of the category.  

The Digital Health Summit at the 2011 International CES will bring together well known mobile players and experts, to explore this as well as other mobile trends in digital health, including state of the wireless health industry, the future of connected wellness, and THE hot topic of the moment, the FDA's regulation of mobile health (m-health).

An estimated 8 out of 10 Americans want to receive health services via mobile device. As the proliferation of devices among U.S. handheld users continues to surge, developers are working overtime to develop products that meet consumer demand, while also meeting regulation standards.

"Now thanks to mobile technologies we're seeing for the first time, the power of data and technology in helping consumers not only monitor their health, but make changes in real-time that help them live healthier lives," said Bradley Merrill Thompson, an FDA medical device regulation expert and lawyer with EpsteinBeckerGreen. "In the past 30 years we've gone from learning how exercise, diet, stress, and sleep impact our health to using mobile devices that can help us control those elements and impact health – simply based on data that's available to us 24/7 in the palm of our hands."

Thompson is just one of the many m-health experts participating in the summit.  He is joined by Dr. Anand Iyer, President and COO of WellDoc, and executives from GreatCall and AT&T, as panelists on The Doctor in Your Hand: Exploring Mobile Health Options, a session moderated by MobiHealth News' Brian Dolan, which will discuss m-health demand and the other side of the coin, including regulation, who's paying, and whether or not devices are delivering what they promise.

For more information about the Digital Health Summit (January 7, 2011 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, N253), including agenda and speakers, visit: http://digitalhealthsummit.com/.