GSMA, Continua Health Alliance Form Partnership

The GSMA announced a partnership Feb. 15 with the Continua Health Alliance, a nonprofit, open industry organization of health care and technology companies, to promote innovation and drive the use of embedded mobile solutions in health care.

The two organizations plan to develop interoperability for connected devices and create a scalable and viable market for mobile health. They will jointly work on standardization processes in both the mobile and health care sectors, providing guidelines to allow mobility in mobile devices, and jointly promote mobile health-related activities.

McKinsey, a global management consultancy, and the GSMA predict the health care industry could see approximately $175 billion to $200 billion in annual cost savings for managing chronic diseases in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries.

According to the GSMA, the mobile industry can contribute substantially to improving the accessibility of health care systems around the world, as well as helping to reduce costs, by providing solutions to diagnose disease, monitor patient health and intervene ahead of acute events.

"The global potential for connected devices is huge-it's more than just mobile phones and laptop PCs. It can be anything that has a mobile connection embedded in it such as a camera, a music player, a car, a smart meter or a health monitor," said Alex Sinclair, chief technology and strategy officer at the GSMA. "Reducing the cost of innovative health care solutions, lowering carbon emissions and substantially improving energy efficiency are just some of the significant societal benefits connected devices will provide the world over."