The wireless industry's trade association is firing up its mHealth campaign to make better known the potential of mobile devices to improve the nation's health care system. Last week, CTIA hosted a policy forum featuring medical experts and government officials, who touted the promise of mobile health applications to drive down costs and to improve the quality of care. The forum took place as the Department of Health and Human Services struggles to define the "meaningful use" criterion attached to the $19 billion Congress appropriated for health IT initiatives in the so-called economic stimulus package.

With a definition expected to hit the federal register in December, most of the industry chatter regarding health IT has centered around EMRs, but advocates of mobile health care are pointing to more dynamic applications that could automate the process of providing care, according to an Internetnews.com report.

Although it still is unclear what existing or emerging wireless technologies will qualify under the forthcoming definition, an HHS official last week offered a bullish forecast for the potential of remote monitoring devices to improve health care. And industry watchers, including Jay Bernhardt, director of the Center for National Health Marketing at the Centers for Disease Control, have gone on record saying there is no more important channel or platform than mobile health.

The mHealth campaign has a receptive audience in the White House and, although CTIA has not set a policy agenda on the issue, presumably the group will advocate for wireless provisions as Congress and the administration work to advance the health reform agenda. Who knows, maybe beyond adding incentives for caregivers to adopt wireless technologies, the healthcare overhaul could include additional funding for research and development of new devices for remote monitoring.