Continua Health Alliance 2014 Design Guidelines Now Available; First Global Interoperability Standards Ratified By ITU

International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approved Continua’s Design Guidelines for interoperability in December 2013

BEAVERTON, OR, MARCH 26, 2014 – Continua Health Alliance today announced the availability of its most recent 2014 Design Guidelines. Continua is an international non-profit multi- stakeholder group, and the leading organization convening global technology industry standards to develop end-to-end, plug-and-play connectivity for personal connected health. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies. The Design Guidelines are now available to the public as a free download from Continua and ITU.

Continua's 2014 Design Guidelines are formatted to ITU specifications and feature: interface between personal area network (PAN), local area network (LAN) and touch area network (TAN) health devices and application hosting devices (AHDs) including NFC (near-field communication), INR (international normalized ratio) and Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) Glucose Meter; and consent enforcement via wide area network (WAN) and Health Record Network (HRN) health devices. The 2013 Guidelines were the first Guidelines approved by ITU as the global standards for interoperability for personal connected health.

"Continua's 2014 Design Guidelines have been adopted by the ITU as the first global standard for personal connected health devices and systems, enabling more efficient innovation and accelerated adoption of personal connected health, and improving the self-management of health and wellness," said Clint McClellan, Continua Board President and Chairman. "The prevention and management of chronic conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity, are critical priorities in the world today. As a result, interoperability is becoming a key criteria for delivering care via readily-available consumer products such as smartphones, tablets and computers."
Continua Design Guidelines are developed by Continua and complete an eight month, internal testing and comment period before public release. Each set of Guidelines is subject to interoperability testing to ensure Continua certified products and services, such as smartphones, gateways and remote monitoring devices, connect to other products or systems without restrictions or specific implementation. Continua issued its original Design Guidelines in 2008 and 2010, and is working to release additional Design Guidelines each year.

To request a free copy of Continua's 2014 Design Guidelines, please email: [email protected].

Continua Health Alliance also provides free test tools and access to Certified Continua Experts (CCEs) to help members certify their products, and offers a testing and certification program that actively supports technology teams seeking certification. Certified products display a recognizable logo that signifies interoperability according to industry standards. Continua certification enables more efficient, standardized development and new market opportunities for interoperable products such as smart phones, dedicated wireless hubs, the Internet and personal health devices that can be used to collect and relay vital health information and education.

About Continua Health Alliance
Continua Health Alliance (Continua), an international not-for-profit industry group, is the leading organization convening global technology industry standards to develop end-to-end, plug-and- play connectivity for personal connected health. Continua is a member of the Personal Connected Health Alliance (PCHA), an international non-profit organization established by Continua Health Alliance, mHealth Summit and HIMSS to represent the consumer voice in personal connected health. Continua is dedicated to the development of Design Guidelines and test tools to expedite the deployment of personal connected health devices and systems that will empower information-driven health self-management and facilitate the incorporation of health and wellness into the day-to-day lives of consumers. Continua is a pioneer in establishing standards-based guidelines and security for connected health technologies such as sensors, remote monitoring devices, tablets, gateways and smart phones as well as networked and cloud solutions through its Guideline releases. Continua's Board of Directors feature leading technology, medical device and health care industry leaders and service providers: Fujitsu, Intel, Oracle, Orange, Partners HealthCare Center for Connected Health, Philips, Qualcomm Life, Roche Diagnostics, Samsung Electronics, Sharp and UnitedHealth Group. For more information visit: www.continuaalliance.org.

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