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Good News today, two industry giants step-up technology development of home-health monitoring.  General Electric (GE) and Intel announced an alliance to develop home-based health technologies that will help seniors live independently and patients with chronic conditions manage their care from the comfort of their home.

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.  The two companies are helping to address these pressing issues. The market for telehealth and home health monitoring is predicted to grow from $3 billion in 2009 to an estimated $7.7 billion by 20121. These numbers reflect that fact that many of us boomers are aging into chronic conditions such as high blood pressure and overweight that could lead to heart disease or diabetes.

GE and Intel will invest more than $250 million over the next five years for the research and product development of home-based health technologies. Key elements of the Alliance means that the two companies will work together, combining their complementary skill set and research resources to accelerate innovation and commercialization of next-generation home-health technologies. Both companies also plan to expand their current development programs in home health and independent living technologies to include new areas such as fall prevention, medication compliance, sleep apnea, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and personal wellness monitoring.

It is great to see these powerful companies share a vision to use technology to bring effective healthcare into millions of homes and to improve the lives of seniors and people with chronic illness. Together they can deliver innovative products to serve this rapidly growing market.

GE and Intel are currently active in patient monitoring and home health, with strong sector expertise like GE Quiet Care™, a remote activity and behavioral monitoring system for seniors, alerting caregivers to changes that may signal potential health issues or emergency situations such as a fall or emerging health problem. The Intel Health Guide is a personal health system combining an in-home patient device with an online interface to allow clinicians 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 also brings its know-how in the development of user-friendly interfaces for high technology products and tools for online cognitive assessment and social interaction, all of which will be vital to the design of easy to use home-based health products.

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 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and hypertension kill more than 1.7 million Americans per year, and are responsible for 7 of every 10 deaths in the U.S.

1 Combined data for United States and Europe. Data Monitor reports Telehealth spending North America and Telehealth spending 2007–2012