The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked unfathomable damage on the lives of Americans and the country’s economy. To move forward in the right direction, we must take new and drastic action to address this crisis. This includes employing cutting-edge developments in medical technology to the best of our abilities.

Dogtown Media fully supports the Connected Health Initiative’s request for the Biden-Harris administration to extend the existing declaration of a public health emergency (PHE) so that the use of connected health technology is available to all U.S. citizens during this time of need.

Innovation Can Help Flatten the Infection Curve

It has become painfully clear that we must leverage connected medical technologies such as telehealth if we are to ever beat COVID-19. But antiquated regulations will stand in the way unless the declaration of PHE is extended. The Connected Health Initiative (CHI) aims to make that happen.

An initiative of ACT | The App Association, CHI is a coalition of healthcare industry stakeholders and partners that strives to lead efforts to effect policy changes that allow medical providers to harness the power of technology in order to improve patient engagement and outcomes. Its steering committee consists of the American Medical Association, Apple, Intel Corporation, Microsoft, Dogtown Media, and many other notable figures in the tech and healthcare space.

CHI recently sent a letter to the Biden-Harris administration that not only congratulates them on their victory in the 2020 Presidential Election but also urges them to continue to use digital health technologies such as telemedicine, remote patient monitoring (RPM), artificial intelligence (AI), and other modalities to defeat the coronavirus pandemic. Each of these innovative modalities allow us to implement effective and necessary measures to flatten the infection curve in the United States.

Telehealth Technology Is Key to Managing The COVID-19 Crisis

Alongside CHI, we believe that congressional action focused on permanent telehealth policy changes can help provide immense relief from the damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Such changes would play an integral role in defeating this crisis. Not only this, but permanent policy changes for connected healthcare tools can also help to modernize American medical laws so that they correctly reflect the value that these paradigms offer. We also think that Congress should prioritize providing all Americans with the high-speed broadband infrastructure needed to use these digital health tools.

Of course, we know that pursuing these congressional efforts can take time. So it’s critical that the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) continues to extend the existing declaration of PHE. This provides millions of Americans with the allowance to use connected health technology. During the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth and RPM have been invaluable in preventing, diagnosing, and treating American citizens as we all adhere to social distancing guidelines. These must not only be maintained throughout the entirety of the pandemic but also built upon so that this country is better equipped to handle future health crises.

Should the PHE expire before the Biden-Harris administration is in place, the new HHS Secretary under them should immediately reinstate it.

Actions That Can Help Us Fully Leverage Digital Health Tools

CHI’s letter to the Biden-Harris administration is meticulous in detail and spans several suggestions. Below, we’ve outlined some of the most crucial ones:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) should ensure that Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) and rural health clinics (RHC) can provide RPM services.

Both FQHCs and RHCs are key actors on the frontlines of America’s medical ecosystem. Thus, they should be able to monitor key patient-generated health data (PGHD) metrics for the populations they are serving on a permanent basis. This includes those receiving treatment for COVID-19.

CMS should provide Anti-Kickback Statute relief for digital health.

Many clinicians are remotely monitoring COVID-19 patients. This has raised concerns that any equipment or access to software platforms provided free of charge could inadvertently trigger Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) liability. The CHI has requested that HHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) provide clarity that access to software platforms for PGHD or telehealth at low or no cost doesn’t violate the AKS.

HHS should provide certainty with regard to HIPAA’s application to various remote technologies during the PHE.

The HHS’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) recently announced enforcement discretion for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that clarifies that the use of private, secure telehealth tools which aren’t part of the provider’s official offerings will not draw a penalty as long as the provider makes their patients aware of the risks. CHI is urging OCR to issue guidance that certain telehealth tools are merely “conduits” and thus don’t require business associate agreements (BAAs). The guidance should also clarify that the providers of these telehealth services should only store electronic protected health information (ePHI) temporarily.

HHS should leverage AI-enabled technology to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

There’s no doubt that AI has incredible technology to augment healthcare by preventing hospitalizations, reducing complications, and improving patient engagement. Unsurprisingly, public health experts and providers are already using AI to combat COVID-19. This has given rise to a variety of opportunities and challenges for U.S. policymakers to consider (e.g., bias, inclusion, and transparency). As a coalition with many leading developers of AI, CHI urges for the design of healthcare AI systems to be informed by human-centered design, real-world workflow, and end-user needs.

Unrecognizable woman doctor using tablet in office with double exposure of creative ncov coronavirus covid 19 treatment and vaccine search icons. Toned blurry image

COVID-19 Will Come To an End

From New York City to our hometown of Los Angeles, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented tragedy and hardships to many of our lives. The Biden-Harris administration represents an opportunity for America to tackle this problem in a new and better way.

We stand by CHI’s request of the President-Elect and Vice President-Elect to fully leverage telehealth and other emerging technologies to mitigate this crisis. With time, proper guidance, and unity, this too shall pass.

What a whirlwind the last few weeks have been! This year’s AppCon, the App Economy Conference just wrapped up. While past AppCon events took place in Washington, D.C., 2020’s conference went completely digital. Fortunately, this change in the medium didn’t stop attending mobile app developers and tech innovators from opening a meaningful dialogue with political leaders about the impact of emerging technologies on society.

From broadband and 5G to telehealth and data privacy, here are the favorite AppCon 2020 highlights of Marc Fischer, our CEO and Co-Founder.

Better Internet Access Is Essential for Every Aspect of Society

The growth of the $1.7 trillion app economy and numerous other sectors depends on widespread internet access. Whether it’s educational opportunities, work, or healthcare, hundreds of millions of Americans turn to the internet every single day to get things done. With that said, do you know how many U.S. citizens currently lack access to adequate broadband connection? 20 million! Unsurprisingly, this transforms the digital divide into an enormous chasm.

During AppCon 2020, attendees got to meet with several members of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to discuss the benefits that television white spaces, (TVWS), better broadband connectivity, and 5G infrastructure can bring to America. FCC Commissioners Michael O’Rielly and Brendan Carr joined in on the conversation and respectively honed in on ensuring broadband exists everywhere in the U.S. and making more spectrum available.

COVID-19 has made it readily apparent that internet access and connected devices are integral to carry out remote learning successfully. That’s why FCC Legal Advisor Umair Javed and Travis Litman, Chief of Staff and Senior Legal Advisor for the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau, dedicated their time at AppCon 2020 towards discussing the digital divide’s effect on education and how it can be mitigated. AppCon attendees also got to talk with Evan Swarztrauber, a Policy Advisor of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, about increasing rural healthcare budgets and improving broadband access in these regions.

Whether it’s 5G, broadband, or TVWS, we strongly believe that everyone deserves strong internet access; it’s a necessity for practically every aspect of our modern lives. But this can only occur through more investment on a federal and private level.

Connected Health Tech Will Be a Cornerstone of Medicine, Even After COVID-19

Besides pulling back the curtain on how integral internet access is to remote education, COVID-19 has also unveiled the necessity of telehealth. Connected digital tools have been invaluable in the U.S. healthcare system’s battle with the pandemic. Doctors and patients have benefited immensely from the temporary restriction lifting on telehealth and medical app usage. That’s why a big part of AppCon 2020 focused on meeting with congressional leaders to ensure that digital health remains a cornerstone of our health system.

The U.S. currently spends $3 trillion on healthcare annually. $1 trillion of this goes through Medicare and Medicaid. Unfortunately, the country is still short by roughly 30,000 physicians, and this deficit will leap to 90,000 in approximately ten years. Around this exact same time, 70 million Americans will be 65 or older, and 80% of them will have at least one chronic condition. To make matters worse, 40% of Medicare patients have inadequate broadband access right now.

During their discussion with AppCon attendees, members of the U.S. Commerce Department acknowledged that telehealth has been extremely beneficial to Medicare. But for this technological paradigm to grow in the right direction, innovators and legislators must embrace what works and discard anything inefficient. We should take a lean approach to data management and prioritize the information that makes the most positive impact for the fewest dollars.

Dr. Donald Rucker, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), also spoke with attendees about the need to examine data gathering and usage so that patients can have agency over their healthcare. Rucker also discussed the difficulties of EMR integration, HIPAA compliance, and the often incomplete pictures of patient data that doctors around the country deal with.

COVID-19 has spurred a new age of digital innovation in the healthcare domain. We strongly believe that establishing telehealth, remote patient monitoring, and other digital advances as permanent fixtures is the right way to go. These technological capabilities allow patients to get treatment from the comfort of their own homes while drastically cutting costs. We hope that more political leaders start to see these clear-cut advantages for what they really are — a path towards a healthier future for all U.S. citizens

Data Privacy and Encryption Must Be Prioritized

There’s no doubt that we live in the information era. ACT’s member companies alone handle millions of terabytes of data every single day. We know that proper data security is imperative to protecting sensitive information and ensuring it’s being used appropriately. That’s why an entire week of AppCon 2020 was dedicated to this topic!

AppCon attendees and congressional leaders delved into the critical issues surrounding privacy legislation as well as the need for ubiquitous end-to-end encryption. They also made room to discuss the timely topic of facial recognition.

While the development of artificial intelligence has brought humanity several unprecedented capabilities, some of them demand more careful consideration regarding their usage. Facial recognition is one such matter. Attendees and political leaders talked about the implications that facial recognition and its accompanying legislation could have for both the near and far future.

See You At AppCon 2021!

As always, AppCon was an amazingly insightful event! The candid discussions that Marc gets to have at these conferences are something he looks forward to every year. They’re the reasons why Marc always makes the trek out to D.C. from Los Angeles!

As much fun as AppCon 2020 was, we hope that the world beats COVID-19 by next year’s event so that things return to normal and we can hold AppCon 2021 in-person. Until then, stay safe, and stay informed!

AppCon 2020 has been underway for the past few weeks. While this year’s conference is completely digital, that hasn’t stopped the many mobile app developers and tech innovators in attendance from opening up meaningful dialogues with political leaders about the impact of emerging technologies on the future of the United States.

So much has happened in such a short amount of time that we thought a blog post covering some of the best highlights of this year’s event so far was warranted. With that said, let’s dive right in!

Week 1: The Future of the U.S. Depends on Internet Access

Besides being an essential utility that sustains the growth of the $1.7 trillion app economy as well as several small businesses in a variety of sectors, widespread internet access also supports hundreds of millions of Americans. With it, they’re able to access healthcare services, educational opportunities, and much more.

Unfortunately, more than 20 million U.S. citizens still lack access to an adequate broadband connection. And unless this is addressed soon, this digital divide will only grow larger with the introduction of new technologies. AppCon ’20 attendees got to speak with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Michael O’Rielly about this very topic.

Commissioner O’Rielly expressed intent in ensuring that broadband exists everywhere in the U.S. and placed special emphasis on getting underserved Americans connected. He stressed the importance of high bandwidth and low latency, and he also noted that how we achieve broadband access for all is less important than actually accomplishing it.

AppCon attendees also spoke with FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, who was focused on making more spectrum available for use. Whether it’s not having a device to connect with healthcare professionals, being unable to rely on high-speed internet, or not having access to a private space for care, Carr was well-aware of the pain points of Americans across the country. He reassured AppCon attendees that more funding was coming for connected care.

FCC Legal Advisor Umair Javed and Travis Litman, Chief of Staff and Senior Legal Advisor for the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau, focused their meetings with AppCon attendees on the digital divide’s effect on education. COVID-19 has pulled back the curtain on just how necessary internet access and devices such as smartphones and laptops are for remote learning. During the meeting, Javed indicated that low power applications carried some potential for closing this gap.

Last but not least, AppCon attendees also got to meet with Evan Swarztrauber, a Policy Advisor of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. Swarztrauber noted that an increase in rural healthcare budget was sorely needed, and so was an improvement in broadband access for these regions. With COVID-19 forcing aspects of society such as education and healthcare to go remote, folks out in the country will fall behind unless they have fast internet.

Week 2: Telehealth Must Remain Accessible, Even After COVID-19

Telehealth and connected tools have proven invaluable in the U.S. healthcare system’s response to COVID-19. It’s obvious that these technological paradigms are a necessity for all Americans, but unfortunately, some politicians don’t see it that way. Much of AppCon ’20’s Week 2 revolved around attendees meeting with congressional leaders to ensure that digital health remains a cornerstone in our country’s medical system.

Currently, the U.S. has an annual healthcare spend of $3 trillion, with $1 trillion going through Medicare and Medicaid. The country is short by about 30,000 physicians, and this shortage is estimated to grow to 90,000 by 2030. By that same year, 70 million Americans will be over 65, and 80% of them will be dealing with at least one chronic condition.

These statistics make it painfully obvious that telehealth capabilities should become a permanent fixture in the U.S. medical system. But before COVID-19, this technology was wrestling with rules written in the 1990s. Clearly, things have come a long way since then. Unfortunately, the temporary waiver that allows Medicare to cover telehealth is slated to end by November unless fast, meaningful action is taken.

AppCon attendees had the chance to speak with staff from the U.S. Commerce Department. Though 40% of Medicare patients don’t have adequate broadband access at home right now, the department members emphasized that telehealth transformation is definitely beneficial to Medicare. But we must keep the growth and convenience of this technology going without exacerbating health inequities. They also discussed that innovators and legislators must keep what works and let go of anything fraud-laden or inefficient.

To achieve this, the U.S. Commerce Department staff stressed that we need an honest, balanced approach to data management. We should prioritize the most useful data that provides the most positive impact for the fewest taxpayer dollars. We should also focus on delivering services and outcomes, not billing for simply noticing a malady and not treating it.

AppCon attendees also got to speak with Dr. Donald Rucker, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC). Rucker wants one of the main goals for Congress to be freeing up patients to have agency over their healthcare. And to do this, we must examine the mechanism behind data gathering and usage.

Digital health tools and wearables such as the Apple Watch should strive to put patients back in charge of their information. Rucker believes that patients and the American public have already paid for this data, so they should be in charge of it, not third parties.

Rucker went on to discuss a variety of topics with AppCon attendees, including interoperability, how difficult EMR integration is, HIPAA compliance, and the need to address the incomplete pictures of patient data that physicians have to deal with. He even mentioned that healthcare providers sometimes struggle to access their own data.

Stay Tuned for Our Coverage of Weeks 3 & 4!

While digital this year, AppCon 2020 has done an amazing job of bringing together mobile innovators from Los Angeles, New York City, and everywhere in between! But the party’s not over yet. Stay tuned for our coverage of weeks 3 and 4, where AppCon attendees will get the chance to discuss privacy, encryption, antitrust, and standard-essential patents (SEPs).

For the past few years, AppCon, the App Economy Conference, has taken over Washington, D.C. in late April. The annual event serves as an unparalleled opportunity for mobile app developers and other tech innovators to open a meaningful dialogue with political leaders about the future of emerging technologies and their impact on society.

This candid discussion is something that Marc Fischer, our CEO and Co-Founder, looks forward to every year. He usually makes the trek out to D.C. from Los Angeles just to attend this event. In the past, Marc has gotten the chance to talk with FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly and Director Ajit Pai about 5G’s future in rural areas, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) about data privacy, and Congressman Ted Lieu about how education and innovation go hand-in-hand.

Due to COVID-19, AppCon 2020 has pivoted from its original arrangement — it has gone virtual! Thanks to this new digital format, the event is now spread over the course of four weeks so that attendees have a sufficient amount of time to discuss each important topic. Let’s take a look at the relevant issues that this year’s AppCon is tackling.

Why the App Economy Is Essential

Every year, AppCon is held by ACT | The App Association, an international organization that represents more than 5,000 small- and medium-sized tech companies across the mobile app economy. By connecting the tech industry’s top leaders with preeminent policymakers, ACT strives to drive smart innovation and regulation. Members of ACT include pioneers at the forefront of revolutionizing entertainment, improving productivity, enabling healthier lifestyles, and accelerating learning.

The app economy is probably bigger than you think; it’s a $1.7 trillion ecosystem that employs 5.9 million Americans. And this isn’t just in Silicon Valley; more than 83% of U.S. app companies are located outside of San Francisco. There are currently more than 2 million mobile apps available on major platforms like the App Store and Google Play. And with 3.4 billion app users around the world, it should come as no surprise that consumers spent more than $120 billion in app stores in 2019 — almost twice the amount they did in 2016.

Keeping the app economy strong and healthy is one of ACT’s biggest priorities, which is why the organization is extremely focused on building a workforce that’s educated and properly prepared for the 21st century. Despite a median annual salary exceeding $88,000, more than half a million computing jobs are unfilled in the United States. Only 65,000 U.S. college graduates earn a computer science degree each year, but this isn’t enough.

Computing and information technology occupations are projected to grow 12% by 2028, with software development jobs anticipated to grow by 21%. To address this substantial growth, ACT is urging Congress to pass the CHANCE in TECH Act, a legislation that would allow employers to streamline their apprenticeship processes and focus on developing and training job candidates correctly. ACT is also requesting that Congress appropriate at least $250 million to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) Master Teacher Corps (MTC) program so that educators can receive advanced training to teach computer science correctly.

Week 1: All About Broadband

It’s no secret that widespread internet access is an essential utility to sustain the continued growth of the app economy and numerous businesses. Besides this, hundreds of millions of Americans depend on the internet to access educational opportunities, healthcare services, and participate in the global economy in general. But more than 20 million U.S. citizens currently lack access to broadband connections, making the digital divide a colossal chasm.

In Week 1, AppCon will focus on facilitating discussions around how improved access to broadband in rural and urban communities can close this immense digital divide. Political and tech leaders will examine the benefits that come with using television white spaces (TVWS), broadband mapping, and of course, the deployment of 5G.

Week 2: More Connected Healthcare

The COVID-19 pandemic has pulled back the curtain on telehealth. Today, the advantages of connected health tools are readily apparent to patients, doctors, and lawmakers — and they’re simply too big to ignore. Week 2 of AppCon will hone in on everyday digital health examples from the COVID-19 crisis, including the recent results from temporarily lifting telehealth restrictions in the U.S.

AppCon’s attendees will also discuss aspects of healthcare policy including payment for digital health tools, removing reimbursement restrictions for them, interoperability, the WEAR IT Act, and the now obvious necessity of better access to telehealth services for all Americans. If you’re a healthcare app developer, you won’t want to miss this week!

Week 3: Prioritizing Privacy and Encryption

ACT’s member companies alone handle millions of terabytes of data every day. That means that each of these organizations is on the frontline of protecting sensitive user information and ensuring that it’s being used appropriately. Each ACT member knows that proper data security is imperative. That’s why AppCon ’20 Week 3 is dedicated to this vital topic.

Political leaders and ACT members will discuss current issues regarding privacy legislation and the need for ubiquitous end-to-end encryption. AppCon attendees will also tackle one of the most timely issues of the last few months: Facial recognition. By now, you’ve probably heard stories about how law enforcement has been using this technology during the protests across America. Week 3 of AppCon ’20 intends to get to the bottom of this topic and discuss its implications for the near and far future.

Week 4: Platforms and SEPs

What do online platforms, competition, and standard-essential patents (SEPs) mean for the app ecosystem’s future? There are a ton of moving parts that go into this topic, and they’ve only helped fuel various debates in recent months.

AppCon 2020 will close out its final week with a focus on discussion about platform regulations, including antitrust and Wi-Fi standards regulations, IoT device chips, Bluetooth, and much more.

Has this blog post got you excited about the weeks to come for AppCon 2020? For more info, click here!

Politics can be truly divisive. But for topics like healthcare, data privacy, and education, we can all agree that smart reforms and regulations are sorely needed. Fortunately, progress is being made.

From April 28th to the 30th, AppCon 2019 gathered America’s top mobile app developers and preeminent politicians together in Washington, D.C. to discuss the most pressing issues facing technology and society in the near future.

Marc Fischer, our Co-Founder and CEO, was in attendance as a representative of California. He had the opportunity to talk tech with numerous political leaders at Capitol Hill. In this post, we’ve gathered some of Marc’s most memorable highlights from the event.

A Need for More Connected Healthcare

Each year, AppCon is hosted by ACT, the App Association. ACT is one of the leading public policy organizations in Washington, D.C. and represents technology companies, startups, and innovators across the country. By opening a dialogue with the country’s premier political leaders, ACT aims to protect and foster the tech industry by opening up opportunities for smarter regulations.

Healthcare is a topic near and dear to ACT’s heart. The organization started the Connected Health Initiative (CHI), a coalition of healthcare industry stakeholders, in order to spur improvement of patient engagement and outcomes through technology. So it should come as no surprise that some of the biggest obstacles in healthcare today took center-stage in many of Marc’s meetings.

Thanks to technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT), great leaps are being made in remote patient monitoring (RPM). Smart assistants like Alexa, home robotics systems, and wearable technologies are all bringing unprecedented value to point of care thanks to AI and IoT.

But some issues are still impeding progress in RPM. Marc and other AppCon attendees had the chance to discuss RPM reimbursement standards with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). It can be challenging for physicians to receive proper remuneration for time spent on telehealth consultations. This certainly needs to change.

Another hot topic was loosening restrictions on which medical professionals can review patient data. By opening this up to caregivers, nurses, and other people besides doctors, all stakeholders involved can gain a more holistic perspective on a patient’s health.

Marc also had the opportunity to meet with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) to discuss digital transformation in the healthcare system. It’s well known that there are some huge inefficiencies present when it comes to data exchange of electronic health records (EHR). To fix this, ACT’s members and the ONC are working together to pilot new projects that can help accelerate data portability and innovation in health IT.

Both RPM and data portability would go a long way towards helping those with chronic health conditions. Currently, 130 million Americans suffer from chronic health conditions. This ends up costing the U.S. economy more than $2.5 trillion per year. With Representatives Joseph Kennedy III (D-MA 4th District), Danny Davis (IL 7th District), Judy Chu (D-CA 27th District), and Senator Amy Klovuchar, Marc discussed potential telehealth solutions to lower costs and boost quality of care for RPM.

Among these possible solutions is the Wearable Equipment Adoption and Reinforcement and Investment in Technology (WEAR IT) Act. This would allow people to apply their HSAs or FSAs to cover part of the cost (up to $250) of consumer-facing medical wearables and other devices that have healthcare attributes. For example, you could apply this $250 towards the purchase of a new Apple Watch. Essentially, this new legislation would benefit patients with chronic illnesses immensely by making it easier for them to attain devices that could improve their quality of life.

Preparing for 5G

As we’ve covered in previous posts, 5G is fast approaching. But there are still some hiccups to work out. Marc met with FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly to discuss the standardization of this new wireless paradigm and what exactly constitutes 5G.

Recently, major telecom companies have been in a race to roll out 5G to their customers. And some have taken shortcuts. Most notable among them is A&T; the company released a platform called 5G Evolution (5GE) which isn’t actually 5G; it’s more of a foundation for when the real thing arrives.

But ensuring 5G arrives in metropolitan areas like New York City or San Francisco is not enough. Commissioner Michael O’Rielly and Marc also talked about the need for the FCC to take more of a leading role in ensuring 5G is faster to roll out to rural areas which were overlooked during the rollout of 4G.

This is crucial for many reasons. Not only will 5G open up opportunities for innovation in IoT, AI, and connected vehicles, but it will also bring possibilities for improvement in RPM and telehealth — both of which are sorely needed in rural areas.

Doubling Down on Data Privacy

Marc also had the chance to speak with representatives from the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) at the White House about data privacy. Preserving the integrity of our personal information is becoming more important than ever before. But doing this can often conflict with other endeavors.

As part of the AI Executive Order, the Trump administration issued executive mandates to open up data in an effort to accelerate AI innovation in America. Much of Marc’s conversation with the OSTP revolved around balancing out this order with updated standards for user privacy, data management, and the right to confidentiality.

Updating these cyber policies to ensure that both individuals and organizations are protected from internal and external espionage is a must. And the first step towards doing this is to have more government support in investigating acts of espionage or data leakages.

Large enterprise organizations need to be held accountable for leaking private customer information and not sharing this information until much later. A prime example of this is the Equifax hack; the company knew they had been hacked for four months before they went public with this information.

Progress Is Being Made

After four years of meeting with political leaders on Capitol Hill, ACT’s members are finally starting to see the fruits of their labor. RPM statutes have been written into law so that doctors can be properly reimbursed for their telehealth work. $250 million in federal funds have been released to support STEM education. And the government is beginning to better understand its role in the rollout of 5G.

We’re excited by the opportunities to innovate in the American economy with new technologies like AI, machine learning, and 5G. By driving the next wave of innovation, US tech leaders can help cement America’s leadership position in the world by creating jobs, boosting productivity, and increasing wages.

And from what Marc gathered at AppCon ’19, it looks like we’re right on track to do this. By collaborating together, the tech and political leaders of the United States can make a brighter future for us all.

Doing so becomes complex when you take one other factor into account: 20% of Americans live in rural areas. So, for 60 million Americans, taking a trip to a medical facility is an arduous inconvenience. But this issue is far too big to ignore.

Enter the Internet of Things (IoT).

IoT development is revolutionizing healthcare through connected devices and remote monitoring. It’s allowing patients to check in with their doctors from anywhere in the world. And the results have been astounding—one study even found that remote patient monitoring reduced all-cause mortalities by 20%.

Let’s take a look at how remote monitoring is helping us live healthier lives.

After seven years of promises to their constituents, House Republicans passed their repeal of Obamacare earlier today by a narrow vote of 217 to 213. To say that the bill is controversial is putting it lightly — for many Americans, it’s literally a life-or-death matter. But in this period of turmoil for the American healthcare system, there is a glimmer of bipartisan hope in the form of the CONNECT for Health Act of 2017, a bill introduced in the Senate just yesterday that would use telehealth solutions to lower costs for patients and providers alike and improve care outcomes, especially for patients in remote areas. Like many other app developers, Dogtown Media is enthusiastic about integrating MedTech solutions in the American healthcare system. We join the other members of ACT – The App Association’s Connected Health Initiative (CHI) in supporting this important legislation.

According to Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), one of the bill’s sponsors, “This legislation seeks to harness the promise of American technology and innovation to lower costs and improve the quality of care for Medicare patients.” That’s a law healthcare app developers can really get behind. The legislation would expand on provisions in the CHRONIC Care Act, another piece of legislation championed by ACT and Dogtown that aims to increase the telehealth solutions covered by Medicare in order to better combat chronic disease. It would boost the usage of telehealth technologies and remote patient monitoring, with a special emphasis on patients living with chronic diseases or those living in isolated rural communities. It would also utilize more tele-mental health technology, a rapidly growing field that’s a perfect fit for this era of increasing mental health awareness.

The law would also grant Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price authority to remove obstacles to the widespread implementation of telehealth solutions. “By lifting arduous limitations on the use of telehealth and empowering Medicare physicians to utilize innovative remote monitoring technologies, responsible and secure connected health solutions may be introduced more broadly throughout the continuum of care to improve patient health outcomes,” according to CHI Executive Director Morgan Reed. ACT, Dogtown, and the app development community at large have always believed in the power of MedTech to save money and lives. In a time when healthcare issues have become so politicized, telehealth solutions bridge the divide.

We hope the Senate makes the right choice for patients across America and passes the CONNECT for Health Act.

One thing that unites people on both sides of the political aisle in America is the understanding that our healthcare system is deeply flawed. Many app developers point toward MedTech as part of the solution, but unfortunately the government has been slower to embrace the latest innovations than the tech community and general public. Dogtown Media strongly believes in the possibilities of MedTech solutions to revolutionize the way healthcare works and save lives. That is why we are proud to be a member of ACT – The App Association and its Connected Health Initiative. This initiative fights for wider implementation of mHealth technologies, lobbying the government to recognize that the future of healthcare lies in this burgeoning field.

The Connected Health Initiative is excited to back the Creating High-Quality Results and Outcomes Necessary to Improve Chronic (CHRONIC) Care Act, a piece of legislation recently re-introduced in the Senate. Sponsored by a bipartisan lineup of senators from the Senate Finance Committee, including Mark Warner (D-VA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Johnny Isakson (R-GA), the bill is part of a broader effort to improve healthcare while lowering overall Medicare costs. According to the bill itself, it seeks to “implement Medicare payment policies designed to improve management of chronic disease, streamline care coordination, and improve quality outcomes without adding to the deficit.” So what does that mean for MedTech app developers?

Among other things, the bill expands the telehealth benefits available under Medicare, especially for stroke patients and patients who require dialysis. It would remove geographic restrictions on consultations so that a doctor can receive payment for working with a stroke victim or patient on dialysis living across the country. At the same time, it would ensure that the hospital where the patient is receiving the telehealth consultation would not receive a separate originating site payment. These reforms would make it easier for patients in isolated rural areas to receive quality care through remote monitoring and consultation.The bill aims to significantly expand the number and type of mHealth services covered under Medicare by 2020, allowing for the kinds of solutions MedTech app developers have long advocated for.

“Connected health technologies are vital components in the success of our country’s healthcare system, and we will continue to work with Congress to support an environment where more telehealth solutions may be used to improve care for more Americans,” said Connected Health Initiative executive director Morgan Reed in a statement. We here at Dogtown Media couldn’t agree more. We’re proud to support the CHRONIC Care Act, which has the potential to change lives by giving patients more flexibility in choosing their care and making their treatment more convenient. If the government starts to adopt telehealth services with enthusiasm, San Francisco MedTech app developers will have their work cut out for them.