Today at GE’s healthymagination technology showcase in New York City, home health technologies took center stage — such as those that can reduce hospital visits by monitoring a patient’s vital signs remotely from home. As Dr. Bob Galvin, GE’s Chief Medical Officer, said during his presentation: “The more you can move care away from the most expensive settings and into where people want to be, which is at home — and I think technology is the key to this — not only will people be happier, but you’re going to get to the kind of change the system needs.” GE Healthcare’s Maria Siambekos gives an overview of the day’s events in the video below:
GE and Intel Corporation recently announced an alliance to accelerate the innovation and commercialization of next-generation home health technologies — especially those designed for seniors and patients with chronic conditions. That patient group is not only a critical one today, but it’s expected to grow dramatically in the near future. In a video that was played during Intel Digital Health’s presentation today, Intel’s Eric Dishman described the problem this way: “There were 600 million people in the year 2000 who were age 60 and above. There will be 1.2 billion by 2025 and then over 2 billion by 2050. You can’t double and then double again and expect healthcare as usual to work. At the end of the day, this is not a technology problem. It’s not a policy problem. It’s not a standards problem. This is an imagination problem.”
Doug Busch, Chief Technology Officer at Intel Digital Health, said during his talk that not only will advances in home healthcare technologies help patients — they will help the overburdened healthcare system, too. “What we’ve found is that there’s a very interesting relationship,” Doug told the audience. “The quality of life goes up as the cost of care goes down.” Doug said that a key part of Intel’s research into new technologies centers on studying people where they live, work and play — and then finding patterns in the data. Those patterns can lead to technologies that are more personalized — and that can help patients, especially seniors, retain their independence by reducing the amount of time they need to be in clinics. But, as his colleague Eric said in the video, the challenge is: “How do you design a technology that can be personalized for the unique needs of a person with specific diseases and conditions? But, at the same time, you can’t afford as a company to invent a product for one person. You have to design something that’s going to work for millions.”
Read other stories filed from the new healthymagination technology showcase:
* “Manufacturing precision leaps from factories to the ER”
* “Patient advocacy: Improving the cancer conversation”
* “Visualizing world health with the data artists at GOOD”
* “Dr. Kalkut on feeling spleens, fearful patients & design”
* “Using tech to help make a better diagnosis the 1st time”
* “Developing Health: A clinic grows in Brooklyn”
* “Prof. Bruce Nussbaum on design, tech & emotion”
* “Pediatric design turns scary MRIs into ‘Adventures’”
* “Dr. Gaynor: Individualizing cancer therapies is the goal”
* “GE announces cancer research; $250M fund; clinic aid”
* “GE webcasts Oct. 21 healthymagination press conference”
* “Tackling access with Brivo imaging technologies”
* “A closer look at GE’s pocket-sized Vscan ultrasound”
* “Vscan pocket-sized, ultra-smart ultrasound unveiled”
* “A breakthrough decision support solution for docs”
* “The business of bringing healthymagination to market”
* “At the showcase: Health by design and window tweets”
* “Scintillating tech: The world’s 1st high-def CT scanner”
* “Healthymagination tech showcase kicks off in NYC”
Our story, “GE and Intel team-up on home health tech,” explains more about the new alliance. It also features a video about GE’s QuietCare technology for assisted living centers. QuietCare uses advanced motion sensor technology to alert caregivers about changes that may signal potential health issues or emergency situations such as a fall or an emerging health problem.
