The document discusses the benefits of implementing the design guidelines from Continua Health Alliance, an international non-profit organization that enables connectivity of personal health devices. A survey was conducted of Continua members to quantify the time and cost savings. Case studies found that following Continua guidelines reduced integration time for a device manufacturer from 9 weeks to 3 weeks, saving $130,000, and for a system integrator reduced time from 12 weeks to 2 weeks for a project, saving $140,000. Overall, using Continua guidelines was found to save significant time and costs across organizations.

1. 1
Time & Cost Savings Associated with
Implementing Continua Health Alliance
Design Guidelines
Continua Health Alliance

2. 2
Continua Health Alliance
The Engine for a Plug-and-Play World
Continua is an international non-profit industry
organization enabling end-to-end, plug-and-play
connectivity of personal health devices, systems
and services in Personal Connected Health (PCH)
200+ members: technology, medical device,
telecom, health tech service & healthcare
industry leaders

3. 3
What We Do
• Develop and publish Design Guidelines that
combine & apply existing standards
• Certify products, systems and services for
compliance with Continua’s Design Guidelines
• Promote favorable operating climate for personal
connected health (“PCH”) through advocacy &
coordination
• Connect leading technology developers, innovators
and healthcare organizations
• Creating a global PCH market

4. 4
How We’re Different
• Only organization convening global technology
standards in PCH
• Uniquely focused on end-to-end, plug-and-play
connectivity to advance the PCH ecosystem

5. 5
Where We Are
Continua Adoption & Work Groups
UK (NHS
Worcestershire &
Eastern Shires
Purchasing Organization)
Japan WG
Denmark
Singapore
SE Asia
WG
Australia
WG
India
WG
Brazil
WG
Abu Dhabi
= Gov’t Adoption of
Continua
= Continua Work
Group
US Veterans
Administration
&
US Department
of Defense
US WG
Japan
EU WG
UAE WG
Continua is also in discussions with
Qatar, Saudi Arabia & Spain

6. 6
Sample of Standards Incorporated
into Continua’s Design Guidelines
Sensors
11073
PAN Transport EHRs
Continua End-to-End Architecture
Includes these standards, and more

7. 7
We asked, “what is the value of adopting
Continua’s Design Guidelines?”
PwC conducted a survey with a cross-section
of Continua members to help us answer this
question.

8. 8
Sample Questions
Confidential – This information was prepared by PwC for the Continua Health Alliance board of directors and
is restricted to that use and cannot be copied or shared without prior written consent of PwC.
$-Conversion of man-weeks are based on a yearly salary of $120k
2. Explain how Continua
guidelines improve quality by
more accurate & simple data
integration. Please quantify.
6. What other value or benefits
would you expect to experience
as a result of following these
guidelines?
5. What type of waste and excess
do you see if you don’t deploy
Continua guidelines?
4. How would you make a
decision to make an investment
in Continua Guidelines?
3. To what degree do the Continua
guidelines decrease data
integration & support costs?
Please quantify.
1. Do you currently follow
Continua Health Alliance design
guidelines? Why?

9. 9
Case Study: Device Manufacturer
1x
4 x $15,000
≈ $65,000
3 – 4 Weeks
Continua
Background
• Costly to integrate a device or sensor before Continua guidelines in place due to a lack of
interoperability.
• In three projects (sense4baby, Apollo and NIH) Qualcomm had to redo the work because phone
lifecycle of one or two years ended or communication protocols changed.
• Devices: Blood pressure meter, Weight scale, Ultrasound and a Zephyr strap
1 x $5000
Source: Interviews with Clint McClellan, Mr. Rajan, Mr. Jerger, Mr. Colli (Elbrys
Corporation), Mr. Koenig and Mr. Erickson
Non-Continua
3x
4 x $15,000
≈ $195,000
9 Weeks
$5,000 for testing
Confidential – This information was prepared by PwC for the Continua Health Alliance board of directors
and is restricted to that use and cannot be copied or shared without prior written consent of PwC.

10. 10
Case Study: System Integrator
Disaster Cardiovascular Prevention Network (D-CAP)
Confidential – This information was prepared by PwC for the Continua Health Alliance board of directors and is restricted
to that use and cannot be copied or shared without prior written consent of PwC.
Background
• A rapid remote cardiovascular monitoring capability was needed after the Great East Japan
Earthquake; no off-the-shelf solution was available
• The Disaster Cardiovascular Prevention Network (D-CAP) was developed to remotely monitor the
blood pressure of evacuees using products previously certified by Continua
• Devices: A&D (Automatic blood pressure monitors), Alive Inc. (Gateway firmware), Ryoto Electro
Corp. (data server), Panasonic (PC), Toppan Forms (Patient ID Cards), Intel (Project coordination)
Source: Interview with Tagami Shinsuke (Intel) and Minami Kimio (Panasonic)
*Figures based on actual experience, **Estimates
Time 12 weeks**
incl. 30 days for connectivity
Man-weeks
(1 FTE per
company)
72**
Non-Continua
2 weeks*
incl. 3 days for connectivity

12*
Continua
Bring down
deployment time
down to 1/6
60 man-weeks
or $139k saved
$166k** $27k**

11. 11
Case Study: System Integrator
Confidential – This information was prepared by PwC for the Continua Health Alliance board of directors and is restricted
to that use and cannot be copied or shared without prior written consent of PwC.
Background
• Vignet is a provider of connected health solutions and certified an iPhone Mobile Manager.
• Higher onetime costs to implement Continua could be offset by potential lower costs for each device.
• Slow adoption of Continua guidelines and low market demand limits cost benefits and ROI in
developing a manager. Manager requires higher testing efforts to pass Continua certification than
agents.
• Devices: Omron - HBF-206IT, Omron BP-792IT, A&D UC-321-C, A&D UA-767PBT-C, Nonin 9560-C
Source: Interview with Praduman Jain (PJ), Vignet Corporation
Non-Continua Continua
Higher one-time cost
with Continua
Continued higher cost
with Continua due to:
One time
8 Weeks
2 FTE
Each new
vendor/device
20 Weeks
2 FTE
8 Weeks
1 FTE
$40k $100k
4 Weeks
1 FTE $10k $20k • CESL bugs/hard to
use,
• Effort for certification

12. 12
Case Study: Healthcare Provider
Confidential – This information was prepared by PwC for the Continua Health Alliance board of directors and is restricted
to that use and cannot be copied or shared without prior written consent of PwC.
Background
• St. Vincent Health, member of Ascension Health, is currently conducting a study how mobile health
can reduce readmission rates and avoid reimbursement penalties by CMS starting in Oct. 2012.
• The study, funded by a federal Beacon Communities grant, shows tremendous benefits, with 30 day
readmission rates down to about 5% in the intervention group versus 20% in the control group and
national average.
• The videoconferencing device used in the study is from Intel-GE, now called Care Innovations.
Source: Interview with Dr. Alan Snell, St. Vincent Health
 St. Vincent Health hospital alone could
potentially avoid $24m a year in CMS
reimbursement penalties.
 Coverage was not an issue, only 1 out of 60
patients had inadequate 3G-Coverage for
videoconferencing.
 Interoperability reduces the costs to integrate
solutions into EMR or HIE exchange platform
5%
Key Learnings

13. 13
Case Study: Payor
Confidential – This information was prepared by PwC for the Continua Health Alliance board of directors and
is restricted to that use and cannot be copied or shared without prior written consent of PwC.
Background
• Healthrageous delivers digital, self-management prevention and chronic condition health solutions.
• Continua has the potential to reduce integration time from 2 – 3 months down to 1 month.
• Currently working with 3 device integrators. With a higher prevalence of Continua
standards, Healthrageous could deal with a dozen device integrators without significant extra
efforts.
• Devices: A&D Blood Pressure Monitor UA-767PBT-C and A&D Weight Scale UC-321PBT-C
Source: Interview with Doug McClure
Time 8-12 Weeks
Man-weeks
(1 FTE per
integrator)
45
Non-Continua
4 Weeks

27
Continua
1 – 2 months
shorter
integration time
18 man-weeks
saved, or $41k
Device
integrators

3

Dozens without extra
effort
More choice of
devices
$103k $62k

14. 14
… but 8 man-weeks
corresponding to
$18k could be saved
per device with
Continua guidelines
Case Study Payor: UnitedHealth
Confidential – This information was prepared by PwC for the Continua Health Alliance board of directors and is restricted
to that use and cannot be copied or shared without prior written consent of PwC.
Background
• United Health offers over their company OptumHealth connected health solutions to their corporate
customers. One example is the mobile app OptumizeMe.
• OptumizeMe engages and empowers consumers to achieve health goals, encourages healthy
behavior, and allows users create health challenges with others.
• A non-Continua certified physical activity monitor have been integrated into the solution.
Source: Interview with Robert Hoy, United Health
*Figures based on actual experience, **Estimates
Same initial
development
costs, …
• 7 man-weeks for
development
• 4.5 man-weeks for QA
• Total 12 Weeks
Non-Continua*
• 7 man-weeks for
development
• 4.5 man-weeks for QA
• Total 12 Weeks
• 4 Weeks
Continua**
One time for
initial device
Each new
vendor/
device
• Same as above
• 12 Weeks

15. 15
Summary of Case Study Data
Confidential – This information was prepared by PwC for the Continua Health Alliance board of directors and is restricted
to that use and cannot be copied or shared without prior written consent of PwC.
Scenario Device Manufacturer /
System Integrator
Healthcare Provider Healthcare Payor
Without
Continua
• Qualcomm – 9 weeks
• Vignet – 20 weeks
• Japan – 12 weeks
• Ascension – would be
like payors
• United Healthcare – 12
weeks
• Healthrageous – 12
weeks
With Continua • Qualcomm – 3 weeks
• Vignet – 8 weeks
• Japan – 2 weeks
• Ascension – would be
like payors
• United Healthcare – 4
weeks
• Healthrageous – 4 weeks
Savings • Qualcomm - $130K
/device
• Vignet – $80K /device
• Japan - $140K /device
• Ascension – would be
like payors
• United Healthcare –
$20K /device
• Healthrageous – $40K
/device
Sources: PwC estimates and analysis based on the interviews

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Contact Us
On the web: www.continuaalliance.org
Twitter: @Continua
LinkedIn: Continua
Join our Developers’ Forum on LinkedIn!