MoHCA:
Technology Companies and Key Players in the Healthcare Industry Announce the Formation of the First Mobile Healthcare Alliance (MoHCA) to Enable Secure Mobile Healthcare Solutions
AvantGo, The California Medical Association, Certicom, ePocrates, MEDePASS, Palm, Inc., PCS Health Systems and Tunitas Group to Drive Development of Interoperable, Regulatory-Compliant Security Solutions for e-Healthcare
HAYWARD, CA, Sept. 11 /CNW/ - Technology companies focusing on the acceptance and proliferation of secure mobile and wireless computing solutions for the healthcare market, including AvantGo, Inc., The California Medical Association, Certicom, ePocrates, MEDePASS, Palm, Inc., PCS Health Systems and Tunitas Group today announced the Mobile Healthcare Alliance (MoHCA). By working closely with healthcare professionals, the group's mission is to develop requirements and influence the adoption of standard practices in mobile data management to ensure professional practices and patient trust.
"We are beginning to see the healthcare industry embrace the new age of mobile and wireless solutions," said Dr. Jack Lewin, CEO of The California Medical Association. "Key to the success of this new way of delivering healthcare is the formation of MoHCA, the first industry alliance dedicated to driving the development of the standards and practices that will ensure trusted mobile healthcare."
"As the founder of the pharmacy benefit management industry more than 30 years ago, PCS Health Systems recognizes the value that industry standards add to the delivery of healthcare," said Dan Segedin, PCS Senior Vice President, Corporate Accounts and Product Development. "Because this technology offers potential for improving prescribing decisions, reducing drug interactions and providing cost-effective service, we look forward to participating in the alliance's effort to establish mobile data management standards."
Mobile and wireless solutions are gaining ground in the healthcare arena as healthcare professionals are discovering the convenience of delivering timely information to and from the point-of-care anytime, anywhere. However, mobile technology introduces new challenges to the healthcare community, including the issues of confidentiality of mobile data and the management of mobile workers. MoHCA was formed to provide antidotes to these security and management problems by documenting, influencing and communicating industry standards.
"We see the formation of the Mobile Healthcare Alliance as a key driver to the widespread adoption of mobile practices in the healthcare arena," said Ann Geyer, Healthcare Practice Partner of Tunitas Group. "We understand the importance of having ready access to patient information. It's equally important to manage that information with respect for patient privacy. As patient information goes mobile, the risks of unintended disclosure change. We will need security and management solutions that work in a mobile environment."
"The healthcare industry has begun to incorporate mobile computing into daily work processes as evidenced by the current enthusiasm for handheld devices in the clinical environment," said Dr. Terry Fotre, CEO of MEDePASS. "MoHCA will provide the necessary and timely guidance needed to ensure the security of patient and professional information as this new discipline matures."
"Open standards are key to the industry," said Daniel Zucker, CTO of ePocrates. "By allowing applications from multiple vendors to inter-operate, we can ensure that physicians will have the necessary tools at their disposal to deliver the highest quality of care."
MoHCA will be an open forum for exchanging ideas, promoting learning, and sharing solutions for managing and securing health information. MoHCA will leverage this forum to provide industry leadership, drive appropriate standards and develop associated requirements in support of healthcare solutions. The alliance intends to influence regulations, communicate benefits and develop model policies and practices to enable secure mobile solutions for the industry.
"Technology is a key component of today's healthcare solutions and MoHCA recognizes the need for the development of secure mobile healthcare applications that are based on open standards," said Rob Meinhardt, Vice President of Enterprise Marketing at AvantGo, Inc. "We are pleased to be part of the alliance as it identifies and assists customers in obtaining the most effective mobile technology solutions to meet their health care needs."
"Our customers in the healthcare industry - whether hospital IT departments, individual health care professionals or pharmaceutical sales representatives - tell us their primary concern when deploying a mobile computing solution is guaranteed security of confidential medical information," said Mark Bercow Vice President of Strategic Alliances and Platform Development, Palm. "Palm is collaborating with other industry leaders to found MoHCA to advance the adoption of standards-based mobile security systems within the medical community and to further develop the market for enterprise mobile computing solutions."
MoHCA Goals and Objectives
MoHCA will serve as a neutral agency to collect, analyze and disseminate information about issues concerning the management and security of healthcare data in a mobile environment. MoHCA seeks to achieve the following goals:
- Demonstrate commitment and support for interoperable, regulatory
compliant security solutions.
- Focus on the exchange of requirements and approaches leading towards
the acceptability of solutions.
- Enhance the value of mobile solutions for consumers and healthcare
professionals.
"MoHCA's benefits to healthcare professionals and consumers include eliminating inefficiencies, providing better care at lower costs, and enabling new forms of patient care and management applications," said Rick Dalmazzi, President and CEO of Certicom. "MoHCA will serve as the vanguard for the adoption of safe, secure and effective mobile healthcare solutions."
The diverse membership of MoHCA is unified by a shared interest of ensuring that mobile applications are incorporated into healthcare processes with appropriate regard for the privacy, confidentiality and security of health information.
Founding Members
The founding members of the Mobile Healthcare Alliance include AvantGo, The California Medical Association, Certicom (Nasdaq: CERT - news; TSE: CIC - news), ePocrates, Palm (Nasdaq: PALM - news), MEDePASS, PCS Health Systems, and Tunitas Group. MoHCA membership is open to the public. MoHCA's Web site mohca.org.
Certicom is a registered trademark of Certicom Corp. All other companies and products listed herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
For further information
Ann Geyer, Healthcare Industry Practice Consultant, and Mobile Healthcare Alliance Facilitator, Tunitas Group, (209) 754-9130, tunitas@earthlink.net
Rob Costabile, Market Development Specialist, Certicom Corp., (510) 780-5456, rcostabile@certicom.com
Lorraine Kauffman, Public Relations Manager, Certicom Corp., (510) 780-5417, lkauffman@certicom.com
Scott Wyban, Lutchansky Communications, (408) 938-9050 x 22, scott@LComm.com |
