Continua Health Alliance Releases Updated Design Guidelines for Public Purchase

Continua guidelines detail a complete pathway toward the creation of an end-to-end personal connected healthcare solution

BEAVERTON, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Continua Health Alliance, the international non-profit, open industry organization of leading healthcare and technology companies, today announced the release of its public 2010 Design Guidelines.

Releasing the Guidelines to Continua members at the end of last year was a milestone in the Alliance’s mission to establish an ecosystem of end-to-end personal connected healthcare solutions that empower consumers to better manage their health and wellness and to connect seamlessly with their healthcare providers. Making the Design Guidelines publicly available allows both members and non-members access to the industry standards and specifications selected by the Alliance to ensure interoperability, elaborate on Continua-specific implementations and clarify options in underlying standards or specifications.

In addition to the previously released version, this edition of the Guidelines incorporates the following:

• Wide Area Network (WAN) interface, which takes data from an aggregation or hub device, such as a PC, mobile phone or health appliance, and sends it on through a standardized model for remote monitoring servers or electronic health records. This service was developed in collaboration with the Integrating for Healthcare Enterprise (IHE).
• Support for two new Personal Area Network (PAN) and Sensor-LAN device types: Peak Flow Meters and Adherence Monitors for use in medication monitoring.
• Updates and enhancements to the ISO/IEEE Base Framework Specification which defines a common transmission protocol of Continua device data regardless of the device or application.
• ZigBee® support into the Sensor-Local Area Network (Sensor-LAN) interface, which was selected for its efficiency in working with multiple sensors in the home.
• Email support to the Health Record Network (HRN) interface, which is the interface between a remote monitoring server and an electronic health record.

The 2011 Design Guidelines, which will include specifications for improved identity management and data integrity, as well as consent management, are currently under internal review and are slated for release to Continua members later this year.

About Continua Health Alliance

Continua Health Alliance is a non-profit, open industry organization of healthcare and technology companies collaborating to improve the quality of personal healthcare. With more than 240 member companies around the world, Continua is dedicated to establishing a system of interoperable personal connected health solutions with the knowledge that extending those solutions into the home fosters independence, empowers individuals and provides the opportunity for truly personalized health and wellness management. For more information visit: www.continuaalliance.org.