GE Healthcare Will Not Spin Off Healthcare Division, Will Focus on Internal Improvements, Executive Says

GE Will Not Spin Off Healthcare Division, Will Focus On Internal Improvements, Executive Says
September 17, 2015
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, England – General Electric will not split any significant parts of its healthcare business, John Flannery, GE Healthcare’s chief Reuters reported late Wednesday.

During an investor conference, some analysts expressed concern over how the company’s healthcare arm fit in within the global company’s structure. They questioned whether or not GE Healthcare would not be better served if it was divested, Reuters said. However, Flannery told the group the company has no intention of spinning out its healthcare unit.

“Bottom line is we have been black and white that all aspects of healthcare are part of our portfolio," Flannery told Reuters.

GE Healthcare focuses on drug development as well as diagnostic and imaging equipment and healthcare IT products.

GE Healthcare has been trying to shore up its internal structure since Flannery took over as chief executive officer last year. Flannery told Reuters there were “a lot of things” the company could do to make business stronger. GE Healthcare has reported flat revenue and profits over the past few years, Reuters said. The healthcare division has a value of approximately $18 billion.

It’s not all been internal restructuring for the division, though. In August, GE Healthcare received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a low dose computed tomography (CT) lung cancer screening option. Additionally, Medicare has approved insurance reimbursement for its beneficiaries who are eligible for the use of low dose CT lung cancer screening in high-risk patients, the company said. GE Healthcare’s low-dose screening protocols are tailored to the CT system, patient size, and the most current recommendations from a wide range of professional medical and governmental organizations.

The company also announced it was spending more than $1 billion over the next five years for the development of its educational offerings to reach more than two million healthcare professionals worldwide. The training program is aimed at helping the workers improve healthcare from within through enhanced training programs and solutions for physicians, radiologists, technologists, midwives, nurses, biomedical engineers and beyond. Solutions will be geared to meet local needs and will include new clinical, product application, technical and leadership training and education, the company said.

In August GE Healthcare unloaded its $200 billion financial business known as GE Capital for about $9 billion to Capital One. GE’s healthcare finance unit provided direct loans to healthcare product and services companies as well as real estate loans to operators of assisted living facilities, nursing homes and medical practices, Reuters said.

GE Healthcare is the first GE division to be headquartered outside of the United States.

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