Get ready for the government-related sessions on Wednesday, starring two of the most prominent FDA officials.
“The regulatory and policy environment is a key catalyst for innovations and changes in healthcare delivery,” said Rich Scarfo, HIMSS Media's vice president of events and director of the mHealth Summit.
This theme is underscored by keynoter Margaret Hamburg, the FDA's commissioner, who will be followed by a quick 15-minute executive spotlight on Surescripts president and CEO Harry Totonis. Following that is the “Federal Policy, Stakeholder Engagement, and mHealth” session with Jeffrey Shuren, MD, director of the FDA’s center for devices and radiological health and in many ways the man associated with the agency’s final guidance on mobile medical apps.
The FDA’s role in the mHealth Summit doesn’t end there. Alongside the day’s first batch of concurrent sessions, the agency is holding a town hall wherein Bakul Patel, the FDA's senior policy advisor, Christy Foreman, the agency's director, and William Maisel, the FDA’s chief scientist, will join Shuren for the discussion.
Despite the strong focus, Wednesday is not solely about the federal government.
“Another major stakeholder is pharma, and the summit introduces its first Pharma Roundtable,” Scarfo said, referring to the event that runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Another half-day event, the “Games for Health Workshop,” will begin with a focus on design, development and deployment of commercial entertainment games and how those can be applied to healthcare and conclude with an “ask anything” question and answer discussion.
Throughout the afternoon, “16 concurrent events along with seven special sessions from MAMA, the mHealth Working Group, HIMSS, MDISS (and) CRI will explore the commercial significance of mHealth,” Scarfo said, “as well as the mHealth Regulatory Coalition’s seminar on managing app development under FDA regulation to round out Wednesday’s program.”
Wednesday is the last day of the show, but be sure to check your inbox on Friday for the final installation of mHealthNews’ show dailies.
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