Newsletter - May 2008

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Continua V1 Products: The Road to Reality

‘Everything you can imagine is reality.' The Continua Alliance saw its imagination turn to reality at its first official Plugfest on April 16, 2008, held in Luxembourg alongside the Spring Summit. The program was well attended with companies displaying mobile and fixed manager devices interacting with a range of health monitoring devices.

A Plugfest is an event where companies developing products assemble to test how well they work with devices developed by other vendors. In essence, it constitutes a test of interoperability - the core premise and mission of the Continua Health Alliance. The Alliance will host a series of these events as a benefit to its member companies. The Luxembourg event was organized and conducted by Continua's Test & Certification Work Group.

Mr. Alex Neefus, the technical operations manager at the event and an employee of Lamprey Networks, said, "Vendors have brought a full spectrum of Continua devices. Vendors discovered and resolved issues, which, along with the participation, makes the event a success. It is encouraging to see such a high level of interoperability at such an early stage."

Twenty-seven individuals from ten companies participated in the event. The testing involved both "agents" (end user monitoring devices) as well as "managers" (PC- or cell phone-based health application/system managers). The "agents" included cardio monitors, medication monitors, blood pressure, glucose and weight monitors, thermometers and pulse oximeters. The "managers" were developed on both a cell phone as well as PCs. Three testing slots of two hours each were scheduled during the day and each participant was paired based on their registration. Most participants achieved interoperability during the event and the majority of specification questions and issues were mitigated during the Plugfest. These issues were recorded by Continua's Technical and Test & Certification work groups, who are working diligently to resolve them.

Continua implemented a Plugfest Web site for help with such events. The site helped participants synchronize specific versions of the specification they used. It also allowed them advanced access to the procedures used at the event so they could pre-test their devices. This mechanism will also be available for future events.

Among the participant companies was A&D Medical. In the words of Mr. Terry Wang, Director of Engineering and Quality Assurance, "We really appreciate the opportunity. Great effort by the organization."

Dr. Douglas Bogia of Intel elaborated, "The Continua interoperability testing event shows the continuing momentum of companies interoperating with one another based on the Continua interoperability guidelines and the underlying standards from IEEE, Bluetooth and USB."

"Many companies have invested countless hours from very talented people to create the interoperability guidelines and international standards," Dr. Bogia said. "With the specifications nearly complete, companies are focusing on generating products and certification tools. It is exciting to see the level of interoperability that is being accomplished and the dedication of companies to release products in the near future".

The Continua Health Alliance will continue to host Plugfests for its member companies in order to facilitate the interoperability of Continua devices. Plugfest #2 will take place on July 8th in San Francisco, immediately before Continua's Summer Summit in that city.

Deepak Ayyagari, PhD
Editor-in-Chief
Continua Health Alliance

In the News

Continua and its membership remain in the headlines as the alliance holds its Spring Summit and its members continue to drive the industry forward:

Upcoming Industry Events

European Connected Health Expo Day

Date: May 7, 2008
Location: Ramada Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland

The European Centre for Connected Health recently announced allocation of $96 million to help bring 5,000 people suffering from chronic disease in Northern Ireland to a remote monitoring service by 2011. To help the procurement process and support its membership, the European Center for Connected Health & Continua are hosting European Connected Health Expo Day 2008.

This unique tradeshow will allow Continua member companies to showcase their products for Northern Ireland government officials, healthcare professionals and the leadership of the European Centre for Connected Health!

This event is being specifically marketed to individuals responsible for the procurement of health care and remote patient monitoring systems. This is an unparalleled opportunity to impress not only Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland delegates with your company's products, but the equivalent leadership from all of Europe. Don't miss out on this great opportunity!

eHealth 2008: Extending the Reach

Date: May 4-7,2008
Location: Vancouver, BC

Medical Devices Information Day

CONTINUA PARTNER INDUSTRY EVENT
Date: May 22, 2008
Location: Dublin, Ireland

Developing Successful Business Cases for Telehealth

CONTINUA PARTNER INDUSTRY EVENT
Date: May 30, 2008
Location: London, England

Second Annual Summit on Behavioral Telehealth

CONTINUA PARTNER INDUSTRY EVENT
Date: July 2-3, 2008
Location: Boston, MA

Healthcare Unbound

Date: July 7-8, 2008
Location: San Francisco, CA

Continua Health Alliance Summer Summit (members only)

Date: July 9-11, 2008
Location: San Francisco, CA

Working Group Progress Report

Global Policy Work Group

Worked with Critical Mass Consulting to create a Business Model & Barriers Research Report , outlining government reimbursement models for products and services involving telehealth.
Working with Abt Associates to develop remote disease management literature compendium.

Regulatory Work Group

Completed White Paper on regulatory policies.
Presentations on FDA proposed rule for Medical Device Data Systems (MDDS).

Technical Work Group

Hosted Low Power Radio Technology demonstration/showcase and appointed a new task force to evaluate low power radio options to satisfy Version 2 Guidelines.
Reviewed first draft of Version 1 Interoperability Guideilnes document.
Initiated process to start addressing Version 2 Use Cases.
Conducted Continua technology panel at Med-e-Tel event in Luxembourg.

Test and Certification Work Group

Selected the Vendor Assisted Source Code (VASC) vendors: Alschuler Associates, Lamprey Networks, S3 and Stollman.
Held Plugfest #1 during the Spring Summit in Luxembourg. Tested 8 devices with 27 people from 10 companies.
Defined requirements for upcoming Test and Certification Tool RFP.

Employer HR Benefits Work Group

Working on a Future State Concept paper.
Developing specifications for pilot studies to commence in Fall 08/Winter 09.

Use Case Work Group

Nineteen use cases were approved for development after tallying the Phase 2 Use Case Ballot results.

Membership Update

Continua's membership has reached more than 150 member companies and is still growing! Most recently, All Medicus Co., Ltd., BIOSPACE Co., Ltd., Bluegiga Technologies Oy, Cardiomedix Inc., Centre for Global eHealth Innovation, Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd., Continuity Health, GC Healthcare Corp., Infineon Technologies, INFORSON Co., Ltd., LAXTHA Inc., Nitto Denko Corp., Proteus Biomedical, Inc., and Telehealth Solutions, Ltd., joined at the Contributor level.

Qualcomm Inc. and The European Centre for Connected Health (DHSSPS - N. Ireland) joined at the Promoter level and CAST joined as a Liaison. If you would like to read more about the Continua Health Alliance membership benefits please click here.

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