Laurie Orlov predicts GrandCare will benefit from software-based design

Laurie Orlov had a great newsletter this month with a number of aging/technology industry predictions.

She mentions GrandCare Systems as a software-based platform that she predicts will benefit from the innate architecture and structure of the GrandCare technology.

“PREDICTION – mHEALTH REVIVES MONITORING:  The stationary nature of in-home activity and telehealth monitoring will give way to a disconnect-and-go tablet world that can be docked at home and plays nicely with a cell/smart cellular model. For those walking the floors at CES, you will see tablet apps of every type flowering hither and yon – perhaps you’ll see them tether to a phone. RIM, the anti-marketer, produced an early version of this with the Playbook-BlackBerry tethering. Why not a few tablet apps for seniors (in addition to health and activity monitoring) that sync up with a phone-like device? It may be like trying to cram a large box into a flat rectangle, to start at the hardware end — look at Care Innovations Guide, for example. Why not a partnership between a fitness device vendor (like Fitbit or Philips DirectLife) and a remote monitoring vendor like BeClose or Healthsense?  And software-only products like Independa and GrandCare may well benefit from both platform flexibility and a new interest in combining activity sensors and health monitoring.”

Read the entire newsletter here

AgeTek To Hold Annual Meeting At CES

San Francisco – The Aging Technology Alliance (AgeTek), a trade group of companies that develop and/or market technology-based products designed for the senior market, will hold its annual member meeting during International CES in Las Vegas next month.

The meeting will be held at the the AgeTek Pavilion in North Hall booth 3209 on Thursday, January 12th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. CES is being held in Las Vegas January 10 to 13.

The Alliance also announced that it would open its event to non-members who wish to learn more about the benefits of joining the consortium. 

AgeTek represents companies and organizations dedicated to promoting the awareness, benefits and value of products and services for our aging society. Members’ products and services allow seniors to remain independent and age in place at home, as well as empower many seniors to enjoy a healthy, active lifestyle while securing their mobility. AgeTek is focused on bringing greater awareness to their industry, products, and to its select group of companies that are working together (and independently) to develop better-designed, less expensive and better-tested products for the senior consumer.

The AgeTek Pavilion will feature members such as Dr. M Media, GrandCare Systems *N-3209*, Presto Services, and VitalLink. Additional AgeTek members on the CES floor (North Hall) are ClearSounds (N-3106), GreatCall (N-2814), Independa (N-3235), LifeStation (N-2912) and Telikin (N-3008).

CES Attendees can enter to win a ClearSounds ClearBlue Bluetooth Mini-Speaker & TV/Audio Listening System, valued at $250, by getting an AgeTek CES Passport stamped at each of the AgeTek member booths at CES. AgeTek CES Passports are available inside the Silvers Summit program, and at the AgeTek Pavilion.

Non-members are welcome to attend both the annual meeting as well as the meet ‘n greet. Advance registration is not required, but for those interested in booking an appointment with an AgeTek board member in advance, please contact Laura Mitchell, Board Member, Aging Technology Alliance at: 262-338-6147.

New AgeTek members who register at CES will receive a 10% discount on their 2012 membership fee. To learn more about becoming a member of the Alliance, visit the AgeTek Pavilion or go to the Join page of the AgeTek website at www.agetek.org

GrandCare’s White Paper featured in recent article from homecaretechreport.com

Can Technology Reverse the Rise of Hospital Readmissions?

Barely two years ago, USA Today reported that 1 in 5 Medicare patients were readmitted to the hospital within just one month of discharge. While some readmissions are unavoidable, the article reported that, in 2004, a shocking $17.4 billion of the $102.6 billion that Medicare paid to hospitals went towards unplanned hospital readmission visits.1 Only 10% of 2009 readmissions were planned.

CBS News reported on the profits earned by extending life by a few days, an already high expense that, if uncontrolled, will rise dramatically as the U.S. population ages. According to a 2009 60 minutes report, 75% of Americans die in a hospital; in 2008, Medicare paid $50 billion for patient care during the final two months of life.2

Fierce Healthcare took it a step further. Citing medication non-adherence as the leading cause of hospital readmissions,3 the online magazine reported that noncompliance costs up to $250 – $300 billion per year in ER and readmission visits.

But medication non-adherence may not be the primary cause. It may itself be caused by an all-too-common practice, sending the patient home with a lack of resources and support for independent recovery. According to a new White Paper by Laura Mitchell of GrandCare Systems, there are six common reasons for hospital readmission and specific technologies that can counteract them.

  1. Miscommunication between doctors, staff, patients, caregivers, families at discharge.
  2. Unclear or inappropriate instructions from hospital discharge staff regarding diet, mobility, medication and general care.
  3. Lack of social interaction and support once home. (30% of the 65+ population and 40% of those with chronic disease live alone.)4
  4. Misunderstanding of “Red Flag” symptoms that signal likely return to the hospital.
  5. Limited resources, lack of transportation and no accompanying advocate.
  6. Lack of supervision at home and resulting noncompliance.

Every home care clinician knows someone like Betty
Meet Betty. In 2008, Betty was admitted to the hospital for an infection in her foot that had affected her kidneys. After 5 days in the hospital undergoing tests and treatment, she was released and given many new rules, diet changes, strength training exercises, as well as a strict medication regimen prescribed by multiple healthcare providers. Betty left the hospital confused and loaded with new responsibilities and lifestyle changes. The pressure and stress of her new routine ultimately led her back into the same hospital bed just twenty days later. This is not an unusual occurrence. In Betty’ case, it was most likely a completely preventable readmission. Betty lacked a clear sense of direction, support and encouragement. She was expected to change her entire life within days without essential resources or available technologies.

The technology solution
To mitigate the turmoil of post-hospital transition, patients and their caregivers need to be equipped with education and resources to make good decisions. Forward-thinking business leaders, care providers, technology innovators, and other change agents are using technology to assist patients, especially seniors and the disabled.

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) or tele-monitoring technologies and telehealth devices provide an unobtrusive method for reporting the patient’s vital signs including blood pressure and weight; biometric data including pulse oximetry and blood glucose levels; and subjective data including disease signs and symptoms, medication, and/or diet compliance. With the safe haven created by in-home technologies, patients are able to feel safe while maintaining their independence.

Remote Patient Monitoring systems to improve patient outcomes, encourage patient self-management and reduce avoidable readmissions, long discussed in healthcare journals, are making their way into finance and investing publications. GrandCare’s Laura Mitchell quotes a stock market analyst writing inMobi Health News Report, to make her point.

Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) is minimizing hospital stays, resulting in a reduction of the cost of healthcare delivery. 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.5

Supporting Mobi Health News Report’s position, healthcare researcher Jenny Minott of Academy Health, writes in her report Reducing Hospital Readmissions, “Tele-monitoring high-risk patients alone has decreased readmissions by 15 percent.”6

CMS may not believe, but its sister department does
Studies of significance by the Veterans Health Administration have reported even larger reductions in hospital utilization through the use of in-home remote monitoring technologies. The VHA reports that it “delivers healthcare services that serve 5.6 million unique veteran patients annually. A total of 7.6 million veterans are enrolled to receive VHA care. The number of veteran patients aged 85 years or more that VHA treats is set to triple by 2011 compared to 2000. As the U.S. population ages, people are living longer, staying healthier, and choosing to live independently at home.”7

Next weekOur next excerpt from Laura Mitchell’s white paper will describe a care approach that integrates wellness, smart home systems, activity monitoring and social connectivity to reduce avoidable hospital readmissions.

______________________
1Information cited from the article “One in Five Medicare Patients Readmitted within month” from USATODAY.comhttp://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-04-02-hospital-medicare_N.htm

2http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/19/60minutes/main5711689.html

3Study shows that 40% of seniors do not comply with doctors’ orders. http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/In-the-Literature/2007/Feb/Physician-Patient-Communication-About-Prescription-Medication-Nonadherence–A-50-State-Study-of-Amer.aspx

4http://www.aoa.gov/aoaroot/aging_statistics/Profile/2010/docs/2010profile.pdf

5Mobi Health News Report: Patient Monitoring worth $9.3 billion in 2014 http://mobihealthnews.com/10969/report-patient-monitoring-worth-9-3-billion-in-2014

6http://www.academyhealth.org/files/publications/Reducing_Hospital_Readmissions.pdf

72008 VA telehealth study: http://www.viterion.com/web_docs/VA%20CCS%20Outcomes%20Dec_2008_Darkins.pdf

About GrandCare
GrandCare offers a senior friendly, internet enabled, private home touch screen system aimed at maintaining independence, controlling chronic conditions, and reducing hospital readmissions. It combines the technologies of smart home, activity monitoring, wellness monitoring, and social connectivity. The wellness aspect includes wireless physiological readings (weight, blood pressure, oximeter, glucometer), self assessment, and medication compliance with associated rule sets, alerts, and congregate analytics. The social aspect includes one button Skype, wellness videos, reminders, and other standard social media content aimed at reducing isolation, educating the patient, and influencing them to better self manage their health.
grandcare.com

GrandCare announces return to exhibit at CES 2012

West Bend, WI, 2011 – GrandCare Systems announced today that they will exhibit at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) January 9-13th in Las Vegas, NV.

GrandCare will showcase their innovative socialization, activity & telehealth remote monitoring technology at the Las Vegas Convention Center, LVCC North Hall Booth 3209.  GrandCare Systems will be located in the AgeTek Pavilion, of which they are a co-founder, between the Silvers Summit and Digital Health Summit. This will be GrandCare’s 4th consecutive appearance at CES.

The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is owned and produced by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the $186 billion U.S. consumer technology industry. CES is held every January at the Las Vegas Convention Center.  CES 2012 will give even more focus on Digital Health and Aging in Place Technologies with the return of the Digital Health Pavilion & Summit, The Silvers Summit and the AgeTek (Aging Technology Alliance) Pavilion.

“The Digital Health Summit is privileged to bring together experts from the health, science and technology worlds, to share their wisdom and insight on the ideas that will be vital to health care’s future,” said Jill Gilbert, co-producer, Digital Health Summit. “Technology advancements are changing the way Americans manage their own health and wellness needs, from raising children to managing care for aging parents. In its fourth year, the Digital Health Summit will push the boundaries and encourage everyone – from manufacturers to providers – to think bigger, explore new topics, and challenge one another as we move forward in this fast-growing market.”

Digital Home Health industry pioneer, GrandCare Systems, will provide full demonstrations of their cutting-edge Socialization, Telehealth and Activity Monitoring Smart Home System. Attendees of CES will have the chance to video chat with the Wisconsin-based GrandCare corporate office, play fun games, complete wellness assessments, take vitals and understand why GrandCare is leading the way in the Aging/Technology Industry.  GrandCare will be one of several innovative aging/technology companies under the AgeTek Pavilion umbrella.  Additional AgeTek Exhibitors include: Presto, Dr. Marion, Vital Link, Independa, ClearSounds, Great Call, LifeStation, and Telikin.

“The need for tech-based solutions designed to serve our aging society is exploding,” said Peter Radsliff, co-founder and chairman of the Aging Technology Alliance, “AgeTek was formed to promote the awareness, benefits and value of our members’ products and services in this expanding category.”

The Las Vegas Convention Center North Exhibit Hall is open Tuesday January 10th until Friday January 13th. For more information on the CES Show, visit: http://www.cesweb.org/

About GrandCare Systems

GrandCare offers a senior-friendly, Internet enabled, private HomeBase touchcomputer system aimed at maintaining independence, controlling chronic conditions, increasing compliance, strengthening family connections and reducing hospital readmissions. GrandCare combines the technologies of smart home, activity monitoring, wellness monitoring, and social connectivity. The wellness aspect includes wireless physiological readings (weight, blood pressure, oximeter, glucometer), self assessment, and medication compliance with an associated medication dispenser, medication instructions, photos and prompts, specified medication rule sets, alerts, and congregate analytics. The social aspect includes one button Skype, pictures, emails, wellness videos, reminders, and other standard social media content aimed at reducing isolation, educating our loved ones, and influencing them to better self-manage their own health.

For more information, visit: www.grandcare.com

Press Contact:
Laura Mitchell
VP of Marketing
GrandCare Systems LLC
262-338-6147

Online Press Kit Available: https://www.grandcare.com/presskit/docs/PressKit.pdf

Join Us for Tomorrow’s Webinar!

Thursday, December 15th at 2pm ET – 1pm CT

Where The Heart Is: Using Technology To Remain At Home

With Beth Paterson

Seniors have always wanted to remain at home. Now with the housing market where it is, seniors are staying at home even longer. We’ll discuss how using technology adds benefits to remaining at home. More Information

In this webinar you will learn:

  •     How housing conditions are impacting seniors remaining in their homes longer.
  •     The benefits of using technology to remain at home.
  •     How using technology can be cost effective and expand the time one can remain at home vs moving to senior housing.

Sponsored By AgeTek

http://www.agetek.org/

To promote the awareness, benefits and value of products and services for our aging society while directly benefiting our members by evolving into the world’s leading aging-focused technology consortium.

Home Health Technology Webinar from 2010 What’s the same…what’s changed?

Just thought we’d share this. This is from 2010, a webinar led by GrandCare’s Laura Mitchell to the NAHB & CEDIA audiences… interesting what’s changed and what has stayed the same!!!

Home Technology Alliance Update

Aging in Place: Home Health Technology Webinar Recap

CEDIA, founding sponsor of NAHB’s Home Technology Alliance (HTA), offers quarterly educational webinars to supplement fundamental concepts highlighted in their joint newsletter.  Moderated by leaders in the industry, these webinars offer insider’s tips to help you and your business take advantage of growing trends.

To this end, CEDIA welcomed Laura Mitchell of GrandCare Systems in Minnesota to share her insight into “Home Health Technology: A $20 Billion Industry.” Throughout this webinar, broadcast on September 1, 2010, Ms. Mitchell explained the impressive target base that currently is or will be shortly interested in home health technology while touching on some available solutions.

As indicated in the title of this webinar, the home health technology field is a $20 Billion industry and growing with many contributing factors. With a baby boomer turning 63 every seven seconds, the target audience for this technology is growing exponentially. While this fact remains undisputed, another fact also plays into the hands of this growing field: this group wants to remain independent as long as possible.

“A study conducted in 2005 indicated that 80% of the respondents would be willing to pay an extra $100/month for services and technology that would allow them to stay independent,” mentioned Mitchell.

Mitchell cited Laurie M. Orlov’s Aging in Place Technology Watch, a market research firm providing thought leadership, analysis and guidance about technologies and related services, while she discussed the four main aging in place technology categories available. Each addressed a contributing factor toward a person’s inability to stay independent. The first category, home safety and security, would attends to the fact that one-third of all people aged 65 and older fall each year. Utilizing a home monitor, care givers or loved ones will be alerted immediately in case of an accident. The second category, learning and contribution, recognizes that people who are connected socially live longer. The third category, health and wellness, relates to the fact that medication management is one of the leading drivers to assisted living and nursing home facilities. Utilizing technology for both cognitive and medication management at home can help prevent the necessity of moving into those facilities. Finally, the fourth category, communication and engagement, relates to utilizing email, video phone, cell phone and PCs to stay in touch and traverse the other categories as well.

Perhaps most importantly, trades need to become educated about the newest available technology and how to use it to service this growing cross-section of our society. The consumers all want this technology, but don’t know how to ask for it. It is imperative that each builder and ESC ask questions to determine which technologies best suit their clients both now and going forward into the future. With the demand and the willingness to contribute monthly income toward technologies to stay independent, it would behoove both builders and ESCs to explore home health technology options.

“We are currently experiencing the largest population shift in history,” said Ric Johnson, Chief Technology Officer of Elite Systems Solutions. “This particular group is much different than the previous generation in that they are technology-driven. Any builder who is ignoring this market is losing out because this generation not only has a lot of equity in their current homes, but also more discretionary income to put toward the technology they desire. Options exist today to allow those in the 50+ market to remodel their existing homes or upgrade to new homes and be fully equipped with home healthcare, entertainment, home safety and communication devices. All of this technology equates to a common goal shared by most people in this cross-section of America: allowing the population to age in place.”

Click here to visit CEDIA’s archive of past Webinars including Home Health Technology: A $20 Billion Industry.

In addition to these quarterly Webinars, CEDIA also offers online CEDIA education classes, which can be accessed here, that NAHB members may take for continuing education credit:

  • Introduction to Sub-System Design
  • Introduction to Sub-System Control
  • Fundamentals of Home Theater Design
  • Introduction to Digital Media Servers
  • The Designer, the Client, and the Process
  • Design Documents
  • Project Management Process Flow: An Overview of the PMI Model
  • Home Theater Room Design
  • Introduction to Project Management

About CEDIA

CEDIA is an international trade association of companies that specialize in designing and installing electronic systems for the home. The association was founded in September 1989 and has more than 3,500 member companies worldwide. CEDIA Members are established and insured businesses with bona fide qualifications and experience in this specialized field. For more information on CEDIA, visit the association’s Web site atwww.cedia.org .

‘It’s a gift from God’: Cybermation tele-health venture makes it easier to monitor activity, medications

Written by Kevin Allenspach
12:40 AM, Dec. 11, 2011

St. Cloud Times – www.sctimes.com

See a video of GrandCare Client, Ed Thelen, discussing why the GrandCare System works for him and how it has been a lifesaver and lifted his spirits! http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid950566939001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAACbynFGE~,sf-WXU5Jxxvzf0yBwv5ezSaUvcZFydJt&bctid=1320587839001

COLD SPRING — After complications from shoulder surgery made it difficult for 69-year-old Ed Thelen to sleep in a bed at night, he’s taken to dozing in a giant easy chair in the living room of his third-floor home at John Paul Apartments. That discomfort isn’t his only concern. He also has a pacemaker, battles diabetes, struggles with Parkinson’s disease and is in a constant fight against obesity and depression. His biggest worry, though, is whether he’ll be able to keep a new device that has revolutionized his life.

As Thelen relates how he came to this place after 45 years of moving around the region as an insurance underwriter, something that looks like a flat-screen TV chirps next to his chair. He reaches over, touches a prompt, and within seconds is talking with his daughter via Skype.

After their conversation, he shows a visitor how the screen also notifies him if he has letters, pictures or video sent from one of his six grandchildren. He calls up his blood-pressure readings from the past month, which he can provide directly to his doctor, and demonstrates how it prompts him to take his pills — morning, noon and night — from a dispenser in the kitchen.

Ed Thelen, 69, of Cold Spring is able to live in his apartment with the help of an integrated monitoring system marketed locally by Cybermation. With the system, Thelen and others can monitor his health and activities and communicate with him through a touch screen he has in his living room. Jason Wachter, jwachter@stcloudtimes.com

“It’s phenomenal,” Thelen said with a hint of emotion behind his eyes. “If I forget to take my medication, it sends a signal and the phone rings. A voice says (with a nasal twang) ‘Mr. Thelen, you haven’t taken your medication.’ With all the things it does, to me it’s a gift from God.”

It is a GrandCare System, a product of a company in West Bend, Wis., that is being marketed locally for the first time by Cybermation, a Waite Park-based business that for 15 years was primarily known for home entertainment and security systems. Thelen has been working with it for about three weeks.

“We’ve mostly been about big boys toys,” Cybermation President Tom Ardolf said. “Commercial and residential people come to us and spend tens of thousands of dollars on their home theater, or they bring us a basket of remotes and ask us to create one that will run everything in their house. But late last year I got a call from a distributor that had known us for 10 years. They’d started a tele-health venture. I just wanted to ask the guy if we could go fishing. He said, ‘You really ought to look into this.’ ’’

Soon after he did, Ardolf decided to launch CyberHealth, a new division of Cybermation. His company is one of more than 300 authorized installers for the GrandCare System in the U.S. and Canada. Four are in Minnesota, with the other three in the Twin Cities metro area.

He said he’s working with an unnamed rural health care provider to distribute the GrandCare System on a wider scale. And, with baby boomers entering retirement and becoming elderly, remote monitoring is expected to be a $9.3 billion industry by 2014.

“My mom passed in 2007, and I often think of how my life, my mom’s life and that of my sisters would’ve been different if we’d had something like this,” Ardolf said.

Family connections

Gladys Ardolf lived in Maple Lake and was 78 when she died of complications from dystonia, a movement disorder that causes muscles to contract and spasm involuntarily. For the last six to eight years of her life, two of Tom Ardolf’s three sisters living in the area made daily — sometimes twice-daily — visits to make sure she was all right.

“The average caregiver puts in 24 hours a week — that’s a significant part-time job,” said Ardolf, 50. “People are willing to do it, especially when it’s their mom or their dad. But around year one or two, there’s invariably some resentment about ‘Why doesn’t this sibling who lives far away do something to help?’ If we’d had one of these systems, I could’ve played a role in her care — even though I’m 40 miles away.”

While the screen is in the user’s home, like the one next to Thelen’s easy chair, it provides a window for family members, caregivers and physicians to monitor the user’s health and activities.

“Just by placing sensors around my mom’s home, I could’ve had a call or text sent to my phone if she didn’t get up between 6 and 9 a.m.,” Ardolf said. “I would’ve known if she was restless in bed, went to the bathroom or didn’t take a shower. We could’ve put a magnet on the microwave that would’ve told us if she’d had coffee in the morning. It’s little things like that which can give you peace of mind — or alert you to trouble if they don’t happen.”

Read more

12/15/11 Webinar “Where The Heart Is: Using Technology To Remain At Home”

Thursday, December 15th
2pm ET – 1pm CT

Download/Playback

Seniors have always wanted to remain at home. Now with the housing market where it is, seniors are staying at home even longer. We’ll discuss how using technology adds benefits to remaining at home.

In this webinar you will learn:

  • How housing conditions are impacting seniors remaining in their homes longer.
  • The benefits of using technology to remain at home.
  • How using technology can be cost effective and expand the time one can remain at home vs moving to senior housing.

Our Speaker: Beth Paterson

Beth Paterson is the Executive Vice President of Reverse Mortgages SIDAC. She is an expert on reverse mortgages, with responsibilities including educating, marketing, and originating loans, as well as training and supervising loan officers. She has testified before the Minnesota legislature, met with the Assistant Attorney General, and provided amendments to legislation on reverse mortgages. She is the author of several books and articles on the topic, and has appeared as an expert speaker on radio and television shows. She also hosts, directs and produces a metro cable TV show called Savvy Seniors… Talking with Experts About Senior Resources. She attended PurdueUniversity, but found that the most valuable part of her education came from real-life experiences, particularly in the wake of a car accident in 1995. She decided to use her experiences to help others facing life’s challenges.

Sponsored By AgeTek

http://www.agetek.org/

To promote the awareness, benefits and value of products and services for our aging society while directly benefiting our members by evolving into the world’s leading aging-focused technology consortium.

GrandCare at CES!

GrandCare will exhibit at the 2012 International CES Consumer Technology Tradeshow on January 10-13 in Las Vegas, NV.

We are excited to bring GrandCare technology to display at this great event.

Come visit us, LVCC North Hall booth #3209!

CES Exhibit Hours:

Tuesday, January 10: 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Wednesday, January 11: 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Thursday, January 12: 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Friday, January 13: 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

CES website: click here

CES Crowd Image from http://newshenreviews.com/