GE's new "healthymagination" project aims to cut healthcare costs, and among all the numbers - including the company's $6 billion investment pledge - the number 15 seems to hold the key.
GE Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt announced at a news conference in the nation's capital that GE would put $3 billion over six years into research and development to launch at least 100 innovations aimed at providing better healthcare while cutting costs.
Immelt said the innovations will:
- Reduce by 15 percent the cost of procedures and processes with GE technologies and services.
- Increase by 15 percent access to services and technologies essential for health, reaching 100 million more people every year.
- Improve quality and efficiency by 15 percent for customers through simplifying and refining healthcare procedures and standards of care.
Immelt said the company would also commit $2 billion in financing and $1 billion in related GE technology and content to drive healthcare information technology in rural and underserved areas. This includes a new TV program on MSNBC, low-cost X-ray machines, an advisory board that includes two former Senate Majority leaders (Tom Daschle and Bill Frist) and partnerships with leading healthcare systems Intermountain Health and the Mayo Clinic.
"We will invest in innovations that measurably improve cost, access and quality," Immelt said. "That means lower-cost technology for more customers, products matched to specific local needs and process expertise to help customers win. This reflects the new opportunities we see in healthcare. Our newest innovations - low-cost digital x-ray machines, portable ultrasounds, more affordable cardiac equipment - will save costs for doctors, hospitals, the government, families and businesses. This will help level the playing field in healthcare."
"With our technology, rural and urban areas and developing countries can have access to the best technology, affordably," Immelt added.
Healthymagination will draw on capabilities from GE Healthcare, GE Capital, GE Water, NBC Universal and the GE Global Research Center as well as the GE Foundation, the philanthropic arm of GE.
"This is the right time to reposition our healthcare business, given the changes and challenges in the industry," said GE Healthcare President and CEO John Dineen. "Our customers are looking for productivity and solutions. We will focus on the products, the process excellence and the partnerships that broaden access
to healthcare and reduce its cost."
GE officials also pledged to make health IT faster and more productive by increasing the use and capability of electronic medical record technology and other information technology that speed communications, limit variation and control costs.
Officials announced two new initiatives:
- GE, Intermountain Healthcare and the Mayo Clinic have developed physician decision support through IT in the form of evidence-based care and will launch it commercially in 2010.
- GE Capital will provide $2 billion in financing to help health providers in rural and underserved areas access innovations that improve health and reduce the cost of care. GE will focus financing to assist in the adoption of EMRs and health information exchanges (HIEs). GE's financing will help healthcare systems adopt EMRs and HIEs before 2011 in time to qualify for federal financial incentives.
"Healthymagination is our business strategy that seeks to help people live healthier lives, support customer success and help GE grow," Immelt said. "We will invest in innovations that measurably improve cost, access and quality. That means lower-cost technology for more customers, products matched to specific local needs and process expertise to help customers win."