Legrand purchases Tynetec, enters telecare market

Comments

1. James Barlow December 3, 2013 at 11:00 am

   We worked with Legrand on a remote care project in 2000. I suppose 13 years is about par for the course when it comes to adoption of healthcare innovation!

2. Donna Cusano December 3, 2013 at 2:26 pm

   It perhaps told Legrand that entering the field from scratch, so to speak, was not the way to go.

   What is striking is how few primarily telehealth, telecare and telemedicine companies have a significant international presence, and not including fitness monitors such as Jawbone, Misfit, Fitbit and Polar.

   Perhaps a germ of a project here is to map out what companies are where, e.g.
   **Tunstall: UK, US (via AMAC acquisition), EU (where)
   **A&D Medical
   **AMD Global Telemedicine
   **Nonin
   **Alere
   **Aerotel: Israel, Middle East, Europe, limited in US
   **Bosch Healthcare
   **Ideal Life (though I’ve yet to see them beyond Canada and US)
   **Polycom (telemedicine)
   **Withings

   Some very large companies like Cardiocom have no discernible presence ex US–but I suspect for Cardiocom that will change with their acquisition by Medtronic.

   Anyone want to add more here (or do we move this to a ‘project’)?

3. Michael Jones December 4, 2013 at 7:57 am

   I attended an EU conferenceon telecare/telehealth in the Netherlands about 6 years ago and one of the comments was that you won’t achieve the large scale economices of scale to make telecare/telehealth really affordable until the really large multi-national consumaer electonics manafactuers get involved. I attended the Active Conference in London this year and I made the same point and it was remarkable even now, just how few are actually on the ground?

   With the developments in smart phone tech/the internet (the development of the cloud) are they going to make the current market configuration obsolete in the medium term.

   Why have fixed systems tied to a home and the current telephone landline?

   Will it be more cost effective to have the telecare/telehealth systems based upon broad band connections at the home which can then be linked to smart phones using wireless/4G for when people are mobile. These broadband links can then offer the potential for clinician (GPs) consultation via video or mutual peer support as they have done in Sweden.

   This could also faciliate the development of the “Virtual Neigbourhood” with locally based carer teams potentially able to respond to when people require care rather than having to have the current system.

   With broandband becoming more widespread the cost of this will reduce over time.

   • Simon Bramwell December 6, 2013 at 11:56 am

     Response to Michael Jones. So your point really is that (as far as hardware is concerned) the “really large multi-national consumer electronics manufacturers” are or can be involved today – just not the ones that might have been expected 5 or 10 years ago. Hardware and comms platforms have become ubiquitous, and to a large degree most of the infrastructure already exists, from a different set of multi-nationals.
     What is needed is (a) software that runs on multi-purpose platforms to deliver telehealth/care through devices people already own (from the likes of Apple, Samsung, Netgear, etc), and (b) specialist measurement and sensor hardware with standardised interfaces. This specialist sensor element can either become the domain of existing consumer electronics manufacturers, or it will become the domain of new players that grow into the space. The back-office service provision is of course essential and remains a key component in achieving scale, but even this does not need to be monolithic, and can use the distributive nature of web and cloud infrastructure to provide a rich offering from multiple providers.

4. Kevin Doughty December 4, 2013 at 8:13 pm

   There can be no doubt that telecare (in its widest sense) will become so much a part of our healthcare systems that it wont be considered in any different way to other ways of keeping people safe, secure and feeling that they are cared for. The journey to the point where the Internet of Things and the Quantified Self take over from physicians in a DIY healthcare arrangement is going to be very interesting – and it certainly wont happen overnight. In fact, I don’t think that it will happen at all unless Joe Public understands the potential of technology and trusts the outcomes in the same way as they might today trust a man or woman in a white coat and with a stethoscope around their necks.
   I believe that companies such as Tynetec will play an important role in this journey. Perhaps the current product range is best suited to the home environment but newer products are enabled for mobile connection and are likely to be ip enabled soon too so that they wont go out of fashion. Worn devices may be essential to monitor health and well-being but they wont be able to detect a fall in the bathroom, or a cooker that’s been left on, or an over-flowing toilet. People will continue to have accidents in the home – so we must avoid the risk of throwing the baby out with the bath-water as we move to next generation solutions.
   The investment of big players gives companies the opportunity to innovate without the very real risk that a bad run of sales will drive them to the wall. Good luck to them all – they have all suffered as local authority and NHS belts have been tightened.

5. Hubert Morel December 10, 2013 at 11:59 pm

   Your title is a bit misleading. Legrand did already enter the market when they purchased in January 2011 Intervox, leader of the french market.
   By purchasing Tynetec they confirm their exploration of this specific market by expanding out of france.

   Regards

   Hubert

   • Donna Cusano December 11, 2013 at 12:13 am

     Good point Hubert. The article does define as Legrand UK. Wonder if they have some collaborative plans between the two?