Today, Verizon Wireless announced the launch of its Converged Health Management system, which was cleared by the FDA in August. The Converged Health Management system consists of a wirelessly connected home health monitoring hub similar to Qualcomm Life's 2net hub or Alere Connect's remote monitoring system.

Verizon will sell the device to self-insured employers, insurance companies, hospitals, and health systems. Those stakeholders will be able to prescribe the system to patients along with remote monitoring devices that are specific to their condition.

The remote monitoring hub will take in data on blood pressure, oxygen saturation levels, glucose levels, and weight from various connected devices. As MobiHealthNews reported previously, the Verizon system will connect with Ideal Life devices. It will transmit that data wirelessly to a HIPAA-compliant Verizon server on the cloud. There, the patient's data can be accessed by the patient's clinician, insurer, or employer who can analyze that information and use it to intervene in the recovery process if necessary.

Rich Black, VP of healthcare services for Verizon Enterprise Solutions, said on a conference call that data from the Converged Health Management system is certified and tested against 32 different electronic health records.

"What we're trying to do is not to decide how a hospital or insurer might provide care," he said, "but provide a range of solutions that tie to their EMR or their own analytics system."

Verizon will also provide an app and a web portal, branded in connection with customer, on which patients can access their information. The app or portal can also be customizable to include a gamified rewards system designed to help patients make healthier choices. Additionally, the app and web portal can allow patients access to an anonymized social network.

"Verizon is transforming ourselves from a telephone company to a technology company," Verizon chief medical officer Peter Tippett said on the call, in response to a question from MobiHealthNews. He said that regulatory clearance procedures are challenging in the United States, which is why fewer mobile operators here are as involved in healthcare than in the US.

"We see our strong security background as a mechanism to relieve some of that burden for the whole ecosystem," he said.