CHIDS, Partners to Deliver mHealth Training

UMD, HCC to Train Marylanders for Mobile Health App Building, Strategy

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Maryland students and healthcare and information technology professionals have a new opportunity to help their state succeed in the health technology sector. The University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business Center for Health Information and Decision Systems (CHIDS) is partnering with Howard Community College (HCC) to engage Marylanders in the Baltimore-Washington corridor to develop and sharpen their mobile health (mHealth) technology skills and strategies.

The initiative includes a mix of programs geared towards healthcare workers, information technology specialists, transitioning veterans, healthcare provider and payer executives, and high school students. Instruction will cover design and development of mobile health apps for use in healthcare, clinical management, operations, and population health-related programs. 

The Maryland HealthTech Coalition is helping lead this “Strategic Industry Partnership (SIP),” dubbed the mHealth-focused Health Tech SIP. Tech Council of Maryland and Columbia-based Vasoptic Medical Inc. also support the initiative, funded by the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation under the Employment Advancement Right Now (EARN) Maryland initiative to develop new jobs and capabilities across industry sectors. 

“In this case, EARN is targeting healthcare to boost Maryland’s industrial competitiveness,” says CHIDS Deputy Director Kenyon Crowley. “The use of mobile and other wireless technologies, such as smartphones, patient monitoring devices, and telehealth solutions, provide opportunities to improve patient engagement and population health management, and can extend patient care outside the traditional bounds of the clinic to the home and anywhere you take your mobile device.”

HCC President Kate Hetherington said the initiative “is allowing Howard Community College to develop new and innovative curricula to benefit our students and our community and positioning Howard County at the cutting edge of workforce development in the health services and strengthening the local economy.”

UMD and HCC professors, as well as industry experts, will deliver the training through the following programs:

• "Mobile health design and development" and "Health Information Management and Operations" both target students and professionals with some information technology expertise, including transitioning military personnel.
• "Digital Health Strategy, Implementation and Operations," administered with Smith Executive Programs, will train 10 invited healthcare and insurance executives for developing and implementing innovative new programs that leverage mobile technologies and telemedicine.
• “Maryland Health Innovation Student Challenge: Empowering Patients and Providers with Creative + Usable Solutions" opens in January to high school students, administered with the MdBIO Foundation. Challenge semifinalists will present their work as part of the Maryland Health IT Conference & Expo Day, on June 4, 2015, representing a culmination of the overall initiative. The Challenge involves teams generating ideas and new applications and tools for improved healthcare, then pitching their prototypes and solutions to judges and peers.

"The training will work to reverse the tendency for healthcare consumers to disengage from taking care of their own health and relying on their doctors to tell them what to do," said CHIDS founding director Ritu Agarwal, Robert H. Smith Dean's Chair of Information Systems and department chair of Decision, Operations and Information Technologies.  

"Mobile technologies can flip that equation,” she added. “A healthcare system that supports engaged consumers who track and maintain information on themselves can lead to a more cost-efficient system where patients are watching out for themselves on a daily basis, and meeting with doctors only when there is a clinical need that requires expert intervention.”

Maryland Labor Secretary Leonard Howie said Maryland is poised to capitalize on such a system. “This EARN Maryland-funded, mHealth-focused partnership represents an opportunity to support the growth of an emerging industry in Maryland.”

"Technology is quickly transforming the healthcare industry as we know it, and we're at the forefront of bold initiatives that will give Marylanders – and their healthcare providers – greater access to healthcare information and services,” Howie added. “The health tech industry has emerged at the intersection of two industry sectors that have long been strengths for Maryland – information technology and health care. This new industry represents a tremendous opportunity for Maryland, and DLLR is extremely excited to be able to support this cutting edge industry through the EARN Maryland Program.”

Vasoptic Medical CEO M. Jason Brooke said initiatives “under this EARN-based Strategic Industrial Partnership represent an exciting opportunity for Maryland, the local technology industry, and individuals looking to either advance their understanding of health technology or repurpose their skills to play a more rewarding and critical role in our community.”

"I'm honored to be a part of such a significant effort to harness the rich healthcare and technology resources in our region in order to create a vibrant corridor of health tech development that not only creates sustainable, well-paying jobs but produces innovative solutions to the innumerable challenges we currently face in healthcare,” he added.

Hetherington said “(HCC) looks forward to working with Vasoptic, our industry partners, and the CHIDS Program to ensure program success.”

An additional resource for the mHealth initiative is the HealthTech Innovation Sandbox. The recently-launched venture with CHIDS, kloudtrak and Cisco Systems provides for healthcare, medical and life science organizations to test, research, teach and learn various innovative technologies and methodologies. 

“CHIDS is pursuing a range of research, education and innovation activities aimed at achieving the goal of a more effective and usable health system,” said Crowley. “Mobile health technology is one important means to achieve this.”

Sessions begin Feb. 23, 2015 at UMD and HCC. Visit ter.ps/mdhtctrain for details