New ZigBee Health Care Profile: Helping People Live Healthier and Independent Lives

BARCELONA, Spain - New standard provides a flexible framework to meet Continua Health
Alliance requirements for remote health and fitness monitoring

The ZigBee(R) Alliance today announces it has completed development of
its ZigBee Health Care public application profile. ZigBee Health Care will
enable new ways to help people live healthier and more independent lives. It
can lower healthcare costs by providing a variety of remote health monitoring
services promoting wellness and fitness while also reducing in-patient stays
- all without sacrificing convenience or mobility.

ZigBee Health Care provides a global standard for interoperable wireless
devices enabling secure and reliable monitoring and management of
noncritical, low-acuity healthcare services targeted at chronic disease
management, obesity and ageing. ZigBee Health Care is designed for use in
homes, fitness centers, retirement communities, nursing homes and a variety
of medical care facilities. Products using ZigBee Health Care may be
wearable, portable or fixed, depending on needs. ZigBee Health Care is
designed to meet the requirements of a diverse and global ecosystem of
consumers, service providers, care providers, payers, product manufacturers
and policymakers. In addition, ZigBee Health Care products can interact with
the broader ecosystem of ZigBee wireless technology devices that may be found
in typical home and commercial settings.

ZigBee Health Care has a wide variety of features. Highlights include
support to help people age independently, manage chronic diseases, plus tools
to promote overall health and wellness, with security to fit each need. It
also provides full support for IEEE 11073 devices including glucometers,
pulse oximeters, electrocardiographs, weight scales, thermometers, blood
pressure monitors and respirometers. ZigBee Health Care is designed with
affordability, ease-of-use, security and interoperability all in mind. For a
complete list and explanation of features and benefits, and to read our white
paper “ZigBee Wireless Sensor Applications for Health, Wellness and Fitness,”
please visit www.zigbee.org/healthcare.

“Sensing and monitoring are the core of ZigBee’s mission, so it was
logical for us to create a solution designed to meet the needs and
requirements of the Continua Health Alliance and lay a foundation for
long-term collaboration between our Alliances,” said Dr. Robert F. Heile,
chairman of the ZigBee Alliance. “ZigBee Health Care gives fitness centers,
medical care facilities and consumers the ability to connect an almost
unlimited number of health monitoring devices with ease and privacy. Our
timing could not be better since the world is trying to care for a
burgeoning aging population while managing skyrocketing health care costs,
and the ability to monitor patient health from anywhere is a key tool in
that effort.”

A recent report by ON World, “WSN for Healthcare” estimates that wireless
sensor networks can reduce annual health care costs by US $25 billion by
2012. Much of that savings is derived by reducing hospitalizations and
extending independent living for seniors.

The Continua Health Alliance represents the voice of a broad and vital
healthcare industry. Nearly 30 members of Continua are also ZigBee Alliance
members. Some of those members include Ember, Freescale Semiconductor,
Philips, Samsung, Siemens, ST Microelectronics and Texas Instruments. These
companies are ZigBee Alliance Promoters and members of the ZigBee Board of
Directors.

ZigBee: Control your world

ZigBee is the global wireless language connecting dramatically different
devices to work together and enhance everyday life. The ZigBee Alliance is a
non-profit association of more than 300 member companies driving development
of ZigBee wireless technology. The Alliance promotes world-wide adoption of
ZigBee as the leading wirelessly networked, sensing and control standard for
use in consumer electronics, energy, health care, home, commercial and
industrial areas. For more information, visit: www.zigbee.org.

Source: ZigBee Alliance

Kevin Schader of ZigBee Alliance, +1-925-275-6672, kschader at inventures.com; or Earlene Tang of GolinHarris, +1-714-662-5115, etang at golinharris.com, for ZigBee Alliance