Portland Business Journal -- Intel Corp. thinks the future of health care lies at home, and its first-ever medical device bets big on that vision.The Santa Clara, Calif.-based technology giant is making its foray into the medical market with the Sept. 1 launch of a high-tech care management system that allows doctors to monitor chronic disease patients at home.
The launch, which follows two years of development, will likely be the first of many medical devices introduced by Intel in the coming years. That’s good news for Intel’s sizable Oregon operation because the lion’s share of the development work for Intel’s medical products is done at the company’s Beaverton location.
“It’s a big area of focus and a growth opportunity for Intel,” Mariah Scott, director of sales and marketing for Intel’s Digital Health Group, said of Intel’s three-year-old health division.
Intel is the state’s largest private employer with about 15,000 workers in Oregon. Company officials declined to say how many work for its medical division, one of four Intel business divisions.
The new device, dubbed the Intel Health Guide, is a touch-screen computer with a 10.5 inch screen that includes video conferencing capabilities and a multimedia health education library for patients. The device may initiate scheduled “check-ups” with patients several times a day, asking health-related questions and collecting vital signs, which are sent digitally to medical providers.
Several compatible medical-monitoring devices measuring weight, blood pressure and blood-oxygen levels may accompany the device, depending on patient needs.
The potential U.S market for the product is huge. Dallas-based consultancy and market research firm Park Associates estimates the U.S. market for home monitoring products will reach $2.5 billion by 2012. Nearly 1 billion people worldwide suffer from a chronic disease. Care for chronic disease patients consumes up to 80 cents of every health care dollar in the nation.
Intel’s first-generation health guide is designed for doctors who manage patients with congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The company declined to disclose how much it invested to develop the technology or how much it will cost. It’s possible that health insurance will not cover it.
An Intel sales team will target health systems, disease management companies and hospitals. Integrated health care systems, such as Kaiser Permanente which operates hospitals and an insurance company plus employs physicians, may be an especially receptive market, Intel officials said, because they have a strong financial incentive to keep patients healthy and out of the hospital. The company will also make an early push into the United Kingdom and Western Europe.
Intel may eventually chase the consumer market, but not in the short-run.
“Health care has traditionally been slow to adopt new technologies. We need to be patient, build a base and focus on growing that base,” Scott said.
Industry experts say that may be a mistake.
Vince Kuraitis, a medical device and care management consultant who worked with Intel in the early stages of its digital health initiative, said Intel would be wise to leverage its brand in the consumer space. He predicts the company will face challenges getting insurance to reimburse providers for use of the health guide, and argues the product would be popular if sold directly to family caregivers.
“This is not a new market,” said Kuraitis, principal of Better Health Technologies LLC of Boise, Idaho. “Where Intel will succeed or fail with this is in taking it and making it a commercial product — an extension of a PC or TV set that you’d buy at Best Buy in the price range of most consumer technologies.”
Competitors include Honeywell’s HomMed products, Health Hero’s Health Buddy and Philips Healthcare.
Use of medical devices in patients’ homes is gaining momentum, as the population ages and the shortage of medical professionals intensifies. A growing body of research suggests that remote monitoring is an effective way to keep chronic disease patients healthier, although industry experts say more research is needed for conclusive proof.
Experts in home-monitoring technology say Intel may face an uphill battle getting insurance companies and government agencies to pay for the device. Its regular stream of data to nurses or doctors is also not a natural fit with the existing work flow of many medical businesses.
Although Intel officials argue the opposite, industry experts say the product could also exacerbate the social isolation that contributes to poor outcomes among many elderly patients.
“Connectedness is what keeps people alive,” said John Skardon, president of Salmon Creek Consulting in Vancouver, a consultancy focused on bringing new technologies to market. “Intel is going to be fighting against a perception that they are tethering someone who is already confined to their home to this device.”
