GE Healthcare and Intel expand sales and marketing agreement for Intel Health Guide in the U.K.

Jan 5 2010

GE Healthcare, a unit of GE (NYSE:GE), and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) announced today that they have expanded their sales and marketing agreement for the Intel Health Guide to include the United Kingdom. GE Healthcare already markets the Intel Health Guide in the United States.

“Both the Department of Health and the National Health Service are leading some very progressive policy development and pilot programs in this area, and we hope that our Home Health business and expanded agreement with Intel into the U.K. will contribute to that”

The Intel Health Guide is a care management tool designed for health care professionals who manage patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart failure. GE Healthcare’s capabilities in disease management, and its distribution reach in the healthcare sector in the UK will help drive understanding of the benefits of this innovative technology, which includes patients’ self-monitoring of health status and a direct communications channel to healthcare professionals.

This announcement further expands GE Healthcare’s Home Health business in the United Kingdom. Currently the company operates a successful home health business in the United States, providing technologies to help seniors live independently and patients with chronic diseases manage their conditions from their home. With 3,000 employees in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a world class provider of technologies for patient monitoring and diagnosis of disease, and has provided services to the NHS and the U.K. private health sector for more than 30 years. GE Healthcare’s Home Health business in the United Kingdom will be managed by Richard Rees-Davies.

The U.K. Department of Health estimates that in Great Britain up to 17.5 million adults and up to three-quarters of those over the age of 75 could be living with a chronic disease. By 2030, the department also estimates that the incidence of chronic disease in those over the age of 65 will more than double, creating an enormous and increasing burden for society. With the dramatic increase of people with chronic conditions and an aging population, there is a need to extend care from the hospital to the home.

Both GE and Intel are currently active in patient monitoring and home health, with well-recognized brands and strong sector expertise:

• GE QuietCare® is a remote passive activity and behavioural monitoring system for the elderly, alerting caregivers to changes that may signal potential health issues or emergency situations such as a fall or emerging health problem. It is used primarily in assisted living facilities across the United States. GE Healthcare also brings significant capabilities in the development of products for critical care patient monitoring, cardiac diagnostics, home respiratory care, and healthcare IT such as electronic medical records and clinical decisions support.
• The Intel® Health Guide is a comprehensive personal health system combining an in-home patient device with an online interface to allow clinicians to monitor patients in their homes and manage care remotely. The Health Guide includes vital sign collection, patient reminders and communications tools such as video conferencing and alerts. Intel already has a number of pilot programs underway in the United Kingdom to assess how the Health Guide can improve care management models in the home.

“Both the Department of Health and the National Health Service are leading some very progressive policy development and pilot programs in this area, and we hope that our Home Health business and expanded agreement with Intel into the U.K. will contribute to that,” said Agnes Berzsenyi, general manager of GE Healthcare’s Home Health business. “The increasing cost and burden of chronic disease is a huge problem, but we believe new health technologies and new approaches to care will make a difference in the future. It’s a perfect fit with GE’s healthymagination initiative, which aims to develop innovations that improve access, increase quality and reduce the cost of healthcare.”

Intel Digital Health Group’s director of sales and marketing Mariah Scott said, "We believe that shifting non-urgent care from the hospital to the home through technologies such as the Intel Health Guide is central to achieving a more personalized and cost-effective health care system. Intel has been working with PCTs, Health Trusts, carer organizations and policy makers in the United Kingdom to support the adoption of innovation in U.K. healthcare delivery and on a number of telehealth pilot schemes. The collaboration with GE Healthcare in the United Kingdom will bring improved understanding of this type of technology to a wider audience and increase the rate of adoption for telehealth systems as a method to help address chronic care challenges and bring benefits to patients and the NHS.”