With its acquisition of WebVMC last May Intel showed that the products of relatively minnow-sized companies could tempt giant ones into the telemonitoring market. Now, another giant, GE, has acquired a minority ownership stake in Living Independently, the company that produces and promotes the QuietCare products.
The significance for QuietCare is that Living Independently will be able to use GE’s Global Research Center and its ‘advanced work in clinical parameters and monitoring algorithms to drive innovation in the field of remote patient monitoring and diagnostics’.
The significance for GE is probably that it is acquiring a market-tested system and is partnering with a company that has cut its teeth and shown staying power in what is still, despite all its potential, a difficult market. It may also feel that it has to move quickly now to catch up with the other giant, Philips.
Read the press release.