A decade ago, I was engaged by a consumer health company to lead a scenario planning exercise on the future of the health consumer. We developed four scenarios, one of which was called something like “MicrosoftMerckGEGenMills.”

In that futureworld, several Big Organizations would come together to serve consumers in caring for themselves outside of traditional care settings, like hospitals, doctors’ offices, and nursing homes.

The beauty of scenario planning when done well is that, if you’ve done it for a long time, you sometimes get one right.

Witness the New Deal between GE and Intel, partnering up to develop solutions that help people age well at home. They’ll develop health products and services targeted to seniors’ health, delivered in the home — not the nursing home. but the New Medical Home — the consumer’s home.

For more on this deal, see the companies’ joint press release at:

http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20100802corp_sm.htm

Health Populi’s Hot Points: Call it telehealth, remote care, mhealth or mobile health, self-care, connected health — it’s the emergence of the New Medical Home, and it’s going to be what helps bend that nasty ever-increasing health care cost curve.

“Bringing health care to the home is one of the fundamental pillars of lowering health care costs around the world,” the chief of GE health said. I think he’s absolutely right. And, of course, quality of life and self-empowerment will replace disempowering institutional care.