Continua Health Alliance announced that Elinaz Mahdavy, European Affairs and Strategic Partnerships Manager at Orange Healthcare, has been unanimously elected chair of its European Working Group. Elinaz will lead Continua's outreach and relations with EU institutions and government entities in Europe. She succeeds Mário Romão, senior policy manager at Intel, who will continue to serve as vice chair. Continua is the international industry organization dedicated to advancing personal connected health by promoting end-to-end, plug-and-play connectivity of personal health devices and establishing industry standards for interoperability.
Continua's European Working Group manages the organization's relations with EU institutions and government entities throughout Europe. Continua seeks to grow the market for personal health products via policies that promote adoption of personal health systems, removal of regulatory barriers, enhanced government support for Continua Guidelines and legislative changes to reimbursement policies. Recent highlights of Continua's activities in Europe include Continua's participation in the Healthcare Coalition on Data Protection response to the EU Data Protection draft Regulation and ongoing support for Denmark to incorporate Continua guidelines in the national telemedicine action plan.
"With the appointment of Elinaz Mahdavy as the new EU Working Group chair, and with strong leadership from key organizations including Intel and Orange on our team, Continua is well positioned to help solve the challenges of health care delivery in Europe," said Clint McClellan, Continua president and board chairman, and senior director of strategic marketing, Qualcomm Life, Inc. "A number of European countries and regions are leading the way in establishing interoperable personal co nnected health strategies. We will continue to partner with governments around the world to advance standards - based guidelines for interoperability of eHealth systems."
Claus F. Nielsen, Business Development Manager, DELTA, was also confirmed as a vice chair of Continua's EU Working Group. Petra Wilson, Senior Director Connected Health, Cisco, continues to serve as Continua's Secretary General in Europe. "We are going from strength to strength in Europe, and greatly appreciate the commitment of our members in building a solid foundation and ensuring that Continua's messages reach a wide and diverse audience," added Wilson. "Our thanks to Mário Romão for his leadership over the past five years, and for his continued role in Continua's EU Working Group."
About Continua Health Alliance
Continua Health Alliance (Continua) is an international not-for-profit industry organization enabling end-to-end, plug-and-play connectivity of personal health devices and services. These services will empower information-driven health self-management and facilitate the incorporation of health and wellness into the day-to-day lives of consumers. Continua is a pioneer in establishing standards-based guidelines and security for connected health technologies such as smartphones, gateways and remote monitoring devices through its Guideline releases. The Alliance's activities include a certification and brand support program, events and collaborations to support technology and clinical innovation, and outreach to employers, payers, governments and care providers. With over 200 member companies reaching across the globe, Continua is comprised of technology, medical device and healthcare industry leaders and service providers dedicated to making personal connected health a reality.