The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) announced Tuesday an extensive strategic partnership that will expand the already successful mHealth Summit.

Leveraging the strengths and expertise of FNIH and existing mHealth Summit partners – the mHealth Alliance and the National Institutes of Health – the new partnership with HIMSS, with its expertise in health IT and management, will create increased opportunities within the mobile health ecosystem for the 2011 mHealth Summit. Through this partnership, FNIH and HIMSS will provide targeted educational and networking opportunities at this year’s summit.

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“We look forward to the contributions of HIMSS as we work to deliver cutting-edge information to attendees as well as access to high-profile decision-makers and thought leaders,” said Richard Scarfo, director of the mHealth Summit at FNIH. “Our decision to partner with HIMSS is based on continued efforts to build on the success of past events, and to broaden the scope of the event by providing new offerings, resources and insights to our attendees.”

Partnerships in the mHealth Summit are based on relationships that add value, knowledge and experience to the field of mHealth research and technology-enabled solutions. The HIMSS relationship is founded on the society’s health IT expertise and the readiness of these technologies to be implemented. This new collaborative partnership creates the framework needed to help shape the future of mHealth and move the field of mHealth research and solutions forward beyond the summit.

“HIMSS welcomes this opportunity to partner with FNIH on the mHealth Summit as we develop end-user-focused educational sessions and the Health IT Pavilion on the exhibit floor,” said H. Stephen Lieber, CAE, HIMSS President and CEO. “Both of these additions to the conference will give attendees innovative options to help them learn more about mobile health applications to help improve healthcare delivery with IT."

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The 2011 mHealth Summit connects high-profile leaders in multiple industries from across the mobile health ecosystem to advance cross-sectoral collaboration in the use of wireless technology to improve health outcomes across the globe. Coupled with the new HIMSS partnership, the 2011 mHealth Summit will build on prior-year success and offer a robust and comprehensive program agenda, focusing on the business and policy perspective of mHealth to foster in-depth dialogue and help identify and accelerate sustainable mHealth business models.

The largest event focused on mobile health, the 2011 mHealth Summit will be held from December 5-7 in the Washington, DC area. Visit mhealthsummit.org for registration and conference details.