Intel Corp., the biggest computer chip maker, took a big step forward into health care Monday when it started selling Health Guide, a medical monitor for patients with chronic problems.

The Intel Health Guide received FDA’s approval in July 2008. The product includes a small touch-screen PC running Windows XP and a web portal that helps connect patients and doctors. Doctors can monitor the patient’s state of health and even check and collect their vital signs and advise them to take their medicines. Patients can communicate with their team of healthcare providers via email and videoconferencing. This system allows them to ask questions and even get education and management information when needed.

The Intel Health Guide is a device intended for in-home use.
Doctors can monitor their patients’ state and only need to intervene if something is not normal. If, for example, a patient with high blood pressure continues to have elevated pressure, the device can be used as a tool to educate the patient on how best to take care. The device might offer to show that person a video about managing hypertension, said Mariah Scott, head of sales and marketing for Intel’s Digital Health Group. To provide such medical information to patients, Intel has licensed content from organizations including the Mayo Clinic and the American Heart Association. Intel is working with several partners to develop content for hypertension, asthma, heart disease, diabetes, and other conditions.

“The Health Guide is a step forward in offering more personalized and effective management of chronic health conditions in the home,” said Intel Digital Health Group vice president Louis Burns. Intel is working with care providers to test Health Guide. The company plans a series of studies focused on people with heart disease, diabetes and hypertension.

Four healthcare companies – Aetna, Scan Health Plan, Erickson Retirement Communities, and the Providence Medical Group – have begun pilot programs to test how well the system works with their patients. Intel said it has become associated with the Mayo Clinic and the American Heart Association in order to provide the application’s clinical assessments, evidence-based treatment guidelines, as well as educational multimedia content. Research and experiments involving the new device were carried in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Intel plans to sell its Intel Health Care Management Suite as a comprehensive online data-collection system for health care organizations.  

“Health care is an area where getting and gathering the right information, and getting decisions made in a timely matter can make an enormous difference in patient care,” said Mariah Scott, head of sales and marketing for Intel’s Digital Health Group.

Louis Burns said that the goal is to help medical and insurance companies save money by shifting more health care chores associated with an aging population to homes and out of hospitals. The new device will allow the elderly “to be active participants in what’s going on with their health.” The device could reduce the number of patient visits to a hospital, Louis Burns said.