By AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NEWS

The American Heart Association, American Medical Association, DHX Group and Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society announced Monday they’ve created an alliance that will develop guidelines for mobile health apps.

Known as Xcertia, the nonprofit corporation will outline principles that can help guide mobile health apps toward safe and healthy practices. Xcertia will compile knowledge about clinical content, usability, privacy and security, interoperability and evidence of efficacy to promote best practices for the industry. The corporation will not certify apps.

“The collaboration builds on each organization’s ongoing efforts to foster safe, effective, and reputable health technologies, while complementing our mutual commitment to advancing innovation in medicine, and improving the health of the nation,” said a statement attributed to Xcertia’s four founders. “Our combined expertise, along with a diverse membership, will leverage the insights of clinicians, patients and industry experts to help improve patient care and increase access to data.”

“Today’s announcement, and the founding of Xcertia with our co-founders, represents a significant first step to bringing meaningful clarity and focus to evaluation within the mHealth space,” said Dr. Eric Peterson, chairperson of the American Heart Association’s Center for Health Technology & Innovation. “The AHA is an evidence based organization, so we can add an emphasis on evaluation that is critical for the mHealth space to realize its full potential and, truly, deliver better outcomes for patients.”

Xcertia’s membership and governing board will be open to consumers, developers, payers, clinicians, academics and others.

Also, the corporation is looking for experts in the patient, technology and health care fields to join the collaboration.

To join, go to www.xcertia.org.