Why wouldn’t available Technology be used for good?

I was inspired when reading this article http://www.itweb7.com/health/healthmonitoring-technology-helps-seniors-living-home/#comment-206084  Health-Monitoring Technology Helps Seniors Living at Home

The author discusses what seems like the obvious, technology actually does help seniors to remain independent at home. But, we need more articles like this showing that technologies have always improved our lives (as a whole) and why wouldn’t that be applicable to seniors too?
***Note that  technology can be abused (like anything else in the world), and should be used responsibly.
Since the beginning of times, enabling technologies have always entered, making our lives easier, better, faster and allowing us to become more connected (distance becomes less of a barrier). Can you believe that people weren’t really even actively using the Internet about 15 years ago? Now look at us today!! How fast the world changed!!! Disruptive demographics have always been followed up with enabling technologies. In the late 1800s, New York City had a problem of too much manure, and dead horses piling up city blocks. A blue ribbon commission was called in to “fix” this disruptive demographic. Their solution was that there is NO solution! In a few years time, they predicted that NY City would be many feet high in manure. Well, as we all know, that did not happen. A professor (Daimler) was in Germany coming up with the Internal Combustion Engine. This enabling technology came in as a solution! Today we are facing another disruptive demographic, the massive aging boom. Technology ABSOLUTELY will play a vital role as an enabling solution. But much like a car, the technology will do very LITTLE good without people (cue the drivers) analyzing and assessing the ADLs and tele-wellness as well as using the tech to connect to their elders and to promote long distance, virtual socialization. At GrandCare, we write the software and use computer hardware, but we say the smartest part of our system is the ‘Wetware’ and that is the person sitting in front of their PC, taking a look at the vitals, looking at the graphs, setting up the alert rules and sending the communications (TRUST THE WETWARE).

GrandCare Systems combines Home Automation, Activity of Daily Living Monitoring, Telehealth Assessment, Social Networking, Video Conferencing and Internet Communications into ONE comprehensive and simple to use system!!!!

www.grandcare.com / info@grandcare.com


GrandCare Team Member Awarded the FLAME Award for Innovation & Leadership at What’s Next Boomer Summit

What’s Next Boomer Business Summit is an annual event that brings together the country’s top businesses and organizations that are thought leaders in the baby boomer marketplace. It is where deals get done.


No other conference brings together a dedicated group of professionals focused on the boomer and senior populations. Together this group of thought leaders from the non-profit sector, senior advocacy organizations, Fortune 100 companies to entrepreneurial start-ups will share their knowledge and passion for this important customer demographic.

This year, the number of attendees surpassed 350, the most ever for this event.

The What’s Next 2011 Boomer Business Innovation Awards were presented during the awards ceremony and reception on April 28. Laura Mitchell, GrandCare’s VP of Marketing, received a flame award for Excellence in Leadership and Innovation, presented by Michael Carroll, VP, Portfolio Marketing, United Healthcare.

The next Mary Furlong event is June 15th, 2011 in Santa Clara, CA.  GrandCare will be in attendance and speaking on a panel session.  For more information: http://www.scuboomerventure.com/

Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit

What’s Next Boomer Business Summit
The eighth annual What’s Next Boomer Business Summit takes place at the Parc 55 Wyndham on April 29, 2011 in San Francisco. It is produced by Mary Furlong & Associates. It is affiliated with the American Society on Aging (ASA) Aging in America Conference, which is held April 26-30, 2011 in San Francisco. The theme for 2011 is Dynamics, Deals, Differentiation and Disruption. The focus of the annual event is to foster a cutting-edge community to explore and share products and services that will serve the needs and wants of the 50+ market. Registration and program information is available at http://www.boomersummit.com. Facebook page ishttp://www.facebook.com/2011-Whats-Next-Boomer-Business-Summit. Twitter username is WhatsNextBoomer. Twitter hashtag is #WNBBS2011. The 2012 What’s Next Boomer Business Summit will take place in Washington, D.C.

Mary Furlong & Associates
Founded in 2003, Mary Furlong & Associates (MFA) works with companies seeking to capitalize on new business and investment opportunities in the baby boomer market. MFA provides business development, financing strategy and integrated marketing solutions to entrepreneurs, corporations and non-profit organizations serving the 50+ market. Mary Furlong, Ed.D., the firm’s founder and CEO, has guided the offline and online 40+ market strategies of leading corporations and non-profit organizations for more than 20 years. Furlong is Dean’s Executive Professor of Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business, and founder of SeniorNet and ThirdAge Media. Her book, Turning Silver into Gold: How to Profit in the New Boomer Marketplace (FT Press), was published in February 2007. Website: http://www.maryfurlong.com.

Full Press Release: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/4/prweb8351641.htm

GrandCare Discussed on Senior Care Corner Online Radio!

Note from GrandCare: Thanks Barry & Cathy and for including GrandCare Systems in your radio program! This is a great idea and I enjoyed listening to your thoughts!  GrandCare is customizable and fully expandable. We go from a more economic and basic model, to fully-featured, luxury models. Pricing starts low and increases (depending on the model chosen: interactive vs. non-interactive and the sensors deployed).  GrandCare is a complete communication, cognition and monitoring technology – designed to keep individuals safe, healthy, happy and independent at home. Using a series of wireless activity (door, temp, motion, bed, etc.) and telewellness (bp, weight, pulseox, glucose) sensors, a care-partner can automatically be notified if anything is amiss. Family can can connect by two way video chat AND send pictures, messages, emails, videos and other communications to an easy-to-use touch monitor in the loved one’s home. Loved ones need ZERO technical experience to fully enjoy the GrandCare System!  THANKS AGAIN and I am spreading the word on your radio program :)

<a href = “http://seniorcarecorner.com/scc-4-senior-home-technology-1#comment-541“>SCC #4: Senior Home Technology 1 </a>

senior digital home

In this episode we discuss technology that can help improve the lives of seniors in their homes and the peace of mind of seniors’ families.  We highlight some companies targeting the needs of seniors and point out where the consumer electronics industry misses opportunities with the senior marketplace.

Home technology is making a difference in the lives of most people and seniors are no different.  Technology can not only improve the life of seniors but enable them to safely and comfortably live in their homes long than before, even if they are living alone.  Senior Care Corner is following technology for seniors closely and this is our first podcast report.

The largest showcase for home technologies is the annual Consumer Electronics Show from the Consumer Electronics Association.  Our visit to the most recent showed the industry has a ways to go in targeting the needs of seniors with their products.  At the same time, there are a number of companies with technology products targeted to specific needs of seniors and their families… To read more: http://seniorcarecorner.com/scc-4-senior-home-technology-1#comment-541

They discuss GrandCare Systems, a few other in-home health technologies (Presto, Sonamba, Telikin) and the Connected Living for Social Aging: Designing Technology for All (an AARP report)

GrandCare’s VP Marketing, Laura Mitchell, Selected to speak on “Go To Market Strategies” at Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit June 15th

For the Eighth consecutive year, Mary Furlong & Associates, in collaboration with Santa Clara University, Leavey School of Business , will produce a premier event for individuals and organizations in business to serve the 50+ market. At the 2011 Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit and Business Plan Competition entrepreneurs, the venture community and business leaders in the field of those who meet the needs and wants of the 50+ population, will come together to discuss business ideas uniquely focused on the 50+ market.  The Summit will identify the most talented and innovative and emergent entrepreneurs in the industry who will showcase products and discuss trends and services that will be industry leading and influence the return on marketing investments of the future.

This Conference will provide a forum for:

  • New directions in Designing Technology for ALL
  • The latest strategy from venture capitalists investing in design and technology for all
  • Distribution models for reaching and serving the boomer, senior and caregiving marketplace
  • Private / public partnerships strategies that have worked in launching brands and building revenue in the non profit sector
  • Go to market strategies for entrepreneurs
  • Networking with key players investing in the 50-plus and social media markets
Watch Steve Jurvetson, managing director of early-stage venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, explain why he attends the Boomer Venture Summit:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZnkTizspI2k]

SV Boomer SPEAKERS

Lori Bitter - President, Continuum Crew
R. Scott Collins - President and CEO, Linkage
Andy Donner - Director, Physic Ventures
Hartmut Esslinger - Founder, Frog Design
Joanne Handy - CEO, Aging Services of California
Jody Holtzman - Senior Vice President, Thought Leadership, AARP
Kurt Hulander - Platform Leader, Health Solutions, Best Buy
Bill Johnston - Director of Global Community, Dell
Stephen Johnston - Founder & CEO, Fordcastle LLC
Nancy Kamei - Sector Director, Intel Capital
Jeff Makowka - Senior Strategic Advisor, Thought Leadership, AARP
Laura Mitchell - VP Marketing, GrandCare Systems
Alexandra Morehouse - Former Chief Marketing Officer, AAA
Peter Radsliff - CEO, Presto Services
Peter Ziebelman - Partner, Palo Alto Venture Partners

Laura Mitchell will be speaking on: Optimal Go to Market Strategies  

 With the aging of baby boomers and beyond, companies are going direct to consumers to sell products in healthcare. Learn what the aging of the baby boomers and beyond companies are using new and innovative strategies as they go to market. Learn about group purchasing as a distribution channel and discover how large health care organizations are forming partnerships as they go to market. . Discover how mobile, online, and print are used to reach customers. Discover what other service based businesses also serve the baby boomer and senior market. Entering and succeeding is not easy: our hand-picked industry leaders and experts will share their go-to-market wisdom and advice.

8:00 – 8:45 am

Lucas Hall, Classroom 3, Santa Clara University

See the entire June 15th Conference Agenda <a href = “http://www.scuboomerventure.com/agenda.html“> here </a>

 

To Solve Our Health-Care Crisis, Home Treatment Needs A Makeover by Dave Cronin

Laura Mitchell

I was so pleased to come across this article. It is RIGHT ON target with what needs to happen. We need to focus on day-to-day care AT HOME.  Benjamin Franklin once said “An Ounce of Prevention is worth a Pound of Cure”. I sure wish we took this more to heart in this country, but I do believe we are on the track to doing just that…  The prevention should be taking place at home. The cure should be taking place in the hospital.  We should reserve hospitals and ER visits JUST for that. Imagine the costs that would come down to simply REDUCE ER visits. We need to manage our own chronic conditions, we need to monitor our own wellness, take care of ourselves and “Age Responsibly”, a mantra that GrandCare Systems likes to use.At GrandCare, we provide a technology system (as you described above) that is designed for use in the private home (we also have facility models available), but the system was originally designed with the private home in mind. The system is placed in a kitchen/living area (interactive touchscreen with the computer inside). The system communicates with various Activity of daily living sensors (motion, temp, pills, door, bed, caller-id, lighting, etc.).  Tele-health sensors can also report information to the system (blood pressure, weight, pulse, glucose).  Authorized Family Caregivers can remotely access this information by logging in to the GrandCare online dashboard. They can set up alert parameters (if meds are not accessed, fridge not open during mealtime, door opens during the night, etc.)  They can monitor vitals online and ensure that a loved one is safe and healthy.  Meanwhile, there is a socialization/cognition side of the system. Remote caregivers can SKYPE with the Loved one, send pictures (connects with Facebook photo albums), messages, reminders, calendar appts, streaming music, videos, exercise tips, etc.  The loved one can also play games like solitaire, trivia and just HAVE fun!The system is designed to be another AT HOME appliance to keep the Loved One connected to family and to WANT to stay independent, responsible and healthy!Thanks so much for posting this article! Very inspiring and I am going to repost it all around 🙂
Laura MitchellGrandCare Systems
www.grandcare.com

Original Comment

To Solve Our Health-Care Crisis, Home Treatment Needs A Makeover

Written by: Dave Cronin

Instead of resembling outmoded PCs, home-health-care technology should look and feel like the other devices that surround us.

Chronic disease is society’s biggest health-care challenge. Even if we do a good job preventing disease by helping people live healthier lives, it’s inevitable that for at least the foreseeable future, conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and depression will be our society’s most substantial health-related issues. The term “chronic” is used to describe conditions that are long lasting, so it shouldn’t come as any surprise that they are incredibly expensive, both financially and in terms of quality of life. (See the chronic diseases in America and Department of Health & Human Services for some striking statistics.)We must design home-care tech that integrates into people’s lives.

A big change to the way we help people live with these conditions could go a long way toward improving the effectiveness of our health-care system, reducing costs and improving access for everyone. And fortunately, not only is this a public-health opportunity but a huge opening to make a difference in people’s lives — to get their attentions before disease gets out of control, which is when things get both unpleasant and costly. For many, the diagnosis of a chronic condition is scary, but it also brings their health into focus for the first time in their lives. In this moment, people may be receptive to dramatic interventions and be motivated to focus on their health.

Chronic-disease care happens where people live their lives. Patients with diseases like heart disease or diabetes typically visit a hospital or doctor’s office relatively infrequently (usually between once a month and once a year). The real care related to these conditions actually happens every day in people’s homes and workplaces, and is often delivered by “patients” themselves and their loved ones. We have to challenge ourselves to design home-care technology to better integrate into people’s lives.

Nurses, doctors, and other professionals are hugely important to any real improvements to chronic care, but they aren’t always around. Technology can help fill the gaps, possibly in a way that may even help an individual feel more like an empowered person, less like a helpless patient. There’s growing momentum around the idea that the consumer electronics of the future must not only entertain us when we’re on the couch but also help us get off the couch, and not only keep us connected with each other but also with ourselves and our bodies.

There’s a world of opportunity for the connected home to better support people who are managing chronic disease. While there’s a lot of diversity in the conditions that fall under the heading of “chronic,” from cancer to depression, and there are clearly no one-size-fits-all solutions, there are some common things a home-care ecosystem should provide.

Strategies for managing chronic disease

Managing a chronic disease almost always requires substantial changes in a person’s behavior; they often must replace habits that led to the disease (like eating lots of sugar or smoking) with new habits (like eating veggies or exercising) and almost always must establish new routines around their care regimen (like weighing themselves, testing blood-sugar levels and giving themselves a shot). The same enablers of behavior change for prevention I discussed in my last post apply here: health and behavior data tracking, assessments and feedback from the data, goal-setting and progress tracking, gentle nudges, and the involvement of social networks.

But there are some new considerations here. Because it’s necessary for interventions to be higher impact and have more immediate results, these enablers should present a different face than for a well person who’s trying to lose a couple of pounds and get their blood pressure down a bit. And there are new needs — while all people would be well-served by better ways to communicate and collaborate with their doctors and nurses, a person with several serious conditions may be coordinating the efforts of a pretty large care team, which right now requires countless hours of phone calls, faxing, photocopying, and (for lack of a better term) project management.

The activated patient

The Wegner Chronic Care Model is a good starting place for talking about how to improve chronic care. Much of current medical thinking on chronic-disease management is framed by the ideas developed by Dr. Ed Wegner and others at the MacColl Institute for Healthcare Innovation. This model talks about how patients, practice teams, communities, and health systems can come together to improve things like care coordination, adherence to best practices, and patient education and empowerment. (Here’s a goodvideo of the Wegner explaining the model and the thinking behind it.)

How do we motivate people to take charge of their own health?

But implementation of the Wegner Model has largely been very institution-oriented. While the application of this model has already shown some very positive results, unsurprisingly much of the work that has been done has come from the institutional side — changes to clinical workflow and the way clinicians interact with patients. This is great and very welcome, but when we talk about creating “informed, activated patients,” I believe there are some underutilized ways technology can help patients activate themselves and one another.

This brings me to the big question: How do we motivate and enable people to take responsibility for their own health and health care? It’s really common for us to be very good at caring for our friends and families, not to mention our homes, cars, and jobs, but we don’t always take the same level of care with our own minds and bodies. The trend in consumer electronics toward more personal experiences on tablets, smartphones, and even television is a perfect wave to catch with the idea of self-care.

I really like the ideas put forth by the Washington Health Foundation around “people-centered health.” Among other things, they take a bit of a rebellious stance and promote the radical idea that people must be empowered to be “partners in their health,” and that the current medical system (and a lot of supposedly “patient-centered design”) discourages individuals from solving their own problems by treating them as “patients.” They propose a number of very interesting design principles that are meant to help create services that actually put people in control of their own health care.

I’d like to add something to those tenets: “Good person-centered health design creates an emotional tone that is conducive to self-care.” What I mean by that is in order to effectively reduce the impact of chronic disease, we have to encourage people to establish sustainable, healthy ways of life for themselves, rather than being “treated” by nurses and doctors. Emotional tone is key because this is how exercise and healthy food become sources of joy, rather than unpleasant chores, and a treatment regimen becomes the enabler of good living, rather than yet another indignity. To create this tone, we must bring the same level of design craft and attention to home-health-care experiences as we do to the best housewares and consumer electronics.

Read more

GrandCare Presents HIPAA Compliance Training, Sept 7th Indianapolis

CEDIA HIPAA Training Seminar:
When: Wednesday Sept 7, 2011  8am – 5p
Where: Indianapolis – Hotel to be announced
GrandCare Presents: 8 HOURS OF HIPAA Compliance Training
OPEN TO THE AGING/TECH INDUSTRY
Cost: $995 (includes 8 hours of training, training packet, refreshments, lunch and 2 drink tickets)
Discounts available to GrandCare Dealers& AgeTek Members
Refreshments & Lunch included in this day long session.

– WHAT is HIPAA?

– WHO needs to become HIPAA Compliant?

– WHY Become HIPAA Compliant?

– WHAT it takes to become HIPAA Compliant?

Led by GrandCare’s HIPAA Compliance Officer, Kristin Bayer.

Coffee Hour/Networking 8 – 9am

9a – 5p Training

530p – 8p GrandCare Mixer

Attendees receive 2 drink coupons for the GC Mixer (immediately following)

SIGN-UP BEFORE July 4th 2011 and receive a 20% discount

Limited Seating! Contact 262-338-6147 or info@grandcare.com

If you don’t get HIPAA compliance training through us, PLEASE get HIPAA training somewhere!!! 🙂

GrandCare’s VP of Marketing, Laura Mitchell, selected as Venture Boomer Summit Business Plan JUDGE

http://www.scuboomerventure.com/competitions/judges.html

Business Plan Competition!!!!!

PRIZES

Best Business Plan
$10,000

Best App
$1,000

Finalists will present their business plans to a panel of industry experts at the Summit on June 15, 2011 and the winners will be announced at the end of the day.

JUDGES

Leaders in the field of aging, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and industry analysts will provide valuable feedback on the entrepreneurs’ boomer business plans and apps. Check back soon for the list of judges participating in the 2011 event.

Finalist Judges

Andy Cohen – CEO and Co-founder, Caring.com
Andy Donner – Director, Physic Ventures
Jody Holtzman – Senior Vice President, Thought Leadership, AARP
Kurt Hulander – Platform Leader, Health Solutions, Best Buy
Nancy Kamei – Sector Director, Intel Capital
Xander Mahony – Analyst, Draper Fisher Jurvetson
Jeff Shoemate – Vice President of Innovation and Business Development, United Healthcare

First and Second Round Judges

Susan Ayers Walker – Managing Director, SmartSilvers Alliance
Laura Mitchell – Vice President, Marketing, GrandCare Systems
Michael Sarfatti – Managing Director, SmartSilvers Alliance

Report: Patient monitoring worth $9.3 billion in 2014

And more reports that we are headed in the right direction!!!  Remote Monitoring is minimizing hospital stays, saving money!!!

By: Brian Dolan | May 18, 2011 8:22pm EST

Tags:  |  |  |  | |  |  |

AirstripRPM

According to a new report from TechNavio, the global patient monitoring system market will swell to $9.3 billion in 2014. TechNavio’s analysis focuses on the US, EMEA and APAC and concludes that remote patient monitoring is driving growth in the wider patient monitoring market. The price of these systems is cost prohibitive, however, the report found.

“Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) is greatly minimizing hospital stays, resulting in a reduction of the cost of healthcare delivery. Thus, RPM helps healthcare centers reduce costs and increase business opportunities for healthcare service providers while integrating systems and providing necessary operational facilities. As a result, the Patient Monitoring Systems market stands to gain,” TechNavio states in a press release.

Earlier this year Kalorama Information predicted that the market for remote and wireless patient monitoring will grow about 26 percent annually through 2014. Kalorama said the market for these systems will grow by over $6 billion this year alone, which seems to put it at odds with TechNavio’s $9.3 billion by 2014 figure.

The disagreement doesn’t end there, of course. Plenty of opinions on market size:

Late last year in December, we reported on Berg Insight’s market size estimation for home health monitoring of what it called “welfare diseases,” which it pegged at about $10 billion in 2010. That figure included the market for chronic condition management for conditions including diabetes, cardiac arrhythmia, sleep apnea, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Perhaps this kind of figure is more important: In 2010 we reported on Juniper Research’s estimate that by the year 2014 public and private healthcare providers may save between $1.96 billion and $5.83 billion in healthcare costs thanks to remote patient monitoring over cellular networks.

For more on the TechNavio report, read the press release below:

ROCKVILLE, MD — MarketResearch.com has announced the addition of Infiniti Research Limited’s new report “Global Patient Monitoring Systems Market 2010-2014,” to their collection of Medical Devices market reports.

Patient Monitoring Systems Market Witnesses Growth in Remote Monitoring Research conducted by TechNavio reveals that the Global Patient Monitoring System market will reach $9.3 billion in 2014. The report, which focuses on United States, EMEA, and APAC, indicates that the market is currently driven by the growth in remote patient monitoring.

“Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) is greatly minimizing hospital stays, resulting in a reduction of the cost of healthcare delivery. Thus, RPM helps healthcare centers reduce costs and increase business opportunities for healthcare service providers while integrating systems and providing necessary operational facilities. As a result, the Patient Monitoring Systems market stands to gain,” report TechNavio analysts.

In spite of the demand for these systems, the high price of these systems hinders the growth of this market. However, the growth opportunities in Europe and APAC are expected to drive the market.

The Global Patient Monitoring Systems market is marked by the slow recovery of the North American market. This makes the study an important one for companies to fully understand the potential in the market and formulate their own strategy.

The report, Global Patient Monitoring System 2010-2014, is based on extensive research and inputs from industry experts, vendors, and end users. It examines the factors impacting the evolution of this market, including the key trends, drivers, and challenges. Further, it contains an in-depth understanding of the key vendors including a SWOT analysis for each vendor.

Companies mentioned in this report include: Philips Healthcare, GE Healthcare, Omron Healthcare, Drager Medical Gmbh, and Johnson and Johnson.

For more information, visit http://www.marketresearch.com/product/display.asp?ProductID=6315506

Two Brand New GrandCare Tours!

On May 11th and 16th Laura Mitchell of GrandCare systems hosted two brand new tours of GrandCare Systems both are recorded and available to view and download.

The first one is a step-by-step introduction showing us exactly what the GrandCare System is, a bit of GrandCare’s history and how it can be used to keep our loved one happy, safe and at home. She gives us an inside look at not only the touch screen, but also the caregivers side, GC Manage.

The second tour expands on the first and shows us how GrandCare can be used successfully in group living facilities as well as in private homes. Laura shows us the benefits of using GrandCare in these facilities along with some of the more advanced features which can take the system from a personalized touch screen to a fully featured and secure kiosk for multiple residents.

From the ATM like touch screen, to navigating the advanced features of the kiosk’s group set up; if you’ve been curious about GrandCare for personal use, a loved one, a possible business opportunity or even as an additional tool to use in an established group facility, now is your chance to get your sneak peak.

See these videos on Veoh

– GrandCare Systems™: Private Home Demo

– GrandCare Systems™: Multi-Resident Demo

Download/View directly from WebEx

Private Home Demo

Multi-Resident Demo

Multiple-Resident Living Facility Demonstration

GrandCare Systems Special Event!

 Monday, May 16th

3p ET/ 2p CT / 1p MT / 12p PT

 Join us http://grandcaresystems.webex.com

  • Review Group Home Options

  • Kiosk & Mobile Tablet Models

  • See a LIVE Demo of Online User Interface & Community Features

  • Participatate in an interactive Question/Answer Session

See our full E-invitation HERE