The Food and Drug Administration's proposed mobile medical app regulations have already become a contentious issue. Healthcare IT News surveyed its readers on their thoughts about the regulations.

Most respondents (54 percent) think the regulations could hinder innovation. If regulations are too stringent, developers of mobile medical apps may get bogged down in guidelines, impeding their ability to push the technology forward.

Forty-six percent of respondents think the regulations are an important step on the way to ensuring the safety of mobile medical apps.

The guidelines offer rules on the use of apps, so doctors would not become too reliant on the technology in diagnosing and treating patients.

[See also: FDA’s mobile medical app guidelines get everybody talking.]

The date range of the survey was July 25, 2011 to August 5, 2011.