Lenovo unveils its take on remote chronic disease monitoring

Scheduled to launch in Q3, the offering combines Lenovo devices, connected biometric biomonitoring tools and an AI-based virtual assistant.
By Dave Muoio
01:11 pm
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Computer hardware and technology company Lenovo today signaled its growing interest in digital health – or more specifically, in device-driven remote health monitoring.

In partnership with Tampa, Florida-based health software maker Vianova Health the Chinese company announced its Lenovo Virtual Care offering. Marketed to provider organizations, the multipart product is composed of Lenovo's devices, connected biometric-monitoring tools and an artificial intelligence-based virtual assistant.

Once prescribed and preconfigured, the take-home kit is designed to allow patients to begin following their personal care plans with minimal hassle, the company said in its announcement. Rosie, its built-in digital assistant, guides patients on how to use and transmit the data from their blood pressure cuffs, glucose monitors and other monitoring devices. Provider teams can review these live data to modify care regimens or more quickly deliver needed interventions.

The company says that Lenovo Virtual Care is appropriate for use in monitoring chronic conditions such as diabetes, COPD, congestive heart failure and hypertension. It is scheduled for U.S. launch in the third quarter.

WHY IT MATTERS

Between COVID-19 and the "hospital at home" movement that was picking up steam in the years prior, it should be little surprise that another major tech industry player is using its resources to transition care outside of the hospital.

To get there, it's leaning on a health software maker with a respectable resumé of partnerships and integrations (Vianova's website lists prior deals with Microsoft, AT&T, J&J, DrChrono, and Health Gorilla, to name a few). And according to the companies, Vianova's virtual-care technology has previously helped "one large healthcare institution" cut patient readmission by 18%.

“As the healthcare industry continues to explore new ways to deliver more cost-efficient and high-quality care outside of hospitals and doctors’ offices, we’re launching Lenovo Virtual Care to assist physicians and their teams in providing more personalized care to their patients,” Ed Gillispie, VP of North America public sector and healthcare for Lenovo, said in a statement. “With this new solution, Lenovo is empowering doctors to proactively manage chronic conditions, improve patient quality of life and reduce healthcare costs.”

THE LARGER TREND

Lenovo expects its remote-care product to work hand-in-hand with another recent digital health offering the company announced about a month and a half ago. Called Virtual Rounding, the service pairs a Lenovo tablet designed for use with Microsoft Teams to facilitate virtual video consultations between patients and providers. Further, the company offers a tools that support remote radiology and medical imaging readings.

But today's announcement isn't the first time that Lenovo has tackled virtual health assistants in the home. Back in early 2017 the company worked with healthcare voice tech startup Orbita on a voice-controlled speaker that provided guidance on chronic and post-acute care.

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