November 2, 2012 —At a meeting held on November 2, 2012 the Mobile Health (mHealth) Task Force of the Consumer Advisory Committee (CAC) recommended that the FCC include and address the interests and accessibility needs of people with disabilities, low-income individuals and other under-served groups when evaluating and making recommendations regarding “affordable connectivity and compatibility for telehealth devices.”
The mHealth Task force was organized in 2012 and is comprised of academic, industry and government leaders that research barriers and develop solutions to encourage rapid deployment and adoption of wireless health technologies. The importance of this research is represented in an estimate by Nerac, a Connecticut research firm, that by 2020, “at least 160 million Americans will be monitored and treated remotely for at least one chronic condition.” FCC Chairman Genachowski has stated that the FCC will follow recommendations from the mHealth Task Force and work towards making mHealth technology a “routine medical best practice within five years.”
