Continua expands specs, adds Microsoft

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The Continua Health Alliance has expanded its suite of design guidelines for home health systems and added Microsoft Corp. as a member. The latest specifications define new personal and wide-area wireless interfaces for remote patient care products.

Continua's 2010 Design Guidelines includes wide-area network interface to link a hub device such as a PC, mobile phone or health appliance with servers that maintain electronic health records. The guidelines now support Zigbee as a local-area network for sensors.

Continua also updated its specs to support peak flow meters and medication-adherence monitors. In addition, the guidelines include updates to the group's common transmission protocol and add email support to its health record interface.

Microsoft has become the latest member of the non-profit group which has more than 230 members including Baxter, Cisco Systems, IBM, Intel, Medtronic, Nokia, Panasonic, Philips, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony and St. Jude Medical. The software giant hopes to make its Web-based HealthVault service for managing consumer health care data a platform for Continua devices.

“Since developing HealthVault, Microsoft has grown a robust ecosystem of health and wellness applications, devices and services on the platform that help individuals engage with their personal health data in meaningful ways,” said David Cerino, general manager, Microsoft Health Solutions Group, speaking in a press statement.

“Our membership with Continua extends our commitment to providing organizations with options for building on and connecting to HealthVault,” he added.