The Computing Community Consortium (CCC) has released a white paper, Research Opportunities and Visions for Smart and Pervasive Health. This paper is an outgrowth of the December 2016 workshop Discovery and Innovation in Smart and Pervasive Health convened to inform leading researchers and policymakers on the successes of Smart and Pervasive Health research activities, the evolution of relevant computing capabilities, and the application of these technical innovations to health and wellness goals. Following that workshop, draft recommendations were presented and discussed at the AAAS annual meeting and the ACM/AMIA Workshop of Interactive Health Systems.

The newly released white paper highlights these paradigms and concludes with specific recommendations for the successful future implementation of an impactful smart and pervasive health research agenda.

The white paper describes three critical areas for basic computing research: heterogeneous sensing and data analytics; integrated cyber-human-physical systems; and comprehensive physical and digital security capabilities. Taken together innovations in these computing capabilities have the potential to transform US health and healthcare while also advancing fundamental computing research and contributions to other domains. The paper also argues for the vital role of computing in supporting new health and healthcare paradigms, such as value-based treatment, and the importance of addressing healthcare disparities in smart health research programs.

Some specific recommendations for the successful implementation of an impactful smart and pervasive health agenda includes the need for:

1. New health data platforms to support holistic and unconventional data streams.
2. New efforts to fundamentally address human-in-the-loop interaction with complex systems.
3. Composable architecture for integrating devices and data for rapid progress in infrastructure to support human centric healthcare.
4. Mobile technology to offer unprecedented opportunities to improve prevention of chronic diseases.
5. Revolutionary approaches in sensing using nano-structures, quantum computing, and nonintrusive `wearable’ (e.g. “smart skin”) to offer next-generation technologies for inexpensive, pervasive, and individualized health monitoring.
6. New population-based solutions to create sound, evidence-based methodologies and to ensure safety in human centric systems.
7. Substantial and sustained collaboration between healthcare practitioners and smart and pervasive health researchers.
8. Considering health disparities as an integral consideration in their scientific research portfolios and agendas and encourage appropriate methods for design, deployment, and continued engagement for the intended target populations.

See the full white paper to learn more about the specific recommendations and critical areas for basic computing research.

In addition, the CCC recently released their response to the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) National Coordination Office (NCO) request for comments regarding the draft Federal Health Information Technology Research and Development Strategic Framework. In the discussions of the draft, three key issues rose to the forefront:

1. Human-Centric Complex Systems for Health IT
   1. While the framework calls attention to “advanced analytics” and cyber-physical systems,” additional attention needs to be paid to complex system modeling.
2. Security and Privacy
   1. Health IT is a particularly challenging area due to the vast number of possible security points of failure coupled with the sensitivity of private health information. This area needs greater attention beyond monitoring and logging.
3. Person-Centered Health IT
   1. A more concerted focus is needed on person / citizen / consumer driven needs as individuals, families, and communities seek to improve health and wellness.

See the full response to learn more.