FDA issues final guidance for medical mobile apps

The FDA has finally issued long-awaited final guidance for mobile health applications.

The guidance for developers of mobile medical applications, or apps, outlines the FDA’s tailored approach. The agency intends to exercise enforcement discretion for the majority of mobile apps as they pose minimal risk to consumers. The FDA intends to focus its regulatory oversight on a subset of mobile medical apps that present a greater risk to patients if they do not work as intended.
 Mobile apps are poised to help transform healthcare by allowing providers to diagnose patients with potentially life-threatening conditions outside of traditional health care settings, help consumers manage their own health and wellness and gain access to useful information whenever and wherever they need it. Mobile medical apps currently on the market can, for example, diagnose abnormal heart rhythms, transform smart phones into a mobile ultrasound device or function as the “central command” for a glucose meter used by a person with insulin-dependent diabetes, according to a release from the agency. “Some mobile apps carry minimal risks to consumer or patients, but others can carry significant risks if they do not operate correctly. The FDA’s tailored policy protects patients while encouraging innovation,” said Jeffrey Shuren, MD, JD, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. The FDA is focusing its oversight on mobile medical apps that: 

• are intended to be used as an accessory to a regulated medical device. For example, an application that allows a healthcare professional to make a specific diagnosis by viewing a medical image from a PACS on a smartphone or a mobile tablet; or
• transform a mobile platform into a regulated medical device. For example, an application that turns a smartphone into an electrocardiography machine to detect abnormal heart rhythms or determine if a patient is experiencing a heart attack.

 Mobile medical apps that undergo FDA review will be assessed using the same regulatory standards and risk-based approach that the agency applies to other medical devices. The agency does not regulate the sale or general consumer use of smartphones or tablets nor does it regulate mobile app distributors such as the ‘iTunes App store” or the “Google Play store.” The FDA received more than 130 comments on the draft guidance issued in July 2011. Respondents overwhelmingly supported the FDA’s tailored, risk-based approach. “We have worked hard to strike the right balance, reviewing only the mobile apps that have the potential to harm consumers if they do not function properly,” said Shuren. “Our mobile medical app policy provides app developers with the clarity needed to support the continued development of these important products.” The agency has cleared about 100 mobile medical applications over the past decade; about 40 of those were cleared in the past two years. Access the complete final guidance here.