The need to “innovate within the four walls” of regulation is the issue the mobile health community most needs to address, according to Anand Iyer, president and COO of healthcare solutions company WellDoc.  In an interview with Mobile Business Briefing ahead of next month’s GSMA-mHA Mobile Health Summit, Iyer said: “we must innovate within the four walls of what the FDA (or other regulatory bodies) deem appropriate to manage patient risk.  This is one that the wireless community is ignoring – they cannot if they want to succeed.” Iyer also identified three other criteria that are essential for success: a focus on outcomes, including clinical and economic, because “without those, it’s just an ‘app’ and no one will pay for it – or they’ll pay something ridiculously undervalued;” widespread access, with mobile health solutions needing to be available on multiple networks and devices; and integration with the clinical workflow, “otherwise, doctors will impede progress – they must embrace it.”

Iyer believes that mobile health products can offer a “tremendous value proposition” for operators, enabling them to increase ARPUs, decrease customer acquisition costs, and improve values per transaction. “Everyone has a cell phone. And they have become an extension of each and every one of us. The cell phone will eventually become the “hub” of our medical care,” he said. Within this ecosystem, operators can play many roles, including providing sales and marketing support; channel access to enterprise customers including health plans and hospitals; and infrastructure support, such as secure hosting, billing, and some customer care. Iyer will be presenting in the Dealing with Chronic Disease session at MHS on Wednesday 8 June 2011 – he said that WellDoc is “developing the next generation of technology solutions to support chronic disease management – our mission is to improve the lives of people with chronic diseases.” The Mobile Business Briefing team will be producing the event’s official eShow Daily – sign up to receive the newsletter here.