Intel Chairman Calls Government to Adopt Technologies for Healthcare

by Anton Shilov
12/12/2005 | 05:15 PM

Intel Corp.’s chairman Craig Barrett on Monday urged <%BANNER[article]%>U.S. government leaders to seize the opportunity to apply technology to help solve the economic and social challenges faced by the country due to skyrocketing healthcare costs and a growing wave of aging citizens.

“This is a golden moment to bring government, healthcare professionals, industry and academia together to accelerate innovation and investment for this critical national issue,” Mr. Barret said speaking at the White House Conference on Aging, held only once a decade.

Currently there are 35 million senior citizens in the USA, the country already spends 16% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on healthcare. Forecasters estimate that 25% of the nation’s GDP will go toward healthcare as the number of senior citizens doubles during the next 20 to 30 years. Barrett said the country’s economy cannot keep pace with the soaring costs of caring for an aging society.

“We can make the healthcare system more cost-efficient while simultaneously improving the quality of care and life for our nation’s aging population. No company, no industry, no country can afford to ignore the economic and social impact this wave of aging people will create,” said Mr. Barrett.

Developing technologies to keep people well and moving care from the hospital to the home are central to transforming the healthcare system, according to Barrett.

“A broad range of personal health technologies designed to go into the home hold hope for seniors to ‘age in place,’ maintaining their independence and deferring costly institutional care,” he said.

He pointed to new computer-based technologies and innovations in sensors, software and wireless technologies that can allow such vital information as heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure and sleep patterns to be tracked remotely. Broadband Internet connectivity allows the data to be shared real-time between seniors and healthcare professionals, as well as amongst family members and friends who deliver the majority of care to seniors.

Intel recently established a group that develops platforms potentially suitable for medical equipment. The company now heavily promotes its approach to creating of devices used in healthcare industry.

Intel is a founding member of the Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST), a coalition of more than 400 technology companies, aging services organizations, research universities and government representatives collaborating to develop and deploy emerging technologies that can improve the aging experience in America. The CAST Technology Pavilion at the White House Conference highlighted dozens of promising technologies from more than 30 companies and universities aimed at helping seniors. Intel researchers showed prototypes of home systems to help with medication prompting, social support, disease management and exercise.