The United Nations Foundation has released a new report that examines the partnership between the UN and The Vodafone Foundation, an organization launched in 2005 with the commitment to advancing mobile technology in healthcare. "Partnerships like this one prove what can be done to accelerate innovation that can mean the difference between life and death, health or sickness for millions of people around the world," commented the CEO of the UN Foundation. The mHealth Alliance -a network bringing together public and private groups to advance mobile IT to improve the delivery of healthcare in low-income countries - is one notable by-product of the partnership. In addition to forming the mHealth Alliance network, the two organizations have helped pilot mHealth programs in several countries.

In other health IT news, Amagine, a subsidiary of the AMA launched the online health IT index last week. The interactive resource allows physicians to prioritize their health IT goals in three minutes by asking a series of IT-related questions which are ranked on level of importance of each particular IT topic. Topics include electronic medical records, care coordination, clinical knowledge tools and secure communications.