The Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) Consumer Advisory Committee recently made recommendations to the government agency’s mobile health (mHealth) Task Force and the FCC itself to address the needs of underserved people and those with disabilities. The recommendations come a few months after the Task Force, a group of academic, industry, and government leaders focused on deploying mHealth, came out with several specific recommendations of their own to the FCC.

The gist of the consumer advisory committee’s recommendation is that the Task Force should ensure that the Healthcare Director, as recommended originally by the Task Force, and other health-related FCC staff are” made aware of the specific needs of underserved populations,  including the access needs of individuals with disabilities.” In addition, they asked the FCC to work with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) “to accelerate their ongoing collaboration and ensure that the needs of underserved individuals are being addressed through the coordinated activities.”