Bring out the birthday cake, the Continua Alliance of telehealth system manufacturers and suppliers is one year old today and it seems it has had a healthy start. According to Continua’s latest newsletter it has grown in that time from 22 to 122 members. Its mission is “Fostering independence through establishing a system of interoperable personal telehealth solutions that empower people and organizations to better manage health and wellness.”
The Alliance’s website came in for early criticism for its lack of readability, so you’d think that after a year it could come up with an improved one – oops, sorry, it has, according to the newsletter, which, regarding the Marketing Working Group says “If you haven’t noticed, the MWG recently launched our new web site design! The new site is easier to read” Personally, I’m perplexed as to why they haven’t adopted the simplest way of improving readability, by changing from grey text to black.
However, what I did like about the site is that it singles out for special mention the people who have been active in the working groups and who are therefore influencing the agenda. These key contributors include 3 from Intel, 2 from Philips, 2 from Tunstall and one each from IBM, Cisco, Boston Scientific, iMetricus, Partners Healthcare, Precor and S3.
Pleased to see too that the Alliance has had a financially healthy start in life. Currently, there are 49 Promoting Members and 73 Contributing Members listed. At annual subscriptions of $35,000 and $5,000 respectively, a quick calculation shows that first year income for the Alliance has been $2,080,000 – plus undisclosed contributions from the founding members. Presumably the subscriptions are a small price to pay for a seat at the table of the body that will agree the interoperability standards to which everyone will eventually conform.
Search the Continua Alliance’s website for clues to the future of telehealth, and probably telecare and telemedicine too. And perhaps make a wish for truly outstanding outcomes as the birthday cake candle is blown out.