Defense contractor Northrop Grumman is following in the footsteps of its compatriots, pushing deeper into mHealth development. The Northern Virginia-based company announced last week that it has created an app to allow veterans' access to their electronic medical records through their smartphones, via the Veterans' Administration's MyHealtheVet PHR portal.
The free app, VA-214, could be used by as many as 1 million veterans, according to Northrop Grumman, via iPhone and Android smartphones. The app allows veterans to view their personal medical information, obtain health reminders, refill prescriptions, check medication lists and send text messages to clinicians.
Refocusing on the mHealth market may be a critical move for the embattled contractor. A major investigation in Virginia just blamed "human error" at Northrop for an IT crash that idled two dozen state agencies' systems last summer. And the company continues to suffer declines in its nonhealthcare businesses, with overall revenues down 9 percent in the most recent quarter, according to analysis in the Washington Post.
To learn more:
- read the Northrop Grumman announcement
- check out this Washington Post article
- here's an Associated Press piece
- go to the myHealtheVet site
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