AT&T launched a new practice area called AT&T ForHealth which aims to accelerate the delivery of innovative wireless, networked, and cloud-based solutions for the healthcare industry. This practice area is made up of many of the mHealth partnerships AT&T has inked over the years with various companies, including WellDoc's DiabetesManager, Vitality's GlowCaps, eCardio's remote patient monitoring and the Wound Technology Network's video-enabled wound treatment services.

Last year AT&T generated about $4 billion in revenue from the healthcare industry including hospital, insurer, pharmaceutical, supplier, and physician customers.

"Today's announcements signal an exciting new era where our technology and smart networks can help improve the quality of care, reduce costs, and contribute to a healthier world," Dan Walsh, who was appointed to lead AT&T's ForHealth practice area, stated in a company press release. Walsh is a senior vice president at AT&T.

Walsh states that the two key groups of services and solutions are currently under development at AT&T ForHealth: mHealth Services, which "combine mobility technologies, devices, connectivity, and applications to help drive down medical costs and deliver improved patient outcomes." These services aim to help healthcare providers and patients manage disease, stay adherence, age in place, manage weight loss, and monitor wellness.

The other key group: Cloud-based Services, which include new medical image archive applications and security services that permit healthcare providers to share data including live video, images and EMRs in a secure way.

AT&T ForHealth is also piloting various technologies and services including smart slippers, employee diabetes management, healthcare community online cloud-based service, automated pill bottle caps, wireless pager applications, and real-time remote monitoring of cardiac patients.

More from the AT&T ForHealth release here