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Intel, GE chiefs announce health tech alliance

The chipmaker and General Electric announce a health-related alliance that targets in-home health care.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor
Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
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Brooke Crothers
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Updated on April 2 at 7:45 a.m. PDT with additional information throughout.

General Electric CEO and Chairman Jeff Immelt and Intel CEO Paul Otellini on Thursday jointly announced an alliance to market and develop home-based health technologies to help seniors.

The technologies will help seniors live independently and help patients with chronic conditions manage their care from their home, the companies said.

GE Healthcare will sell and market the Intel Health Guide (PDF), a care management tool designed for healthcare professionals who work with patients with chronic conditions.

The market for "telehealth" and home health monitoring is forecast to grow from $3 billion in 2009 to an estimated $7.7 billion by 2012, according to GE and Intel.

Both companies will jointly invest a total of $250 million over the next five years for the research and product development of home-based health technologies.

Key elements of the announcement include:

  • Global product research and development alliance
  • GE Healthcare will sell and market the Intel Health Guide
  • GE Quiet Care, which alerts caregivers to changes that may signal potential health issues
  • Intel Health Guide to allow clinicians to monitor patients in their homes and manage care remotely

GE and Intel are involved in externally funded independent living and home health research programs. GE Healthcare is leading a consortium of private and public sector organizations in a $5 million three-year home health research program funded by the Hungarian government.

Intel and the Irish Development Agency have established a $30 million "Technology Research for Independent Living Centre," bringing together industry and academic experts to research independent living technologies.

In the United States the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics forecast that by 2030 approximately 71.5 million people will be 65 and older, representing nearly 20 percent of the total U.S. population, up from 37 million Americans in 2006, according to information provided by GE and Intel.