The recent announcement by Google and IBM to provide an online health record service seems like a worthy ideal, but it seems the two companies rushed into an annoucement given the buzz surronding the stimulus package.

Why rushed? Because there are at least as many questions about the service as there are potential features.

First, Google and IBM ought to share their long-term commercial vision for the service. That would answer some questions in terms of how the data are going to be used, by whom and for what purposes?

Second, the companies ought to outline how the data are going to have integrity. In the absence of answers of the question above, what are mechanisms to keep individuals from:

• providing false data from home health monitoring devices
• manipulating vital personal health information

If any of the above occur, trust in the information will be lost and the value of the service called into question, hence the up take.

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The recent growth of applications for smart phones and President Obama’s focus on healthcare IT leaves one wondering how it might truly impact a broad market sector such as healthcare.

Physician-centric Applications

Physician-centric applications have captured the spotlight of the early waves of mobile applications developed. Companies such as Epocrates have both, free and paid applications. The free downloads for PDA and smart phones tend to informational applications, while the paid downloads includes vital physician-centric information such are drug interaction check, Medicare formularies, IDP-9 and CPT billing codes.

Other physician-centric applications are offered as extensions to existing enterprise suites that focus patient health records (PHR). Additionally hospitals and physician groups have developed many custom mobile applications for unique business requirements. It is important to note that many times these requirements are unique because the market place in general does not address mobile computing needs for these sectors. The opportunity in physician-centric applications will continue to grow as more physicians adopt smartphones (today about 54% of physicians have smartphones and that number is expected to grow to about 75% within the next two years).

Patient-centric Applications

In contrast, many patient-centric applications have made their way into the market place. Most, however, focus on information rather than interactivity. For example, Vocel’s PillPhone has an on-deck application with AT&T, Verizon and Sprint that allows subscribers to set medication reminders and view The Pill Book, a consumer drug reference guide. Another company pushing the envelope on similar patient-centered applications is Medexine.

It would seem daunting to monetize patient-centric mobile application on the backs of consumers, especially those that focus on dosage reminders and prescription adherence. A more viable option is seek funding partners from the ecosystem that not only includes patients, but also providers, payors, drug manufactures and prescription fulfillment parties.

Editors:

David Cheng

David has more than 12 years of experience in the wireless industry and has worked in top tiered wireless carriers, MVNOs, and fixed wireless platform providers in a variety of significant roles. His expertise in the wireless industry includes but are not limited to business modeling and planning, pricing and bundling strategies, and customer intelligence and analytics. David holds an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and a BS degree in Bioengineering from the University of California, San Diego.

Chris Dean

Chris has more than 20 years of experience in software product development, management and marketing with a focus on client-server, P2P, web and mobile applications across the  financial service, retail, insurance, law, management consulting and government agency industry verticals.  Most recently his mobile expertise involved leading a new money transfer service deployment in the US, and working with a Tier 1 carrier in South America to launch new mWallet services across a wide range of phone types. Chris holds an MBA in Marketing from Heriot Watt University, and a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Manchester with a concentration in Software Development. Chris has taught thermodynamics, engineering and software development courses at several Fortune 100 companies around the world.

Arif Haji

Arif is Managing Member of Malaga Square, LLC., which specializes in commercialization, business planning and implementation and product development for technology, healthcare and telecommunications companies. Arif has more than 25 years of experience in corporate development, business formation, finance, operations and senior level operating roles within the wireless, healthcare, software, publishing and Internet sectors. Prior to forming Malaga Square, Arif was the founding president of a start up wireless carrier that successfully launched a Tier 1 national prepaid cell phone based on the unique financial services needs of the unbanked including a first-of-its-kind mobile global money transfer application.

Heidi Hoover

Heidi is President of BBG Partners which provides business advisory services to independent businesses. Heidi has more than 15 years in Telecom with major carriers and launching start ups. Heidi has held senior positions in various aspects of business management including planning, sales, marketing, product management, operations, training, customer care and customer loyalty. Heidi has a strong passion for working with businesses to develop new and creative ways to integrate the customer experience focus through out all business processes. Heidi is an accredited associate of the Institute for Independent Business – a non-profit dedicated to helping independent businesses throughout the world.