HHS' 33 apps part of strategy to share government data

HHS has more than a mobile strategy.

It also has 33 mobile apps to back up its plan, and recently sent out an e-mail to tout them.

It's all part of a larger Digital Government Strategy launched by the Obama administration in May 2012 based on the premise that “all Americans should be able to access information from their government anywhere, anytime and on any device.”

“Today, more than half of adult cellphone owners have apps on their phones,” according to a statement on HHS' mobile app website.

“The Digital Strategy requires us to make digital content available where, when and how citizens want it,” according to the statement. “Many HHS websites are creating mobile versions or using responsive design sites to accomplish this. Others around the department are creating apps for iPhone and Android smartphones.”

Most of the 33 apps listed run only on Apple's iOS and Google's Android operating systems. But Blackberry has one, too, developed by the National Institutes of Health, that enables individuals to enter and store their dietary supplements for use “anytime, anywhere—for example, when seeing your doctor or shopping.” The app also enables users to e-mail the list of supplements to their physicians, or to print them out for reference.

The NIH's MyMedList app does much the same thing for a patient taking prescription drugs.

The NIH also has a couple of mobile game apps, Brrrd Brawl and WordWeather, designed to help teens quit smoking. The National Library of Medicine also has an app, WISER, for Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders, aimed at first responders to help them identify hazardous materials.

And the Health Resources and Services Administration has an app, HRSA Find A Health Center, which works with mapping software on a smartphone to locate the nearest federally funded health center.

Follow Joseph Conn on Twitter: @MHJConn