Intel Debuts Home Health-Care PC, Signs First VAR Partner

Intel this week unveiled a home health-care offering called the Intel Health Guide, in part a touch-screen, 40-GB hard-drive PC that can read patient vital signs such as blood pressure and heart rate. The PC reports those stats to off-site health-care providers through an Internet connection using Intel's companion software, the Intel Health Care Management Suite.

Intel CEO Paul Otellini announced the device at a medical conference in New Orleans last week. Solution provider American Medical Alert, Oceanside, N.Y., was named the first North American channel partner for the Intel Health Guide, which will be marketed to health-care providers, according to Intel, and will not be available for general consumer purchase.

"The Health Guide is a step forward in offering more personalized and effective management of chronic health conditions in the home," said Louis Burns, vice president and general manager of Intel's Digital Health Group, in a statement. "Intel has spent years researching the needs of both caregivers and patients, and we are now moving to launch a series of products that will help extend care from the hospital to the home."

According to an Intel statement and Otellini's comments to The Wall Street Journal, Intel is mounting pilot studies for the program in the U.S. with health-care organizations such as Aetna, Erickson Retirement Communities, Providence Medical Group in Oregon and SCAN Health Plan. According to the Journal, the pilots will examine whether Intel's tools bring more effective results for treating home-care patients with chronic conditions.

Patients using the device will also have access to licensed content from the Mayo Clinic, the American Heart Association and other national health-care organizations.

Intel received federal approval for Health Guides from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in July.