GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), announced today that it has acquired Living Independently Group, Inc., the provider of QuietCare®, a passive monitoring system used to assist in the care of seniors. The acquisition follows the September 2008 announcement that GE Healthcare had acquired a minority ownership stake in Living Independently Group and that the two companies had agreed to market and co-develop the QuietCare technology globally. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Living Independently Group’s product, QuietCare, is a passive activity monitoring system that uses wireless sensors to non-intrusively track the daily patterns of seniors’ activities. QuietCare alerts caregivers to behavioral changes that may signal potential health issues or emergency situations, allowing earlier intervention. QuietCare is used in many leading assisted living facilities and senior communities across the United States. GE Healthcare is a world-class provider of advanced technologies for patient monitoring and the diagnosis of disease. The strategic fit between the two businesses, combined with expanded capabilities in product development and marketing, will offer significant long-term customer benefits. In September 2009, QuietCare was independently accredited as a “Healthymagination product”, under GE’s Healthymagination initiative to increase access, reduce cost and increase quality in healthcare delivery.