Continua and Borderless Healthcare Group Form Strategic Partnership, Launch the Healthcare Technology Innovation Center in Shanghai

WASHINGTON and SHANGHAI, Sept. 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Continua and Borderless Healthcare Group (BHG), a global knowledge leader in healthcare technology, media and telecommunications,  have formed a strategic partnership to support healthcare innovation in China and promote international standards for personal connected health technologies. Continua and BHG announced this new partnership during the global Borderless Healthcare Forum being held this week in Washington, DC, while also announcing the official launch of BHG's first-of-its-kind Healthcare Technology Innovation Center in Shanghai. 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.

"Continua's 2014 Design Guidelines have been adopted by the ITU as the first global standard for personal connected health devices and systems, providing individuals with the tools needed -- such as wearable activity trackers, remote health monitoring devices and mobile apps -- to better self-manage their health and wellness," said Chuck Parker, Executive Director, Continua and Vice President, Personal Connected Health Alliance. "We are pleased to be working together with Borderless Healthcare Group to promote interoperability for personal connected health devices and systems in China, a critically important market for healthcare innovation. This marks an important advance in the global adoption of interoperability standards."

BHG's Innovation Center will include an incubator, accelerator, Smart Home - Smart Health experience center and media center, allowing healthcare innovators to crowdfund and pilot their projects in China. The Center's innovation membership will be combined with Continua membership. Innovators from more than ten countries have already expressed interest in China's significant healthcare marketplace via the Innovation Center.

"China will be the biggest healthcare IP exchange hub in the next few years, as a leading area for manufacturing smart devices, with one of the largest consumer markets in the world," said Dr Wei Siang YU, Chairman of Borderless Healthcare Group.  "Working with Continua, together we could create global opportunities for personal connected health technologies, with the adoption of plug-and-play interoperability  standards from this very early stage."

Continua's China Work Group is focused on creating new opportunities for its members and supporting end-to-end, plug-and-play connectivity for personal connected health technologies, while expediting the deployment of Continua-ready devices and systems to improve health management, clinical outcomes and quality of life for the citizens of China.

According to GSMA, China is the global leader in the adoption of M2M (machine-to-machine) technology with over 50 million connections or more than one quarter of the total M2M market in 2013. Close collaboration between the country's leading mobile operators, state-owned enterprises and the government has enabled the market to grow dramatically in a relatively short period of time, laying the foundations for further expansion and the development of the Internet of Things (IoT).  

About Borderless Healthcare Group, Inc.

BHG, founded by key stakeholders in the medical, CRM, IT, legal, finance, and media industries, spans more than 10 companies in the three key areas of health, wellness and food. BHG's expertise in the activation of disruptive healthcare market processes has won several media features and partnerships with governments, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies around the world. The interactive healthcare process pioneered by BHG has not only provided a solution to how governments can resolve the problem of poor public adoption of EMR, it has also evolved the flawed notion of "universal healthcare" to the more relevant concept of borderless, on-demand, ubiquitous healthcare. www.borderlesshealthcaregroup.com

About Continua

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.

SOURCE Continua