Home healthcare

GE and Intel have formed a healthcare alliance to develop and market home-based technologies for the elderly and people with chronic illness.

The alliance was announced alongside an investment of $250m (£170m) over the next five years in the research and development of home-based technologies. Under the agreement, GE Healthcare is to sell and market the Intel Health Guide, a care management tool designed for patients with chronic conditions.

Both companies also plan to expand their current development programmes in home health and independent living technologies to include areas such as fall prevention, medication compliance, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnoea, diabetes and personal wellness monitoring.

GE chief executive, Jeff Immelt, said: ‘Improving healthcare accessibility and reducing costs are essential to economic recovery and growth. We think this partnership offers the potential to lower costs by keeping people out of hospitals while giving health professionals the data they need to deliver the best possible care. Intel and GE 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 we can deliver innovative products to serve this rapidly growing market.’