Vocera wants to up the ante.

In a bid to be the provider of choice, the company has announced it will soon offer cloud-based secure texting at no cost to its 800-plus U.S. hospital customers.

“Vocera Secure Texting will connect seamlessly with Vocera Communication Systems installed in over 800 U.S. hospitals, enabling physicians to securely text care teams and improve care coordination, operational efficiencies, and patient experience,” said a company spokesman in a recent release.

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Talk about an app whose time has come.

The first secure, HIPAA-compliant, real-time app has been created by Practice Unite.

“A secure, customizable, mobile application platform for healthcare organizations, the Practice Unite patient app … allows communication not only between clinicians but also directly between clinicians, care coordinator, home care aides, and their patients through the use of customized apps on their smartphone,” according to the company.

The Practice Unite platform and apps are designed to allow physicians, nurses, and authorized staff to connect and communicate with patients in real-time. It’s an asset for patients, who will be able to interact and receive faster responses from clinicians regarding medical questions, tests, or other important information.

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Got a great idea for the next best mHealth app or wearable technology?

Before you get too far, it’s a good idea to check your inspiration against HIPAA — the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act — the federal law that mandates how all patient data should be stored, handled, and used.

Changes in the legislation back in 2013 made it incumbent upon even manufacturers and their marketers to meet compliance standards. Privacy and security are a big part of the law here and are critical issues to investigate.

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As more businesses move into the mobile health arena, there has been a greater need to improve communication between companies and the federal government.

Now the “Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has pledged to work more closely with mobile health (mHealth) companies to ensure that HIPAA rules are being properly adhered to,” according to HealthITSecurity.

HIPAA, enacted in 1996, stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Its primary purpose is to make it easier for people to keep health insurance, protect the confidentiality and security of personal healthcare information, and help the healthcare industry control administrative costs.

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ACT | The App Association — an organization consisting of some 5,000 small- to mid-size app developers and IT firms —  has written a letter to Congress asking for a new version of HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

According to Mddionline,  ACT is asking in their letter for the Department of Health and Human Services to “reexamine how health privacy laws are implemented and to remove obstacles that keep innovative mobile technologies from quickly reaching the market.”

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BlackBerry may be a shell of its former self among the modern smartphone superpowers of the world, but that doesn’t mean the embattled mobile giant isn’t still looking toward the future – a future rich with potential for mHealth.

Earlier this month, BlackBerry made its hopes for mHealth clear when it announced an investment in healthcare IT leader NantHealth.

The companies intend to collaborate on the development of HIPAA and other government privacy certified, integrated clinical systems that transform the delivery of medical care.
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Google Glass holds enormous potential for the application of modern healthcare. From the ER to the OR, Google Glass may one day revolutionize and expedite traditional medical care, while increasing efficiency and reducing human error.

That’s the expectation of countless industry analysts and market watchers who expect big things from Google Glass in mHealth and telemedicine.

Case in point: OneDX recently unveiled Google Glass as a new platform for mobile access to patient images and health information

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