Tag Archive for: Laura Mitchell

Telehealth and the aging population

How COVID-19 is Driving Rapid Adoption of Telehealth for Aging Populations

If necessity is the mother of invention, crisis may be the father of adoption. Nowhere has the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic been felt more strongly than on seniors and the disabled. The need for social distancing has made clear the value of technology for bridging that distance.

“COVID-19 has accelerated the need for family members, caregivers, and healthcare professionals to have remote access to seniors as well as the disabled,” said Laura Mitchell, CEO of GrandCare systems, a leader in the aging and technology industry. “There has always been interest in technology tools among forward-thinking senior communities and home health care agencies, but since the pandemic, we have been inundated with calls and requests for video chat, telehealth capabilities and activity monitoring. Suddenly the value of these tools for the well-being of seniors and disabled people has become very concrete, very measurable.”

Mitchell was interviewed by host Karen Jagoda on a recent podcast hosted by Empower Patient Radio. In the episode entitled “COVID-19 Driving Faster Adoption of Telehealth for Aging Population,” Mitchell discussed the effects of COVID on senior housing and care services, and the tools that can help residents stay connected with family and friends, engaged and active, and healthy.

Empowered Patient Radio is a series of podcasts that focus on the latest innovations in digital health and the changing dynamic between doctors and patients. The audience includes medical professionals, researchers, patient advocates, entrepreneurs, patients, caregivers, solution providers, students, journalists, and investors.

Listen to the podcast: COVID-19 Driving Faster Adoption of Telehealth for Aging Population with Laura Mitchell GrandCare
View the transcript: Download transcript 
Check out the entire podcast series: Empowered Patient Radio

Aging During A Pandemic

Aging during a Pandemic: The new opportunity for CEDIA Experts

COVID-19 has turned aging and senior housing on its head. Social isolation, lack of health care works, and the fear of going to the hospital are a few of the unexpected challenges faced by seniors during the pandemic. But there are tools that can help seniors stay connected and healthy during these challenging times.

“We have been inundated with calls and requests for video chat, telehealth capabilities and activity monitoring,” said Laura Mitchell, CEO of GrandCare Systems, a pioneer in the aging and technology market, and maker of technology for senior monitoring, wellness and engagement. She was featured on a recent podcast, to talk about best practices for seniors and their families, homecare providers, senior housing communities, and the impact of COVID on the aging industry.

Mitchell and co-hosts Ed Wenck & Walt Zerbe discussed these and other issues of aging in place, aging in congregate living, and how seniors can thrive even in this time of COVID. The podcast, called “Living in Place and the Pandemic,” is part of the The CEDIA Podcast series of roundtable discussion on issues surrounding new and emerging technology.

Listen to the podcast: Living in Place and the Pandemic
Check out the entire podcast series: The CEDIA Podcast

GrandCare's Laura Mitchell at CES 2020

Laura Mitchell to Speak on Smart Home Installation Trends at CES 2020

GrandCare’s CEO Laura Mitchell has been slated to speak at CES 2020 on the topic of smart home installation trends. Laura will be speaking alongside Manny Linhares, Director of Strategy at IoT, Legrand, with moderator Daniel Pidgeon, founder of Starpower, host Katye McGregor Bennett of Connecting Tech and Design, and Ricky Singh, Head of Products and Solutions at Curiosity IoT, Sprinton on Wednesday, January 8.

2020 Installation Trends for the Smart Home
Date: Wednesday, January 8, 11:30 – 12:30 PM
Room: Venetian, Level 4, Marcello 4406

Description: What are some of the trends installers will see in the smart home space for 2020? Innovations in eldercare, AV solutions, security and more are front and center for the year ahead. Explore the opportunities.

Attending CES 2020 and want to attend this session? Click here.
Need to register for CES 2020? Register here.

Laura at CEDIA

Laura Mitchell Presents On Technology-Infused Aging at CEDIA

In the second week of September, GrandCare CEO Laura Mitchell will be flying to Denver for the 2019 CEDIA Expo. Laura has been asked to share her expertise on smart technologies and aging in a presentation titled: “Smart Seniors Seminar: How Technologies are keeping Seniors Safer, Smarter and out of Assisted living.”

According to the CEDIA website, CEDIA is the international trade association and central touchpoint for 3,700 member companies that represent every facet of the ever-evolving technology market. The CEDIA expo is held annually in various geographic locations. The five day event features networking, training and product launches. It brings together more than 20,000 home tech pros and over 500 exhibitors.

GrandCare is no stranger to CEDIA. GrandCare is a CEDIA member, has spoken on the opportunity of technologists in the aging/healthcare market and has even founded and organized CEDIA’s original Aging and Technology pavilions and educational tracks, including extensive education on how integrators and distributors could become involved in this critical marketplace.

Advancements in technology are allowing seniors to stay in their home longer. With emergency response systems, medication management, telehealth and remote monitoring, it is now safer and more convenient to live at home more than ever.

“We take such good care of our homes, and as we age why shouldn’t our homes help to take care of us?” This quote from GrandCare’s CEO, Laura Mitchell, helps reinforce the mission of CEDIA.

Smart Seniors Seminar: 

How Technologies are keeping seniors safer, smarter and out of assisted living

Room: 110

Wednesday, September 11

1:00 PM – 2:30 PM

CEU Credits: 1.5

View: Show schedule

GrandCare featured on The Morning Blend

GrandCare is Making Headlines

GrandCare CEO Laura Mitchell featured on the Chamber Local Business SpotlightGrandCare has been making the news!

1. Today, we were featured on The Morning Blend on TMJ4.

2. Last week, GrandCare CEO Laura Mitchell was interviewed for the Chamber Local Business Spotlight feature on 101.3 FM.

3. GrandCare was singled out as having the “most experience and most robust platform” in an article in Home Health Care News by senior care expert, Bill Thomas. You may recognize him as the founder of the Eden Alternative, ChangeAging keynote speaker, TED Talk speaker (multiple times) and the founder of the Green House Model. His methods were described in detail in the book Being Mortal.

4. GrandCare’s CEO Laura Mitchell was profiled in a blog by industry analyst Laurie Orlov, Founder of Aging In Place Technology Watch.

virtual long term care

Benefit Specialists Recognizes GrandCare as the Cadillac of Virtual Long-Term Care

Benefit Specialists, an industry leader since 1980, is a privately owned, full service insurance brokerage firm specialize in both employer-provided and voluntary benefits for companies of all sizes across a broad array of industries. Affiliated with over 50 of the largest national insurance companies, they specialize in providing customized solutions for companies looking for group and individual insurance products and benefit plans which will meet the unique needs of employees.

Recently, Benefit Specialists wrote an interesting article discussing the impact that emerging technologies are having on long-term care environments. Check out the excerpt below, which explains how GrandCare is reshaping the healthcare landscape.

“For those who want to maximize their peace of mind, Gomez says the Cadillac of virtual long-term care is a remote-monitoring system like that offered by grandCARE.

With this system, activity sensors are placed in a senior’s home. To use grandCARE, Managed Senior Care first evaluates what a typical ‘good day’ looks like for a senior and sets alerts accordingly. For example, if a senior typically has breakfast by 9 a.m. and the refrigerator hasn’t been opened by that time, an alert may go out to a caregiver.

As with Banner iCare, seniors using the grandCARE system are set up with a tablet. In this case, it’s an oversized tablet that can be remotely activated. If a caregiver needs to check on a senior, he or she can open Skype which will activate the camera and microphone on the tablet. At that point, the caregiver can look for the senior and call out to him or her to determine whether help is needed.

‘One of the reasons we like this product is because it’s respectful of the senior,’ Gomez says. ‘You know when people are watching. There is no secret monitoring.’”

The Connectivity Obstacle: Solved, With Help From An Unlikely Source

GrandCare delivers the best technology for telehealth, activity monitoring, and socialization. But the system relies on Internet connectivity to work. That’s a problem for some customers, especially in rural areas. If you’re a home health agency or a GrandCare dealer serving private homes, how can you overcome this obstacle? Partner. Here’s how.

Find the smallest telecom organizations serving your area. You’ll often get the best results approaching the smaller guys. Offer to do a GrandCare demo for their board of directors, and get them excited. Offer to be a referral source if they offer discounted service in return. Desirable terms would include no minimum contract, no installation fee, and a low monthly charge like $19.99 a month. You may be surprised at how willing these organizations are to agree to this kind of arrangement. Remember, these are customers they would not ordinarily have access to. And the data usage is quite low.

As a bonus, they may want to do a joint press release on the deal, which makes everyone look good. Best of all, this kind of partnership can bring GrandCare to the people who need it the most.

GrandCare Makes Healthcare Accessible Via Telemedicine

 

GrandCare is in the news again. Rural telephone companies have partnered with local health care providers to improve access to care using telehealth devices. GrandCare is instrumental to this effort, according to Rural Telecom magazine.

The article “Making Health Care Accessible via Telemedicine,” features innovator Dave Wolf, CEO and general manager of Gardonville Telephone Cooperative in Brandon, MN. Wolf used GrandCare’s monitoring system as the vehicle to partner with Knute Nelson, a senior care organization serving rural Minnesota, to offer in-home services to hospice patients. “They want to go home and be surrounded by family and a familiar environment,” Wolf said.

GrandCare is proud to help.

In the article, Wolf praises GrandCare for its simple and intuitive design that makes it easy for seniors to manage, as well as its security features.

“These are very simple and intuitive and designed for someone who may be a little foggy and on meds,” he said, adding that it’s also easy to lock out unintended users. “We don’t want family visitors jumping on the tablet and clogging it up with games or videos.”

Wolf identifies two other reasons he chose GrandCare: quick installation, and a monthly payment schedule rather than a long-term contract. Wolf pointed out that these features, important to all clients, are especially important to hospice patients where time is of the essence.

In his experience, patients and caregivers liked many of the features of the GrandCare system, for example the medication reminders, music and entertainment features, and video communication with health care providers, caregivers, and family members.

GrandCare’s Clinical Advisor, Daphne Karpan worked with Wolf to help make the partnership a success.In the article, Karpan praises Wolf and rural telecommunication providers for bringing high quality care to people who might otherwise not have access, saying, “Meeting the folks at Gardonville and working with other small telephone companies over the years has given me newfound respect for this group. They work hard, and they care about people.”

Karpan notes that progress has been made toward reimbursement for telehealth.

Medicare is doing pilot programs on telemedicine and home-based care, and it’s starting to do some limited reimbursements. While this is a slow-moving regulatory process, Karpan said the fact that Medicare reimbursements are now based on patient outcomes is good news.

The article also highlights the importance of HIPAA compliance for telehealth reimbursement. Successful partnerships use tools such as GrandCare that meet or exceed the requirements of HIPAA.

The advances in telehealth create a big opportunity. Using a tool that is a proven market leader, and that works, such as GrandCare, will be key to success. As Karpan explains:

“So many health care agencies are coming online to offer in-home services. If you get the package and system figured out, you’ll be the one to get that business.”

GrandCare is a caregiving tool that is designed to reduce healthcare costs and improve outcomes by enabling designated family members, caregivers and healthcare professionals to remotely care for an individual in a residence, regardless of geographic location. The heart of GrandCare is a large touchscreen in the residence, which provides the individual with social communications, instructions, reminders and medication prompts. No computer skills are needed for the resident to fully engage in all of the touchscreen features.

GrandCare is the winner of the 2012 CEA Innovation Entrepreneur Award for Small Business of the Year, and is a two-time winner of SeniorHomes.com’s Most Innovative Senior Products Award.

GrandCare is a Featured Product in Senior Home Safety Article

Many seniors ask themselves, “Can I live alone safely?” The answer is a resounding “yes” according to GrandCare Systems. This good news is made clear in a recent article by Brittany Kovalick of Beltone.

Just before mentioning GrandCare, the article explains:

For seniors with health concerns, home-monitoring services can give you and your family greater peace of mind. Home monitoring services install wireless sensors in key areas of your home — such as the bathroom, bedroom and kitchen. Sensors can track your normal patterns of behavior. If they identify unusual patterns of behavior — your refrigerator door didn’t open — family or friends can be alerted. One service offers daily reports on movement in the house that caretakers or children can track on a web page or mobile phone.

GrandCare provides all these services, and we also offer a wide set of features that positively impact all areas of a senior citizen’s life. From games and video chatting to weather updates to pictures and messages from family, all on a large intuitive GrandCare touchscreen, GrandCare is a complete solution for the needs of your elder. Zero computer or technical expertise is necessary. In fact, most of GrandCare’s customers don’t even relate the GrandCare experience to using a tablet or a computer, it’s just that easy.

To find out more, please contact GrandCare at info@grandcare.com or call us at (262) 338-6147.

Charlie Hillman Recruited for Technology in Aging Expertise for Aging 2.0 Event

Charlie Hillman, founder and CEO of GrandCare Systems, has been selected to join a high-powered group of aging industry innovators for a Digital Aging roundtable in March. Hillman and three other industry veterans will share everything they’ve learned through the years in the recently intersecting senior housing and technology industry. The forum will also include Pete Celano, Director of Consumer Health Initiatives at the MedStar Institute for Innovation; Myron Kowal, President and CEO of RCare; and John Rydzewski, General Manager of Technology Solutions at Direct Supply.

Hosted by Aging 2.0 and sponsored by RCare, the roundtable will be moderated by aging and technology expert Laura Mitchell of Laura Mitchell Consulting. Hillman and his fellow panelists will share stories, experiences, successes, mistakes and advice for getting ahead in the aging industry.

The roundtable event is being held in conjunction with the LeadingAge Peak Summit in Washington, DC, a unique conference that brings together the highest-level executives and business leaders in the aging and technology industry. The conference fosters education, strategic thinking, and networking. The Fireside Chat event is scheduled on the Sunday just before the conference.

This reservation-only Fireside Chat is an event you won’t want to miss!

For Reservations:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/aging20-washington-dc-digital-aging-successful-technology-implementation-in-senior-care-tickets-22199669810

Fireside Chat Schedule

Where: Stone’s Throw Restaurant, Marriott Wardmann Hotel

When: 7:00-8:30pm, Sunday March 13th

7-7:30pm Networking/Registration

7:30-7:35pm Welcome & Introduction to Aging 2.0

7:35-7:45pm Opening Remarks by Myron Kowal, CEO of RCare

7:45-8:15pm Roundtable Panel Discussion, moderated by Laura Mitchell of Laura Mitchell Consulting

Panelists: Pete Celano (MedStar), Myron (RCare), Charlie (GrandCare),  John Rydzewski  (Direct Supply)

8:15-8:30pm Networking Cocktail Reception

General Admission from Feb 26 at 5pm –  March 9th at 5pm

Last Minutes tickets available after March 9th, until 6pm on March 13th

To find out more about what GrandCare is up to, visit us on the web at grandcare.com. Ask us about our discounted pricing for senior care providers at sales@grandcare.com today!