CHALFONT ST GILES, UK – GE Healthcare and Intel have expanded their sales and marketing agreement for the Intel Health Guide to include the United Kingdom.

The Intel Health Guide, which is marketed by GE Healthcare in the United States, is a care management tool designed for healthcare professionals who manage patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart failure.

GE Healthcare's capabilities in disease management and its distribution reach in the healthcare sector in the UK will help drive understanding of the benefits of this technology, GE executives said Tuesday.

The technology allows patients to monitor their health status and provides a direct communications channel to healthcare professionals.

Tuesday's announcement further expands GE Healthcare's home health business in the United Kingdom. The company currently operates a home health business in the United States, providing technologies to help seniors live independently and patients with chronic diseases manage their conditions from their home.

With 3,000 employees in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare offers technologies for patient monitoring and diagnosis of disease and has provided services to the National Health Service and the private health sector for more than 30 years.

The U.K. Department of Health estimates that up to 17.5 million adults and up to three-quarters of those over age  75 in Great Britain could be living with a chronic disease. By 2030, the department estimates that the incidence of chronic disease in those over age 65 will more than double, creating a burden for society. With the dramatic increase of people with chronic conditions and an aging population, there is a need to extend care from the hospital to the home.

GE and Intel offerings in the home health market include:

• GE QuietCare, a remote passive activity and behavioral monitoring system for the elderly that alerts caregivers to changes that may signal potential health issues or emergency situations such as a fall or emerging health problem.
• The Intel Health Guide, a comprehensive personal health system combining an in-home patient device with an online interface to allow clinicians to monitor patients in their homes and manage care remotely. The Health Guide includes vital sign collection, patient reminders and communications tools such as video conferencing and alerts.

"Both the Department of Health and the National Health Service are leading some very progressive policy development and pilot programs in this area, and we hope that our home health business and expanded agreement with Intel into the U.K. will contribute to that," said Agnes Berzsenyi, general manager of GE Healthcare's home health business. "The increasing cost and burden of chronic disease is a huge problem, but we believe new health technologies and new approaches to care will make a difference in the future. It's a perfect fit with GE's Healthymagination initiative, which aims to develop innovations that improve access, increase quality and reduce the cost of healthcare."

"We believe that shifting non-urgent care from the hospital to the home through technologies such as the Intel Health Guide is central to achieving a more personalized and cost-effective health care system," said Mariah Scott, the Intel Digital Health Group's director of sales and marketing,