The American Heart Association (AHA), the American Medical Association (AMA), DHX Group, and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) has teamed up to form a new, multi-stakeholder collaboration, Xcertia, dedicated to improving the quality, safety, and effectiveness of mobile health apps. The non-profit corporation will establish and promote best practices for mobile health apps and will include membership from consumers, developers, payers, clinicians, academia and others with an interest in the development of guidelines for mobile health apps.
This collaborative effort will incorporate feedback from its members in a consensus-driven process to advance the body of knowledge around clinical content, usability, privacy and security, interoperability and evidence of efficacy. Xcertia will not engage in certifying mobile health apps, but will encourage others to apply its principles and guidelines in the development and curation of safe and effective mobile health apps.
Xcertia Guidelines
Xcertia will respond to the critical need for a comprehensive effort to develop a framework of principles that will positively impact the trajectory of the mobile health app industry. Xcertia’s guidelines will also be a resource to support consumer and clinician choice of mobile health apps.
“The collaboration builds on each organization’s ongoing efforts to foster safe, effective, and reputable health technologies, while complementing our mutual commitment to advancing innovation in medicine, and improving the health of the nation,” said Xcertia’s four founders. “Our combined expertise, along with a diverse membership, will leverage the insights of clinicians, patients and industry experts to help improve patient care and increase access to data.”
