Beat Best Buy in Home Health Technology

You’ve heard this before, but demand for home health technology appears poised to go mainstream.

Bill Gates has agreed to give a keynote address at the 2010 mHealth Summit on Nov. 9 in Washington, D.C.

Gate’s keynote will focus on mobile technologies to improve health outcomes in the developing world. The summit is organized by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health in partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the mHealth Alliance.

Meanwhile, CEA says it will launch a health and fitness Tech Zone at 2011 CES in Las Vegas. While it’s not clear what types of home health technology will be displayed, CEA senior communications coordinator Steve Kidera says it's safe to assume there will be some “tele-health” technologies shown, adding that home health products are starting to show up in Best Buy.

The health and fitness section at 2011 CES will be joined by other Tech Zones, including the return of Apple-focused iLounge, a zone dedicated to connected home appliances, a broadband zone and a smartphone zone.

Verizon Wireless is the partnering sponsor of the mHealth Summit. Meanwhile, Verizon chief executive officer Ivan Seidenberg will give the opening keynote at 2011 CES.

CE Pro has long-argued that integrators are well-positioned to establish themselves as home health technology providers and capitalize on escalating demand among aging baby boomers. EHX has, for years, hosted a Home Health Tech Pavilion to educate CE pros on the emerging category.

The good news is that, with Bill Gates talking about home health technology and CES providing its own health tech zone, the category is sure to gain momentum. The bad news is that time may be running out for CE pros to get a head start.

CE pros ought learn all they can about home health technology before Best Buy and Geek Squad establish themselves as the category’s go-to providers.

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