Three Health IT groups have waded into the net neutrality debate, strongly backing an open Internet and calling on the FCC to reject new regulations.

Health IT Now, the mHealth Regulatory Coalition and the Wireless-Life Sciences Alliance have asked the FCC in a letter to reject additional open Internet requirements or Title II common carrier regulations to the “vibrant wireless ecosystem.”

“We are very early in the development of connected health solutions. This is a time when experimentation, fast innovation and investment are critically important,” the letter states. "The opportunity represented by connected health will flourish in the open innovation environment that is currently represented by the wireless Internet. Conversely, the addition of limitations on wireless networks will inhibit connected health investment and innovation.”

The groups said that under the current regulatory approach for wireless providers, the connected health sector has been innovative and vibrant.

"Crucial for underserved populations and affordability, tech-enabled connected health solutions will democratize medical knowledge, reaching underserved populations in an efficient and personal way, improving healthcare and making it more accessible," the letter said.

Net neutrality rules adopted in 2010 have allowed the burgeoning mobile health industry to grow, the groups wrote, due in part to a "sensible” mobile-specific regulatory treatment for the wireless industry.

In addition, significant investments have been made in the development of a nationwide health information network through the creation of regional health information exchanges laid out in the HITECH Act, the letter said. This health information network is further enabled by the work carried out by the FCC Connect America Fund.

The groups want to see the FCC continue to allow Net Neutrality to enable this development.

"The public benefits from timely low-cost access to digital information regarding health," the letter's authors concluded. "These services are immeasurable and demand a regulatory environment that facilitates, not disrupts, innovation and investment."