ATIS Launches Mobile Healthcare Initiative

WASHINGTON, April 12 -- The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions issued the following news release: To advance the efforts of healthcare systems nationwide to use technology to improve care delivery, ATIS, through its Wireless Technologies and Systems Committee (WTSC) has launched a new mobile healthcare (mHealth) initiative with the ultimate goal of supporting a global wireless health ecosystem.

With the increasing demands being placed on the nation's healthcare system, traditional care delivery is evolving into an alternative model in which care also takes place outside of physicians' offices and hospitals. This new vision implements innovative tools and processes ranging from remote monitoring of health indicators and enhanced diagnostics to wireless fitness monitoring.

The ATIS mHealth initiative bridges work taking place among a number of related groups, including emergency service providers, medical device manufacturers, remote monitoring services and the commercial wireless networks to support efforts to enhance disease management, promote independent living for the aging and improve general health and wellness. Specifically, it will help to describe an end-to-end architecture to define the necessary transport protocols through a mobile service provider to an appropriate end point.

"Wireless networks are fundamental to the enablement of the latest advances in mHealth and telemedicine. ATIS is pleased to lead an effort addressing technical standards that will allow for significant and vital advances for the nation's healthcare system," said Susan Miller, President and CEO, ATIS. "The mHealth initiative is an example of ATIS' commitment to services that will enhance the quality of life for all Americans." The ATIS mHealth initiative focuses primarily on protocols and enhancements to wireless networks and the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) to securely transport medical data, rather than defining the actual content of the data that will be sent to health providers. As such, ATIS plans to work closely with other groups, such as Continua, Lifecomm, GSMA and mHealth Alliance to define an end-to-end system for mHealth.

About the ATIS Wireless Technologies and Systems Committee The ATIS Wireless Technologies and Systems Committee (WTSC) develops and recommends standards related to wireless and/or mobile services and systems, including service descriptions and wireless technologies. WTSC develops and recommends positions on related subjects under consideration in other North American, regional and international standards bodies. For more information, please visit the WTSC website. (http://www.atis.org/0160/index.asp) TNS MD66-MD66 110413-3337002 61MariaDonald (c) 2011 Targeted News Service