Continua in da house!

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Thursday is the first full day of the 2009 Microsoft Connected Health Conference here in Bellevue ... there were a few events today, but things really get underway tomorrow at 9am with Peter's keynote and an opening panel including Uwe Reinhardt, David Kibbe and Mike Leavitt (Mike, not Mark, so we won't likely see an onstage rumble). I'll be wandering around all day, except for a presentation for our Amalga customers in the afternoon and a Q&A panel just after that. If you see me wandering around avoiding eye contact with strangers, say hello!

Anyway, I wanted to call out one session tomorrow that I'm particularly excited about:

Learn how Continua-compatible devices can work with HealthVault and what it might mean for your development efforts. ---Jesse St. Marie, Senior Program Manager, Microsoft Corp.

Jesse is our go-to guy for devices, and has been working on this for some time. At this session attendees will see a real, live, Continua CertifiedTM fingertip pulse oximeter connect through a PC to HealthVault Connection Center and upload readings to a HealthVault record. It's not production-ready yet, but it's completely real.

Let's say that again, because it was really fun the first time.

We will show a Continua device sending data directly to HealthVault.

We've said again and again that what Continua is doing is complementary, not competitive, to what we're doing with HealthVault - and that integrating devices is the thing to focus on, not "joining Continua." Now that Continua certified products are entering the market, we're doing the work to get them hooked up, just like we promised.

We're simply not out to create and define standards - that is for other folks to do. We are about creating a connected ecosystem for health, embracing all of the standards that are important to making that a reality. Continua is on a path to be a meaningful part of that ecosystem.

This is great news for everybody --- HealthVault users will have more options; device manufacturers can choose to build products in whatever way works for them; and both Microsoft and Continua can (maybe) stop answering questions that just don't matter.

Good times.