San Ramon, CA -- The ZigBee, a global ecosystem of companies, creating wireless solutions for use in energy management, residential, commercial, and consumer electronics applications, announced the Board of Directors has ratified ZigBee Health Care and made the standard publicly available. ZigBee Health Care offers new ways to help people of all ages live healthier and more independent lives while lowering healthcare costs.
ZigBee Health Care provides a global, open standard for interoperable, low-power wireless devices, enabling secure monitoring and management of noncritical, low-acuity healthcare services, targeted at chronic disease management, elderly care, wellness, and in-patient and asset tracking. It supports thousands of devices on a single network and provides full support for IEEE 11073 devices, making each device eligible for FDA certification. ZigBee Health Care products are ideal for use within homes, fitness centers, retirement communities, nursing homes, and other medical care facilities. The standard meets the diverse requirements of consumers, service providers, care providers, payers, product manufacturers, and policymakers. More information and the standard download can be found online.
In June 2009, the Continua Health Alliance, the leading nonprofit coalition of major healthcare and technology companies in the industry, endorsed ZigBee Health Care as Continua's low-power local-area network standard. Continua recommends ZigBee Health Care for sensing and control in professional settings, homes, recreation centers, and across large campuses as it offers secure, robust, battery-efficient wireless connectivity for patient activity and facilities monitoring while delivering the freedom of wireless operation outside of buildings. In addition, ZigBee is a proven low-power technology that coexists with other wireless technologies, including Wi-Fi.
"ZigBee Health Care provides a wide variety of remote and wireless health monitoring services that can inspire everyone to take a more active role in their own wellness and fitness," said Dr. Robert F. Heile, Chairman of the ZigBee Alliance. "Wireless products based on ZigBee Health Care will enable people to get the care they need without sacrificing their independent lifestyles and mobility."
The ZigBee Alliance and the American Telemedicine Association are currently working together to educate both health care professionals and consumers on the benefits of telecommunications technologies.
According to a recent report by Pike & Fischer, telemedicine spending is projected to reach $3.6 billion annually by 2014. In the U.S., the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 includes $20 billion for health information technology, with a focus on electronic medical records and telemedicine.
About ZigBee
ZigBee is the global wireless language connecting dramatically different devices to work together and enhance everyday life. The ZigBee Alliance is a nonprofit association of more than 340 members, 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.