Legislation seeks to promote wireless health technologies
New legislation introduced in the House seeks to more widely integrate wireless technologies in federal health agencies to decrease healthcare costs and improve quality of care.
The Health Savings Through Technology Act (H.R. 3577), introduced by Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), would create a commission to inventory existing data, examine the cost savings that can be achieved through the increased use of wireless health technologies and develop a comprehensive strategy for integrating these technologies into federal healthcare programs, including Medicare and Medicaid.
Peters said the federal government does a “poor job” of assessing the cost-effectiveness of innovations over the long term when making budget projections.
“The vast majority of Americans now use some sort of mobile device today; people can now monitor glucose levels, track calories or be alerted to harmful drug interactions over their phone or tablet,” Peters said in a statement. “San Diego is ahead of the curve in wireless healthcare discovery so providing incentives for it supports economic growth in my district, and helps bend the cost curve across the country.”
BIOCOM, BayBio, Qualcomm, CONNECT, American Telemedicine Association and the California Healthcare Institute are among the bill's supporters.