The ZigBee Alliance and Continua Health Alliance Collaborate to Expand Telehealth Capabilities

The ZigBee Alliance and Continua Health Alliance Collaborate to Expand
Telehealth Capabilities
Groups will define standards for personal health solutions

SAN RAMON, Calif. and BEAVERTON, Ore., Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The ZigBee®
Alliance and the Continua Health Alliance today announced a liaison agreement
to expand their relationship and collaborate further on defining interoperable
communication standards for personal health solutions on low-power local area
networks (LAN). Personal health solutions allow individuals to be checked
remotely by families and healthcare providers with an array of medical and
activity devices that increase individual independence, improve safety and
personalize health and wellness management.

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ZigBee and Continua will work together to expand the ZigBee Health Care public
application profile to define and certify capabilities specific to personal
health solutions. ZigBee Health Care was selected in June by Continua for use
in professional settings, homes, recreation centers and large campuses and
will be included in an upcoming version of Continua Health Alliance's Design
Guidelines for interoperable personal health solutions. ZigBee Health Care
offers Continua's 200-plus members a ready-to-implement solution featuring
interference-free and secure wireless connectivity, capable of supporting
thousands of devices on a single network. These solutions will reliably
monitor and control wide-ranging devices, designed to help aging and
physically challenged people remain independent.

"The urgency inherent in patient monitoring calls for a very robust,
multi-path wireless technology that doesn't bottleneck important data," said
Rick Cnossen, Continua Health Alliance president and chairman of the board of
directors. "ZigBee Health Care is an international, open standard that
provides the reliability and performance necessary to satisfy Continua's cost,
quality, and functional objectives."

ZigBee Health Care offers secure, robust, battery-efficient wireless
connectivity for patient activity and facilities monitoring while delivering
the freedom of wireless operation outside of buildings. ZigBee peacefully
coexists with other wireless technologies, including Wi-Fi, a critical
requirement for patient safety and use in healthcare facilities.

"Continua is a great partner to work with on utilizing ZigBee Health Care for
telehealth solutions," said Bob Heile, chairman of the ZigBee Alliance.
"Continua's members represent a knowledgeable community of technology, medical
device and health care industry leaders who can help us deliver independence,
safety and improved health to patients everywhere, every day."

ZigBee Health Care - The Standard for Monitoring Health, Wellness and Fitness
More broadly, ZigBee Health Care provides a global, open standard for
interoperable wireless devices enabling secure monitoring and management of
noncritical, low-acuity healthcare services targeted at chronic disease
management, obesity and ageing. It provides full support for IEEE 11073
devices. The standard is designed for use in homes, fitness centers,
retirement communities, nursing homes and a variety of medical care
facilities. It meets the requirements of consumers, service providers, care
providers, payers, product manufacturers and policymakers. ZigBee Health Care
certified products can interact with other ZigBee certified products found in
residential and commercial settings. Visit www.zigbee.org/healthcare for more
information.

About Continua
Continua Health Alliance is a non-profit, open industry coalition of the
finest health care and technology companies joining together in collaboration
to improve the quality of personal health care. With more than 200 member
companies around the world, Continua is dedicated to establishing a system of
interoperable personal 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.

ZigBee: Control your world
ZigBee is the global wireless language connecting dramatically different
devices to work together and enhance everyday life. The ZigBee Alliance is a
non-profit association of more than 300 member companies driving development
of ZigBee wireless technology. The Alliance promotes worldwide adoption of
ZigBee as the leading wirelessly networked, sensing and control standard for
use in consumer electronic, energy, home, commercial and industrial areas. For
more information, visit: www.ZigBee.org.

SOURCE ZigBee Alliance

Kevin Schader of ZigBee Alliance, +1-925-275-6672, kschader@inventures.com; or
Ann Jansen or Blair Cook, both of Continua Health Alliance, +1 503-619-0656,
press@continuaalliance.org; or Earlene Tang of GolinHarris, +1-714-662-5115,
etang@golinharris.com, for ZigBee Alliance