CTA, Xcertia to create mHealth standards for apps, wearables
The Consumer Technology Association and Xcertia earlier this week announced a partnership to collaborate on mobile health solutions guidelines – addressing key topics such as accuracy, transparency, privacy, security, regulatory compliance, interoperability and end-user experience. The agreement will leverage CTA’s technical expertise on mHealth and Xcertia’s clinical and design guidelines for mHealth apps to create a blueprint for developing and evaluating effective mobile solutions in the future.
“We’re excited to partner with Xcertia to grow our expanding portfolio of health, fitness and wellness standards and address specific challenges for mobile health solutions,” Brian Markwalter, senior vice president, research and standards, CTA, said. “U.S. sales of health and fitness devices – including wearables, hearables and sports tech – will approach 50 million units this year. And with the subsequent increase in health data these devices provide, our work with Xcertia is a critical step in addressing the availability, transparency and reliability of that data.”
“The agreement with CTA is an important step in finally bringing some order to the mobile health app market of over 350,000-and-growing apps and the relationship between apps and the devices they interface with," Michael Hodgkins, chairman Xcertia, said. "By developing guidelines and standards for mHealth solutions that draw upon the unique expertise of our respective organizations, we believe that the end result will be the emergence of digital solutions with a higher level of trust and confidence for both consumers and healthcare professionals.”
CTA already has published a set of Health, Fitness and Wellness Standards, creating industry testing protocols, accuracy thresholds and data availability minimums for biometric conditions such as step counting, heart rate and sleep monitoring. Xcertia publishes annually the Xcertia Guidelines, a set of app design guidelines that help ensure accuracy, content, security and privacy within a context of appropriate user experience for application programmers and organizations looking to validate applications for use.
CTA’s latest biannual U.S. Consumer Technology Sales and Forecasts report projects the total health, fitness and sports tech market will reach sales of 49.3 million units in 2018, a 4% increase from 2017; and earn $6.4 billion, a 1% year-over-year increase.
“We’re excited to partner with Xcertia to grow our expanding portfolio of health, fitness and wellness standards and address specific challenges for mobile health solutions,” Brian Markwalter, senior vice president, research and standards, CTA, said. “U.S. sales of health and fitness devices – including wearables, hearables and sports tech – will approach 50 million units this year. And with the subsequent increase in health data these devices provide, our work with Xcertia is a critical step in addressing the availability, transparency and reliability of that data.”
“The agreement with CTA is an important step in finally bringing some order to the mobile health app market of over 350,000-and-growing apps and the relationship between apps and the devices they interface with," Michael Hodgkins, chairman Xcertia, said. "By developing guidelines and standards for mHealth solutions that draw upon the unique expertise of our respective organizations, we believe that the end result will be the emergence of digital solutions with a higher level of trust and confidence for both consumers and healthcare professionals.”
CTA already has published a set of Health, Fitness and Wellness Standards, creating industry testing protocols, accuracy thresholds and data availability minimums for biometric conditions such as step counting, heart rate and sleep monitoring. Xcertia publishes annually the Xcertia Guidelines, a set of app design guidelines that help ensure accuracy, content, security and privacy within a context of appropriate user experience for application programmers and organizations looking to validate applications for use.
CTA’s latest biannual U.S. Consumer Technology Sales and Forecasts report projects the total health, fitness and sports tech market will reach sales of 49.3 million units in 2018, a 4% increase from 2017; and earn $6.4 billion, a 1% year-over-year increase.