Private-sector healthcare leaders developing mobile health technologies should keep an eye on what's happening at the Veterans Affairs Department.
In April 2011, the VA and the Defense Department launched a stand-alone mobile application called PTSD Coach, a self-assessment tool and guide for people who have or who suspect they might have post-traumatic stress disorder. In its first 20 months, the app has been downloaded more than 90,000 times worldwide.
At the strong recommendation of a focus group of patients, PTSD Coach was designed to run without links to an electronic health-record system, with the idea being that more veterans and military personnel would seek treatment if, initially, they could anonymously download and use the tool for self-diagnosis.
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We reported recently on a memo issued by President Barack Obama last week to all federal agency and department heads requiring them to come up with at least two mobile device applications using government data.
Stories about the memo, widening the use of the Veteran's Affairs Department Blue Button patient download technology, and a new national mobile technology strategy appear here and, with some industry IT mavens' reactions, here.
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