In the fall of 2010, AT&T announced a partnership with WellDoc to bring the mobile health startup's DiabetesManager app and service offering to its enterprise customers. Ever since then the mobile operator has been searching for other "best of breed" vendors to help bring to market. During that "exhaustive search" AT&T realized that both its customers and the developers it had met with were in need of access to better tools to improve mobile health applications, Eleanor Chye, Executive Director, Mobility Healthcare and Pharma, Mobility Product Management, for AT&T Business Solutions told MobiHealthNews in a recent interview.
Most apps are disconnected from healthcare systems. Most apps aren't able to share data with hospital information systems. Most apps don't even talk with each other.
That's why this week AT&T launched a beta version of its AT&T Developer Center ForHealth, which aims to help mobile health app developers to build apps that are connected to the healthcare system and that make use of publicly available data sets. AT&T expects the developer platform to "streamline, accelerate and lower costs in the development, deployment and management of enterprise-grade mHealth applications," according to its press release.
There is a real need from both sides -- mHealth developers and our customers want to unleash the siloes in which data resides in," Chye said. "This will enable developers to create mashup applications and umbrella applications. Up until now, each time an app developer or someone with a device peripheral wants to upload or connect that data to a legacy health IT system -- whether it's a health insurer or hospital -- that is extremely expensive. There are huge barriers to that. So, [at AT&T] we said why don't we create that connection and bring to bare our knowledge on how to create that infrastructure."
The beta version of the the new developer platform includes cloud-based developer tools, an ability to aggregate clinical and wellness data from apps and devices, HIPAA-compliant data storage, and an API gateway and mobile client that can be embedded into any third party app to enable apps to link together. AT&T is funding five health startups to go through StartUp Health's academy, Chye said. AT&T is also working with Health 2.0 on its developer challenges to make AT&T's developer platform the "platform of choice" for developers participating in the challenges, she said.
AT&T said a number of additional features are in the works, including a data integration engine that will link apps to enterprise data systems in hospitals, practices, health insurers and other healthcare institutions; an API gateway that enables developers to leverage AT&T services and other third party services like texting or location-based services on a pay per use basis; and, finally, enterprise billing and customer care tools.
Cloud based services. Innovations in database management. Innovations in API gateways. Identity management. Application to application sharing of data. We built all that with healthcare in mind. That's the genesis of this open developer suite of tools with common infrastructure to bring these faster and cheaper while linked. Now end customers can get access to all of these applications. Can get applications that are linked together and to their backend systems.
Chye told MobiHealthNews that the platform will be free to use for developers. AT&T is "not going to touch" developers' intellectual property. The operator plans to generate some revenues from the platform for its paid services, including the HIPAA-complient storage service, texting services, location-based services, and for providing the secure connections to healthcare institutions' systems.
"That's going to be a much lower cost to go through us then have the developer pay to [connect to each healthcare system] one-by-one," Chye said.
AT&T is already working with a number of groups who put on healthcare hackathons and developer challenges, including Health 2.0, StartUp Health, HIMSS, and Rock Health, to seed the platform with developers. Chye says more than 100 developers have already signed on to -- in the very least -- "take a look under the covers." The platform will have connections to some of the device makers and app developers who already make APIs available, including Withings, Fitbit and others. It will also launch with connectivity to some of the applications AT&T has built itself.
"That includes an app AT&T built called MyHealthFamily," Chye said. "With it, a parent can look at the healthcare across their entire family. We have built the integrator on the database so it can connect [to healthcare IT systems] using the HL7 protocol. We could go through a hospital and connect through HL7. We can also connect through [continuing care document] data. We are building over time our repertoire of connectivity points."
AT&T, however, hasn't yet begun discussions with healthcare providers and HIS vendors. Chye expects to begin those discussions next week at HIMSS. "It's really early days," she said.
For more on the new AT&T developer platform, read the press release below:
PRESS RELEASE: DALLAS, Feb. 13, 2012 -- Consumers and clinical professionals alike are increasingly turning to mobile devices to help track and manage healthcare outcomes. There are 17,000 mHealth applications in the major app stores today, and by 2015, it's projected there will be 500 million mHealth app users worldwide.
Unfortunately, most of today's mHealth applications are limited in their ability to both access and share information because the data is siloed -- typically locked away in disparate, proprietary systems that are hard to integrate. Healthcare companies are limited in what information they can collect, while consumers only have access to the data they store independently.
To break down these data silos, today, AT&T* is launching a beta version of the AT&T Developer Center ForHealth under the AT&T ForHealth practice. Based on an open set of developer tools and infrastructure, the AT&T Developer Center ForHealth is expected to streamline, accelerate and lower costs in the development, deployment and management of enterprise-grade mHealth applications.
In addition to providing robust mobility infrastructure and tools that scale to support entrepreneurial developers, small independent software vendors and large healthcare enterprises, the Developer Center is expected to enable a vibrant ecosystem where disparate applications can link together, at the direction of the healthcare consumer, to create a more complete, accessible, and personalized healthcare experience.
The AT&T Developer Center ForHealth was cultivated through a collaboration of major AT&T innovation initiatives including the AT&T Foundry(TM) and the AT&T Developer Program. Together, these initiatives applied research and expertise in the healthcare space while speeding an idea to market in just months by dedicating resources to the project and enhancing collaboration between AT&T and third party developers.
Significant capital costs and technological hurdles have prevented the development of interconnected mHealth apps, resulting in data siloed in apps that are standalone "electronic log books". When aggregated across applications and devices, mHealth data can become more useful to the users -- apps can share data with other apps so that individuals don't have to manually key information into each app. mHealth data is more valuable when it can flow across applications, be kept highly secure, and link to the enterprise back-end systems of the clinical care team - whether they are part of a physician practice, hospital, health insurer or pharmacy benefit manager.
AT&T Developer Center ForHealth Key Facts:
Available today
Open, cloud-based set of easy-to-use developer tools including one-stop-shop developer portal to enable developers to rapidly build connected and integrated solutions
Environment enables aggregation of health, wellness and clinical data from applications and devices, using a highly-secure infrastructure to host personal health information that protects patient privacy, while allowing access to powerful, cutting-edge technology
Data storage meets HIPAA Security Rule requirements
API gateway and mobile client - capable of being embedded into any third party application that allows applications to link to each other, as well as to health and wellness peripherals and devices
In development
Data integration engine capable of linking applications to the enterprise IT data systems of hospitals, physician practices, health insurers and other healthcare institutions
Enhancement of API gateway to link to third party and AT&T services on a pay-per-use basis (e.g. texting, location-based services)
Enterprise billing and end-to-end customer care including self-help tools
"Developers are the true innovators that will drive mHealth forward. We're creating an ecosystem where they can easily utilize an open environment to build apps that transmit consumers' data from a variety of sources in a highly-secure manner," said Chris Hill, Vice President, Advanced Mobility Solutions, AT&T Business Solutions. "The AT&T Developer Center ForHealth is fundamental to our mHealth strategy, as we plan to use the same infrastructure and services that we make available to developers to create our own interconnected healthcare applications focused on mobile patient care and enterprise mobilization."
Developers can sign up now to use the beta version of the Developer Center and attend codeathons, hackathons and developer boot camps with several mHealth developer communities and accelerators, including HIMSS, Rock Health, StartUp Health and Health 2.0. AT&T plans to further enhance the environment through incorporating developer input and adding advanced tools and services including customer care.
"We are proud to have the AT&T Developer Center ForHealth as the mobile ecosystem of choice for our Health 2.0 Developer Challenges. We look forward to seeing a growing number of developers and companies take advantage of the environment to build successful new apps that can help improve health outcomes," said Marco Smit, President, Health 2.0 Advisors.
"We applaud AT&T's investment to support mHealth developers as the Developer Center, with its open infrastructure and scalable tools, can really make a difference," said Steven Krein, CEO and Co-Founder, StartUp Health.
"This effort supports the entrepreneurial spirit of developers, as they can quickly build interconnected healthcare applications through AT&T's collaborative environment," said Halle Tecco, Founder and CEO, Rock Health.
To learn more about the AT&T Developer Center ForHealth visit http://mhealth.att.com , attend an educational session at HIMSS12 or stop by booth #3829 at HIMSS12 in Las Vegas from Feb. 20 - Feb. 24, 2012.
(1) research2guideance: "Global Mobile Health Market Report 2010-2015"
*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.
Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Information set forth in this press release contains financial estimates and other forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results might differ materially. A discussion of factors that may affect future results is contained in AT&T's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. AT&T disclaims any obligation to update and revise statements contained in this news release based on new information or otherwise.
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. T -0.29% is a premier communications holding company and one of the most honored companies in the world. Its subsidiaries and affiliates - AT&T operating companies - are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation's fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile broadband and emerging 4G capabilities, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse® and AT&T | DIRECTV brands. The company's suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive are known for their leadership in local search and advertising.
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