'Sky Is The Limit': IPhone Meters, Apps, Skymall

I am so excited to see that the awesome iPhone iBGStar glucometer is now available for purchase in the Apple Store: http://store.apple.com/us/product/H8974?WT.mc_id=BGWB002

Glucose strips are also now available for purchase at Walgreens: http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/bgstar-blood-glucose-test-strips-for-ibgstar---50-count/ID=prod6108726-product

As noted in a prior blog post about my trip to South By Southwest , last month we at Duet Health started to build data connectivity between the EndoGoddess App API and all of Agamatrix glucometer APIs including the iBGStar. However, progress is halted.

Ideally, it would be great for everybody (patients, doctors, pharmaceutical companies) if there was a 'skymall' of choices for apps with devices so that each person could have their favorite app (each with its unique features) with data connectivity to their favorite device. Although the iBGStar glucometer device itself is FDA approved, anytime an app creates data connectivity with the approved glucometer, the app must undergo a separate FDA approval as it becomes a medical device 'accessory'. Financially, undertaking the investment in the quality assurance certification required by the FDA (estimated time 1 year, an estimated price of $100,000) is not feasible. This is sadly even further true given that we would eventually like to connect the EndoGoddess App to multiple glucometers (each with a $20,000 price for each separate application submission to the FDA).

Perhaps the answer is in the 'sky', or more specifically in the cloud. Rather than every app being evaluated separately for data connectivity with awesome devices like the iBGStar glucometer, I suggest letting the 'sky be the limit'. In other words, the integrity of the cloud's ability to predictably transfer data from the cloud could be the standard for FDA attention and regulation to assure quality of the original device data. Given the recent growth of federal cloud computing implementation related to the noted large cost savings for the US Government, standardized cloud regulation for data integrity with data transfers seems to just make sense. Cloud regulation rather than app regulation could lead to abundant innovation for apps with only 'the sky as the limit'. Without this clarity, however, progress for data connectivity with the EndoGoddess App will sadly remain grounded.