Clarity's HIPAA Compliant Mobile Development Xamarin Mobile-Health Development Any device that stores, receives or transmits protected health information or PHIs between covered entities and their business associates is subject to HIPAA standards and privacy rules. This rule also applies to the apps that run on these devices and connect to covered entities. The term mHealth, which is also called m-health or mobile health, refers to the practices of medicine, psychological treatments, counseling and ensuring public health. Using Wi-Fi connections exposes shared information to interception, so encryption and decryption algorithms are essential for protecting the information that's being transmitted. Apps and devices that provide health and fitness benefits have become extremely popular with mobile device users. 50 million health app downloads for weight loss, 26.5 million for exercise and 10.5 million for women's health make the value of health apps and their commercial potential impossible to deny.[1] Medical practices and developers can ensure better health while fostering greater patient loyalty and facilitating faster payments for services by developing mHealth apps, but the process raises some interesting development challenges. App developers must first determine if the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA rules of Privacy, Security, and Breach Notifications apply to a given app. The rules apply to protected health information and apps that are capable of storing, receiving and transmitting this protected information even if the app wasn't designed for that purpose. Developers need to ask these questions to determine if HIPAA applies: Who uses the app and for what purpose? Can the app be used to store and transmit health information? What sources will the app access? Does the app identify an individual, PHIs or the user's physical or mental health appointments and services received? Do medical staff members use the app to communicate with patients, other staff and covered entities? Although developing mHealth applications challenges any ecommerce organization or covered entity that provides medical services, the cost-value benefits of developing user-friendly, secure and useful apps are substantial and increasingly essential for dealing with Medicare/Medicaid, other governmental agencies, business associates and consumers who demand increasingly sophisticated abilities from their mobile apps. Developing for HIPAA Much Harder Challenges of Developing mHealth Applications Developing mHealth applications generates unique challenges because patients have many clinical and personal health needs. Each app must interact with health systems and users through multiple points, service providers and medical professionals. All these communications must be in HIPAA compliance while dealing with vast databases of medical information and patient-specific PHIs. Writing the code for these mHealth apps requires different strategies to supplement the traditional coding obligations of creating better graphics and more appealing user interfaces. Protecting PHI for Most Communication Covered Entities Face Challenges Just for Routine Communications The opportunities for revenue, better health care and fostering greater health awareness are tremendous, but even simple texting apps and emails that are used among medical staff members and patients must comply with HIPAA by encrypting and decrypting the communications. Secure apps enable communicating between multiple parties and can provide these kinds of benefits for busy medical practices: Send and receive patient updates while on-the-go Confirm that messages have been read by stakeholders-providers Communicate securely on any device, and receive patient health or fitness data that's transmitted by wearable accessories and clothing sensors Generating automatic logs of app activity ensures that information breaches can be discovered, tracked and prevented, which complies with HIPAA rules
MHealth Usage Statistics Statistical Overview of mHealth App Development about 72 percent of physicians use smartphones to access drug information and patient histories, and 63 percent of doctors search for diagnostic and treatment research on tablets.[2] More than 44 percent of physicians discuss patients' cases with staff members on their phones. Medical practices must not only guard communications with patients but also feel free to communicate on their devices with secure apps. On the development side, most mHealth app developers have only recently entered the market, and there are many HIPAA compliant mHealth app development opportunities in today's mobile culture and expanded health-awareness environment.[3] This kind of development tends to involve IT and ecommerce companies in about 48 percent of published apps, but medical providers also develop apps for their patients and use these apps to monitor patient health and for better office communications and efficiency. The total mHealth revenue generated by these applications are projected to reach $13.587 billion in 2016 and almost double that figure to $26.560 billion in 2017.[4] Statista states that the market will end at over $37 billion in 2019, a more than 42% increase in just two years. Simply stated, if you're not with the mHealth program, your competitors are sure to be. about 72 percent of physicians use smartphones to access drug information and patient histories, and 63 percent of doctors search for diagnostic and treatment research on tablets ReferralMD