Intel, GE tackle chronic ailments

Intel and GE will combine health IT assets to form a company that focuses on providing medical care technologies to the elderly and people with chronic illnesses, reports Bloomberg Business Week.

Healthcare faces a growing challenge as people live longer and care costs rise, says Omar Ishrak, senior vice-president of GE and president and CEO of GE Healthcare Systems. Chronic illness, already a major healthcare cost, presents additional issues, he said.

"Chronic conditions account for more than 75% of health care spending in the US," Ishrak said during a Web cast of the announcement.

Makers of some medical devices would have to supply more information before they could be considered for the US market, states Reuters.

This comes under reforms proposed by regulators that include changes to a controversial process that can speed approval. The accelerated 510(k) process has drawn fire from critics that say it is too widely used, but it is defended by industry as necessary to keep up with ever-evolving technology.

In a nearly 200-page report, the Food and Drug Administration proposed changes that include creating a subset of moderately risky devices, such as infusion pumps, that would typically need to be accompanied by more data.

Lantronix, a provider of remote management, device networking and data centre management technologies, is planning to invest in the medical device connectivity market, marking a move into healthcare technology, says TMCnet.

The company has appointed Anthony Shimkin as a new vice-president of marketing, along with other marketing and sales professionals in the US, Europe and Asia. As part of this growth initiative, the company also announced a new solutions-focused, vertically-oriented Web site and a four-part white paper series for medical device connectivity.

The white paper will focus on real world integration of medical devices and healthcare IT and networking for the new era of patient care.