Knute Nelson awarded a grant to distribute GrandCare technology throughout palliative and hospice care homes

The Blandin Foundation awarded the Knute Nelson Foundation a $50,000 grant to introduce GrandCare technology to palliative care and hospice patients throughout a 25-county west central Minnesota region where Knute Nelson services.  Knute Nelson is being supported by GrandCare’s distribution partner, Cybermation.

GrandCare is a technology that supports aging & healing in place.

Since 2005, GrandCare Systems has provided the most comprehensive caregiving technology on the market, enabling individuals to remain safe, healthy and happy at home. GrandCare’s simple, touch platform enables a Resident to view pictures, receive incoming messages, watch videos, video chat with family, listen to music and play fun games. Using a series of wireless activity and telehealth devices, GrandCare can alert designated caregivers by phone, email or text if anything seems amiss (medications not accessed, glucose levels not taken, abnormal activity, etc.).

GrandCare starts with a large touchscreen in the patient’s room where both patients and their families can access health and wellness information, bereavement support and chronic disease education.

GrandCare allows patients, caregivers and nursing professionals the ability to access essential patient information to monitor and ensure proactive health care interventions.

GrandCare enables medication management (prompting a patient when medications should be accessed) as well as a social connection to family through video chat, messaging and other social media type features.

For information on Knute Nelson Home Care and Hospice, visit www.knutenelson.org or call (320) 759-1273.

http://www.echopress.com/event/article/id/106416/group/Business/

GrandCare Systems to Offer GreatCall’s 5Star Urgent Response to its Clients

WEST BEND, WIS. AND SAN DIEGO (July 16, 2013) Care in WI

GrandCare Systems LLC and GreatCall, Inc., announced today that GrandCare will be adding 5Star Urgent Response®, the leading mobile personal emergency response solution (mPERS), to its comprehensive caregiving technology platform.

GrandCare’s simple, touch platform enables an at-home senior to view pictures, receive incoming messages, watch videos, video chat with family, listen to music and play fun games. Using a series of wireless activity and telehealth devices, GrandCare can alert designated caregivers by phone, email or text if anything unusual occurs. GrandCare’s technology is used today domestically and internationally by residents of senior living communities and assisted living facilities, seniors living independently, and by recipients of in-home senior care.

5Star extends the GrandCare platform by enabling seniors with immediate access to help in an urgent situation, while they are in their home or away.  Seniors carry or wear the compact 5Star device and press the button to connect to a 24/7 professional emergency response agent when they feel vulnerable or uncertain, or are experiencing a health or safety issue. The highly trained, NAED-certified 5Star agents have immediate access to the senior’s personal profile and location, evaluate the situation, determine the right course of action and coordinate the help needed, remaining on the line until the situation is resolved.  5Star also includes access to a URAC Accredited Health Call Center, registered nurses, and physicians when appropriate.

Designated caregivers can log into the GrandCare website to send communications to the loved one, view activity & digital health sensor information, and customize the automatic caregiver alerts. A caregiver may choose to receive a call, email or text message if specified conditions occur. With the addition of 5Star, caregivers can use an on-line locator service to find a loved one who is missing or hasn’t responded to a call, and can be designated as a contact in the case of an urgent incident.

“We have always known GreatCall as a capable and visionary leader in the mPERS industry,” said GrandCare Systems founder and CEO Charlie Hillman. “Adding their mPERS solution to our existing caregiving technology platform is a natural fit”.

“5Star Urgent Response offers a crucial safety net for senior care recipients and peace of mind for their caregivers.  GrandCare serves a market segment that is important to us, and we are pleased to add them as a distribution partner.”  said GreatCall CEO David Inns.

About GrandCare Systems LLC

GrandCare Systems, on the market since 2006, uses a series of wireless activity & telehealth sensors in a loved one’s home to alert family members if anything seems amiss. Family members can Skype and send pictures, messages, videos, etc., to their loved one using a simple touchscreen interface. GrandCare combines a digital health assessment, biometric readings, activity of daily living sensing, medication management, smart home automation, video chat, and virtual touch-based communications into the most comprehensive and fully-featured caregiving technology in the private home market.  GrandCare has received  world-wide attention from the BBC World News, Italian and French news networks, and U.S. media platforms such as:  The Today Show, the Discovery Channel, CNN, CBS News, etc. To learn more about GrandCare Systems, please visit:  www.grandcare.com.

About GreatCall, Inc.

GreatCall provides easy-to-use wireless health and safety products for aging consumers and their families, allowing them to enjoy a worry-free independent lifestyle. The company stands apart from other wireless services providers through its simplified, personalized and humanized approach, as well as its commitment to providing a high quality customer service experience. The company has been widely praised for its ability to deliver the benefits of innovation and technology in a meaningful and easy-to-use format. GreatCall has received prominent national media accolades from the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, The New York Times, Washington Post and major TV broadcast networks.

GreatCall’s products and services, including The 5Star™ and the Jitterbug® are sold nationwide at leading retailers such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Sears, Radio Shack Dealer Franchise, Fry’s Electronics and ShopKo, as well as direct to consumers at 1-800-918-8543 and online at GreatCall.com. Service coverage includes the U.S. and Canada. GreatCall is located in San Diego, CA.

To learn more about all available GreatCall products and services, please visit: http://www.greatcall.com. This GreatCall news release and other announcements are available at http://www.greatcall.com/buzz. Or follow our news on Twitter @GreatCallInc and on Facebook facebook.com/greatcall. For access to company logos and high-resolution images and screen shots, please visit: www.greatcall.com/assets

West Bend Daily News: GrandCare receives $200K county loan

Company offers health care, technology

By DAVE RANK

A $200,000 county low interest loan was approved for GrandCare Systems LLC, a growing technology company in West Bend, through the Economic Development Washington County, the EDWC announced Monday.

GrandCare is rapidly expanding sales of its digital health monitoring and socializing technology for the elderly both domestically and internationally, GrandCare co-founder and CEO Charlie Hillman said.

GrandCare Systems combines digital health assessment, biometric readings, daily living activity sensing, medication management, smart home automation, video chat and virtual touch-based communications technology for the private home market since 2006.

“Home health care is a growing segment of the global economy,” EDWC Executive Director Christian Tscheschlok said. “We are excited to support the growth of a local company that offers significant potential to elevate our economy through its noteworthy leadership in that expanding market.”

Hillman’s wife, Gaytha Traynor, co-founded GrandCare and is the company’s chief operating officer.

In part, the company’s current expansion is due to the the Community Development Block Grant loan from the EDWC, Hillman said.

GrandCare now is available for retail purchase throughout the United States, Bermuda, New Zealand, Australia and [soon] the United Kingdom, Laura Mitchell, vice president of business development, said.

The daughter of Hillman and Traynor, Mitchell has been a part of GrandCare since its founding. “It started with just four of us in 2005,” Mitchell said. “We now have 18 employees.”

In January, GrandCare announced it had an exclusive contract to provide technology to the largest home health care provider in the United Kingdom, Mitchell said.

“It’s an exciting time for GrandCare and the ‘aging in place’ technology industry,” Hillman said. “The vision that the EDWC has shown will not only help build up our team to support our large contracts, but also will showcase that Washington County is a pioneer in the Health Information Technology space.”

The loan will help GrandCare expand its staff, Mitchell said, including finding a new CEO to step in for Hillman.

“Charlie has been the vision of GrandCare and he wants to remain the visionary,” Mitchell said. Hillman and Nick Mitchell, vice president of product development, built GrandCare’s products from scratch, Laura Mitchell said. “He (Hillman) wants to stay in development.”

Nick and Laura Mitchell are married.

“We are considered the pioneer in the industry,” she said. “We have that credibility.”

GrandCare’s largest competitor is a partnership formed by General Electric and Intel, she said.

The company is also preparing to launch its own e-commerce online site to sell its products directly to consumers, Laura Mitchell said.

GrandCare is located at 327 N. Main St., Lower Riverside. For more information, visit www.grandcare. com or call 338-6147.

GrandCare Systems awarded CDBG loan from EDWC

WEST BEND, Wis., (July 8, 2013) – GrandCare Systems®, a Washington County-based organization, is rapidly ramping up deployments of their touch-based digital health monitoring and socialization technology both domestically and internationally. This expansion is in part due to funding provided through the award of a CDBG loan for $200,000 from Economic Development Washington County (EDWC).

“It’s an exciting time for GrandCare and the ‘aging in place’ technology industry”, says GrandCare founder, Charles Hillman. “The vision that the EDWC has shown will not only help build up our team to support our large contracts, but also will showcase that Washington County is a pioneer in the Health Information Technology space.”

The GrandCare System starts with a large, user-friendly touchscreen placed into a loved one’s home. This touchscreen displays weather, news, calendar events, medication prompts, reminders, family photos, videos and allows for one-button Skype with designated family and friends. Various activity, smart home sensors & telehealth devices are placed around the home to give authorized caregivers and family “peace of mind” that all is normal and safe at home. Caregivers can choose to receive email, text or phone alerts if specified conditions occur (e.g. medication noncompliance, unusual night activity, failure to access the kitchen during mealtime, etc.)

GrandCare also enables the loved one with their own large sized “smart device” giving them easy access to family photos, videos, web-based content and one-touch Skype calls with children and grandchildren. These features are critical to help overcome the very real and damaging effects of social isolation.

“Home healthcare is a growing segment of the global economy”, states Christian Tscheschlok, Executive Director of Economic Development Washington County, “We are excited to support the growth of a local company that offers significant potential to elevate our economy through its noteworthy leadership in that expanding market.”

GrandCare is available today for retail purchase throughout the United States, Bermuda, New Zealand, Australia, and soon in the UK. For more information, visit www.grandcare.com or call 262-338-6147

About GrandCare Systems

GrandCare Systems, on the market since 2006, uses a series of wireless activity & telehealth sensors in a loved one’s home to alert family members if anything seems amiss. Family can Skype and send pictures, messages, videos, etc, to the loved one using a simple touchscreen interface. GrandCare combines digital health assessment, biometric readings, activity of daily living sensing, medication management, smart home automation, video chat, and virtual touch-based communications into the most comprehensive and fully-featured technology in the private home market.
For more information, visit: www.grandcare.com

About Economic Development Washington County

Economic Development Washington County (EDWC) is an independent economic development organization fueling growth businesses and industries for the creation of quality jobs and wealth in Washington County. EDWC accomplishes this through a focus on existing business development consulting; engaging in driver-industry business attraction; supporting qualified start-up enterprises and serving as a central voice on economic development issues.

About CDBG RLF Funds

Economic Development Washington County (EDWC), on behalf of Washington County, administers a pool of funds that can make loans to businesses wishing to expand or locate in the county. These loans are customized to a project but have typically been smaller in size ($20,000-$100,000) and are made at a low interest rate. Principal and interest repaid by those businesses with loans are reinvested back into the fund to be lent out again, making it a “revolving loan fund,” or RLF.

DealerScope Magazine: 40 Under 40

GrandCare’s Laura Mitchell voted one of Dealerscope’s Top 40 under 40!

 

Laura MitchellLaura Mitchell, 34, Vice President, Business Development, GrandCare Systems
Twitter: @ laurahmitchell

Background:
Grew up in California, Wisconsin, Germany and Minneapolis; now lives in Wisconsin

Higher education:
University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Freiburg, Germany

Career:
Eight years in the CE industry. Helped to Build GrandCare’s distribution network, strategic partnerships, and oversees the sales, marketing and social media campaigns. Speaks around the world about aging and technology, digital health and GrandCare technology

Industry accomplishments:
“I started the industry’s first aging and technology conference call (later turned into a webinar) in 2008, which went on for four years and attracted hundreds of industry enthusiasts, dealers and tech providers. This webinar spurred the formation of the Aging Technology Alliance.

“I am also proud to have started and coordinated the Digital Health Pavilion, the Future Home Pavilion and all digital health educational sessions for CEDIA and EHX for the past three years. This has led to several educational webinars for many other AV organizations as well as many articles that I have authored on why the digital health industry is an important and critical industry to get involved with. My proudest moment in this industry was when I was featured in Forbes for my social media and guerrilla marketing efforts for GrandCare.”

Awards:
2013 Young Turks of CE; 2011 Recipient of Flame Award for Innovation and leadership; 2012 AARP Sterling Award for Health & Wellness; Finalist for the 2012 Wego Health Trailblazer Award

What you like best about your job:
“I love being part of a disruptive and innovative industry. I love that every day is exciting, fast-paced and there is a lot of room for creativity and thinking outside of the box.”

What you like least about your job:
It can be stressful to be building a technology in an industry that didn’t exist before. We are making up the rules of the game as we go along. It has been frustrating to be a part of an industry that grew at a glacial pace (we started eight and a half years ago). The exciting piece is that it has made the success and the acceptance so much sweeter.

Favorite pastime:
Writing songs; performing and spending time with my band; playing sports; and running

Last book read:
“Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”

Favorite movie:
“Amelie”

Best concert:
Jimmy Buffett

Favorite CE product of the year:
Jawbone UP

If you could be anyplace else right now, it would be: I am actually in Australia, training new GrandCare partners who are enthusiastic and eager to adopt and sell GrandCare down under … there really wouldn’t be anything else I’d rather do at the moment (besides having my family here with me).