GE Joins Stampede of Multi-National Corporations Entering Home Telehealth Market

Over the last five years, the technology sector developing and marketing remote patient monitoring systems has changed dramatically. Once dominated by entrepreneurs and startups, today nearly every name is a globally recognized one. Another landmark step in that direction was announced this week when General Electric's U.K.-based healthcare division (NYSE:GE) signed a technology and distribution agreement with Living Independently Group, Inc.

New York-based Living Independently Group, Inc. (LIG) created QuietCare systems, which use wireless sensors to track daily activities of the elderly in their homes or group living houses. The system sends alerts to caregivers when unusual behaviors arise or normal behavioral patterns are disrupted, possibly signaling a medical emergency or significant health change.

With this partnership, GE joins Bayer, Honeywell, Intel, Panasonic and Philips in a remote patient monitoring and home telehealth marketplace originally built by small, regional startups such as American TeleCare, Inc., Cardiocom, HomMed, ViTel Net and WebVMC. Two of those have already been absorbed into the empires of a member of the first group.

Honeywell acquired HomMed in December 2004 assigning it to its Life Safety business unit within Honeywell Automation and Control Solutions. There it joined Honeywell Fire Systems, Honeywell Fire Sensors and Devices and Honeywell Life Care, all offering passive home monitoring systems.

WebVMC was acquired by Intel in early 2008. The chip maker quickly announced plans to produce more of the Atlanta-based startup's Remote Nurse home monitors to meet customer needs until its own Intel Health Guide, which won FDA approval on June 27, is ready to be released in early 2009. Those plans changed in August when Intel discovered a flaw in the WebVMC device's design and ceased production. HCAR has learned that three former WebVMC executives, kept on by Intel to complete software design for the Remote Nurse, were abruptly fired on September 9.

German marketing powerhouse Bayer took over marketing of the struggling Panasonic home telehealth monitor system in 2003, creating a new company in the process. Viterion TeleHealthcare LLC, a Bayer - Panasonic Company, was established in January of that year as a joint venture between Bayer HealthCare LLC's Diagnostics Division and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Based in Tarrytown, New York.

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands, through its U.S. Philips Healthcare business unit, had owned a line of home telehealth products for seven years but was not a major player in the home health care market until rejuvenating its home telehealth division's marketing efforts and completing a series of acquisitions.

Significant investments in advertising, trade show presence and new, experienced marketing and sales personnel over the last two years have accompanied acquisitions of companies offering products such as PERS, home defibrillators, pacemaker monitors, home respiratory systems and sleep therapy. Though privately held and tight-lipped about future plans, future

Back to GE
A September 24 GE press release explained that LIG's QuietCare products are currently used in assisted living and senior communities as well as in some private homes – areas that GE hopes to grow with increased distribution.

"We see enormous potential in senior health care monitoring," said Omar Ishrak, president of GE Healthcare's Clinical Systems unit. "Demographic changes such as the growing aging population present enormous health care challenges in the care of seniors and the management of chronic disease."

According to Ishrak, the market for home monitors is $500 million today but has the potential to expand into a $5 billion global market in the next 10 years, as patients are expected to opt for home care over treatment administered at hospitals and as home care technology becomes more advanced.

The new agreement also includes technology collaboration between GE Healthcare and Living Independently Group to further developments in remote patient monitoring and diagnostics. Eventually, GE hopes to be able to track vital signs and critical medical conditions through discreet patient sensors, Ishrak added. Today's technology is limited to sensors the patient directly handles but there have been hints that future technology advances will enable vital signs to be measured more passively.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but GE Healthcare said it will take a minority ownership stake in Living Independently Group. GE Healthcare is a $17.0 billion division of Fairfield, Connecticut-based General Electric, a diversified conglomerate with significant presence in home products and weapons manufacturing. The parent company is component of the Dow Jones industrial average.