The Continua Health Alliance is pushing into Central and South America with the establishment of a Brazil Work Group.
The Beaverton, Ore.-based non-profit, which focuses on developing standards for end-to-end, plug-and-play connectivity in personal connected health, has more than 200 members around the world and has been instrumental in establishing mHealth standards in Europe and other regions, including Asia.
"Continua is very pleased to establish a presence in Brazil and the Latin American market, providing an important industry voice for personal connected health technologies with employers, payers, regulatory bodies, government agencies and care providers," said Chuck Parker, Continua's executive director, in a press release. "We are working together with a number of local companies in Brazil to create a vital and valuable work group to support end-to-end, plug-and-play connectivity for personal connected health technologies. Continua's Design Guidelines are based on global industry standards for interoperability, to expedite the deployment of personal connected health devices and systems that will dramatically improve health management, clinical outcomes and quality of life."
“We have been active in a number of emerging markets, including India, China, Taiwan, Singapore – and now Brazil," he added. "With support from local companies including Unit Care and Intel, Continua is well positioned to advance interoperable personal connected health in Latin America."
The Brazil Work Group will be chaired by Luiz Tizatto, CEO of the Unit Care group in Sao Paulo, and Jose Luis Bruzadin, healthcare IT innovation manager for Inter Brazil and South Cone, will be the vice chairman. To introduce the group, Continua will host a one-day conference on May 21 in Sao Paulo titled "Adopting Standards for Personal Connected Devices."
According to Continua officials, the Unit Care group, established in 2011, is a market leader in patient remote monitoring in Brazil and also focuses on research activities in connection with the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in the telehealth field. Tizatto graduated from the Universidade de Passo Fundo in Brazil and Harvard Business School.
Last year, Continua announced that Denmark, at the forefront of the mHealth movement in Europe, would be using the organization's design guidelines to develop an "Action Plan for Telemedicine."
“Denmark already leads the world in its national telemedicine program. With the adoption of Continua’s Guidelines, Denmark has become the first country to establish national standards for interoperability of personal health technologies," Parker said in an August 2012 press release. "This is adoption on an unprecedented scale and marks the beginning of a new era in Denmark’s healthcare system.”
“Our partnership with Denmark validates Continua’s mission to develop a global ecosystem of plug-and-play devices in personal connected health. We are proud to have them as a partner and share this exciting moment in healthcare history,” he added.
