Consider Amazon’s role in the caregiving and older adult market

It’s already been a big year for new Amazon offerings that could benefit older people.   This month’s most obvious change was the introduction of Amazon CareHub, an Alexa app that can be used to help monitor potentially isolated older adults.  But they also have done more work on Amazon Hospitality in partnership with K4Connect (which has rolled out 10,000 Alexa devices to senior living communities).  One might well argue that Amazon has and will continue to have a major impact on the quality of life for older adults (assuming senior privacy concerns and technology barriers to adoption are overcome – more on that another time):

• Offered low-price Voice First devices.  By 2018, it was obvious that this was a breakthrough for seniors, ending the tech requirement to tap, touch, pinch, swipe, zoom…and curse at computers and smartphones. Today we are starting to take it for granted – that we can speak to devices and they will answer, even make the experience enjoyable and enabling it in cars.  There were no doubt various other ways to speak to technology six years ago, when the Echo was introduced.  But reading that complaint in the 2014 GeekWire article today (“I wish it could tell me about wind and windchill”), one has to laugh.  If they only knew what was ahead. 

• Created the Echo Show – with its remarkable user interface.  Not only was the Echo line a breakthrough user interface, in 2017, they introduced the Echo Show, adding a library of access points (today, the Food Network, tomorrow what?) with its text display of large type as a default.  Hmmm.  Might those with declining eyesight want to get answers to questions in a font they could actually read? 

• Senior-focused groups saw ways devices were used to combat social isolation.  In 2018, AARP Foundation began to pilot the Echo devices, including the inexpensive Echo Dot, in low income housing settings.  In 2019, they received a grant to proceed with the same effort in Colorado. And today you can see AARP’s focus in its website AARP Voice.

• Launched CareHub in 2020 – an app that may be yet another beginning.  Seeing growth in the use of Alexa devices among older adults, in September 2020, Amazon launched CareHub, an app for adult children to ‘check in’ (sort of) unobtrusively. Did Mom ask to have some music played on the show – she must be in the kitchen. What about a call for help without a wearable? That could work with appropriate configuration of responders.  Lots of prework and setup required for this, but motivated family could make it useful.

• Amazon in healthcare.  Amazon moved forward in 2018 with HIPAA-compliant tech in healthcare. This past year, the firm added 80,000 health-related terms to help answer consumer questions. It is not unreasonable that we will someday be able to ask questions about our own specific health issues, documented in our actual health record.  And this week, it extended its reach into prescription drugs, built on its PillPack acquisition, to create Amazon Pharmacy.  

category tags: 

digital health, Telehealth-RPM-Voice Health, Boomer-Senior Tech Business

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from Tips For Aging In Place https://www.ageinplacetech.com/blog/consider-amazon-s-role-caregiving-and-older-adult-market

Remote Care Technology and Older Adults - Filling in the basics 2020

Technology was essential for many adults stuck at home during the pandemic, providing some social connection, access to online shopping, home delivery services, and requests for transportation. But it also became apparent that some older adults who were shut out from these due to limitations in vision, hearing, dexterity, and even dementia.  And for some, technologies were not affordable – median income of a household age 75+ is $34,925. Yet it is also becoming apparent that organizations that serve older adults realize that gaps exist. They are  increasingly motivated and will strive to ramp up efforts to deliver a greater degree of access than the numbers show today. What are the key dimensions that need to be addressed moving forward?

• Broadband access.  In the 2020 OTI report, The Cost of Connectivity, researchers examined 296 data plans in the US, finding that only 64 of them meet the FCC definition of broadband.  According to the report, most of the US plans are in places that lack competition, leading to high prices and hidden fees. In-home and high-speed access to the Internet is still elusive for many in the US.  According to Pew Research in 2020, 21 million Americans lack access to broadband, as well as 60% of healthcare facilities outside of metropolitan areas. Looked at by age, 27% of the 65+ population lack access to broadband.   Senior living and nursing homes have long lagged in delivering broadband access though that is likely to change.

• Device access.  Even if older adults had at least regional access to broadband, the devices they are using may not be up to the engagement, healthcare, or smarter home opportunities that would improve quality of life. And a sizable percentage do not own an appropriate device.  According to AARP’s December 2019 research report, 62% of those aged 70+ own a smartphone and 40% own a tablet.  And even if they did, they might need help with an up-to-date Internet router, managing software upgrades, and avoiding spam and web threats. While smart speakers and voice assistants have improved ease of use and seamless upgrades, both depend on broadband to work properly.

• Training access.  For those older adults who own the right devices to obtain access, have Internet connectivity, they may need assistance in getting started with use of remote care technologies.  A popular engagement tool like Zoom have a less than intuitive user interface for the uninitiated, prompting a 9-page guide from Senior Planet , as well as senior living organizations providing a Zoom guide. And one of the key requirements for video tools like Zoom or Microsoft Teams is helping people get and/or position a camera.

[This is the last blog post in the series about The Future of Remote Care Technology and Older Adults 2020, a research report to be in the next few weeks]

category tags: 

Telehealth-RPM-Voice Health, computers, internet and social networking

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from Tips For Aging In Place https://www.ageinplacetech.com/blog/remote-care-technology-and-older-adults-filling-basics-2020

Four technology and aging blog posts from October 2020

Voice-enabled innovation softly races ahead. Technology innovation announcements whiz by at what seems to be a breakneck pace. Consider Amazon’s Whisper Mode – “I think you just whispered to me – Sau ‘turn on’ Whisper Mode.” Not just for insomniacs, imagine its utility for the faint-voiced older adult wanting to ask a question. Or consider Apple Family Setup, which enables an Apple Watch to be set up and used without an iPhone, enabling texts, calls and GPS location. Or in-Car voice technology like Garmin Speak-Plus for directions without a screen (that’s a plus). Here are five examples. Read more.

Social isolation of older adults – a problem and an opportunity.  Life has been worsening for older adults – in senior living and at home. Every day there is some new article about the impact of Covid-19 on older adults -- or another study turns up that you missed. Residents in senior living communities are having a tough time, cut off from activities and visits from family. Isolation has produced an increase in mental health issues, loneliness and depression – and that would be for those who have a good grasp of what is going on – for those in long-term care, for those with dementia, unable to be hugged by family, it is far worse. What’s been going on with older adults in the context of social isolation and loneliness? Read more.

What is the status and future of remote care technologies? The pandemic has likely transformed the senior-focused ecosystem. It triggered ingenuity of senior care organizations and vendors; and it energized innovators and prospective investors. Reimbursement of technology was a key policy change in 2020 that fueled adoption and investment in telehealth. That change super-charged growth in telehealth-related companies that had been growing incrementally. And as senior living executives agreed early, from a technology investment standpoint there’s no turning back.  Read more.

What’s up with investing in home care and technology? Some recent announcements offer almost the same frothy level of investment that characterized the 2016 investor spending spree, neatly noted in a 2016 Forbes article. The Forbes list included the $157 million poured into Care.com, unfortunately revealing a shocking lack of company oversight of care workers in 2019. Home Care Assistance received $100 million in 2016. In fact, 2013-2017 saw the rise, rise, and then fall of Home Hero – which raised $18 million (closing in 2017) and Hometeam’s $40 million in 2016.  Read more.

 

category tags: 

Voice First/AI/Voice Assistants, Telehealth-RPM-Voice Health, tech-enabled home care

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from Tips For Aging In Place https://www.ageinplacetech.com/blog/four-technology-and-aging-blog-posts-october-2020

Tech-enabled Home Care Redux? Do investors remember 2016?

What’s up with investing in home care and technology?  Some recent announcements offer almost the same level of overheating investment that the frothy level of investment that characterized the 2016 investor spending spree, noted in a Forbes. In addition to the Forbes list, which included the $157 million poured into Care.com, unfortunately revealing a shocking lack of company oversight of care workers in 2019.  Home Care Assistance received $100 million in 2016. In fact, 2013-2017 saw the rise, rise, and then fall of Home Hero – which raised $18 million, closing in 2017 and Hometeam’s $40 million in 2016. 

Why the froth? Homecare a sizable and growing market.  In 2019, the private duty home care market was sized at 23.5 billion – or one quarter of the $95 billion home health market. In 2019, Medicare Advantage began covering some non-skilled home care. So that made the market even more attractive. And just this past week, HomeThrive announced an $18 million Series A round touting its tech-enablement, and Honor, with its tech expertise’, announced another $140 million Series D investment, bringing its grand total to $255 million since 2014. Meanwhile the Hometeam remaining assets were absorbed into HT Health and renamed Vesta Health in 2020, with a $30 million Series A round and a focus on the reimbursed Medicaid market.

Investors inhis market should reflect on its numerous and worsening issues. So we have an aging population that really wants to remain at home (and their families concur). It sounds like so much potential, but it is fraught with risks (see Care.com last year) and unshakeable problems that may worsen. It’s a highly fragmented market of franchises, each with their own management, across the US. That same 2018 article noted a serious worker turnover problem, up to 67% per year (then) as well as critical shortage of workers.

Today’s home care workers face serious challenges. You wonder what investors may be actually thinking about this space beyond aging demographics and the possible assist from technology. Workers may be worried about Covid and protecting themselves and their families. They may spend significant and risky transportation time to get to the homes of care recipients. And there is plenty of competition for low-wage workers, for senior living communities, nursing homes, as well as private duty aides.

Finding and retaining workers will get tougher. It is well-publicized that it is getting tougher to attract workers to jobs that pay $10/hour caring for seniors who may multiple health and mobility limitations – compared to $11.62/hour to start at Walmart. And no matter how tough the Walmart job is, when you compare it to toileting, lifting, feeding, and moving the frail elderly, it takes a very special person to do that work. Are investors mulling that realistically when they pour in big sums? Are they expecting to see an acquisition or big merger? With whom?  And if so, when?

category tags: 

Home Care, tech-enabled home care

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from Tips For Aging In Place https://www.ageinplacetech.com/blog/tech-enabled-home-care-redux-do-investors-remember-2016

Future of Remote Care Technology and Older Adults 2020 -- Themes Emerge

What is the status and future of remote care technologies? As the research interviews for the 2020 report “Future of Remote Care Technology and Older Adults” wind down, a few themes become apparent. This work began in the summer of 2020 as the Covid-19 lockdown was underway. The pandemic has likely transformed the senior-focused ecosystem. It triggered ingenuity of senior care organizations and vendors; and it energized innovators and prospective investors. Reimbursement of technology was a key policy change in 2020 that fueled adoption and investment in telehealth. That change super-charged growth in telehealth-related companies that had been growing incrementally. And as senior living executives agreed early, from a technology investment standpoint there’s no turning back.

Among the 30 interviewees across 28 organizations, including Microsoft, AARP, Best Buy Health, Home Instead, and the Consumer Technology Association, here are a few of the themes that emerged from these conversations:

Connection matters – tech connectivity is a pre-requisite. That connectivity became essential for engagement, remote patient monitoring (RPM), telehealth interactions, family interactions, and staff communications. Although numerous workarounds have been cited, from selfie-sticks to Wi-Fi hot spots, what the pandemic revealed was the distressing lack of connectivity during lockdown for many older adults. That digital divide applied whether they live in senior living communities, nursing homes or remained in their own homes. The resulting gap exacerbated loneliness and isolation of seniors. Was this gap in connectivity due to the cost of connection, which varies across the United States and is higher than in other countries? Was it due to a gap in ownership and available of devices?

The home – not the hospital -- becomes the care delivery hub. Healthcare leaders and their tech partners agree on the need for radical change – and the result is the ramp-up of remote care offerings for the home. Why? As the pandemic continued, hospitals were losing $50 billion per month of revenue by June and many went out of business permanently. In addition, most doctors lost revenue as 70% of their patients deferred treatments resulting in excess deaths from causes such as Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and heart disease. These deaths were not directly caused by Covid-19, but were the result of delayed care, fear of care, or emotional distress. Providers now envision a care continuum that may extend into ‘hospital at home’ offerings.

Telehealth becomes an expectation – no longer just a future. As the pandemic proceeded, organizations experimented with (now-reimbursed) telehealth across multiple types of consultation, ranging from dermatology, plastic surgery, internal medicine appointments and beyond. In fact, in April, 43% of primary care visits for Medicare patients were through telehealth. Through July, CMS noted that 10 million Medicare beneficiaries used telehealth visits. The total of 34.5 million services including children represented a 2,632% increase over the prior period. Even as older people move back into the waiting rooms for in-person visits, the telehealth offering in its multiple formats is now an option in provider care. Because its use will persist in some format, industry leaders want to standardize appropriate workflow, video platforms, and communication with patients. Their efforts will likely be more formalized through multiple proposed 2021 regulatory changes.

[This is the 5^th blog post in the series about The Future of Remote Care Technology and Older Adults 2020, a research report to be published later in Q4 2020]

 

category tags: 

Telehealth-RPM-Voice Health, Boomer-Senior Tech Business, social isolation, computers, internet and social networking

• 

from Tips For Aging In Place https://www.ageinplacetech.com/blog/future-remote-care-technology-and-older-adults-2020-themes-emerge

Future of Remote Care Technology and Older Adults 2020 -- Themes Emerge

What is the status and future of remote care technologies? As the research interviews for the 2020 report “Future of Remote Care Technology and Older Adults” wind down, a few themes become apparent. This work began in the summer of 2020 as the Covid-19 lockdown was underway. The pandemic has likely transformed the senior-focused ecosystem. It triggered ingenuity of senior care organizations and vendors; and it energized innovators and prospective investors. Reimbursement of technology was a key policy change in 2020 that fueled adoption and investment in telehealth. That change super-charged growth in telehealth-related companies that had been growing incrementally. And as senior living executives agreed early, from a technology investment standpoint there’s no turning back.

Among the 30 interviewees across 28 organizations, including Microsoft, AARP, Best Buy Health, Home Instead, and the Consumer Technology Association, here are a few of the themes that emerged from these conversations:

Connection matters – tech connectivity is a pre-requisite. That connectivity became essential for engagement, remote patient monitoring (RPM), telehealth interactions, family interactions, and staff communications. Although numerous workarounds have been cited, from selfie-sticks to Wi-Fi hot spots, what the pandemic revealed was the distressing lack of connectivity during lockdown for many older adults. That digital divide applied whether they live in senior living communities, nursing homes or remained in their own homes. The resulting gap exacerbated loneliness and isolation of seniors. Was this gap in connectivity due to the cost of connection, which varies across the United States and is higher than in other countries? Was it due to a gap in ownership and available of devices?

The home – not the hospital -- becomes the care delivery hub. Healthcare leaders and their tech partners agree on the need for radical change – and the result is the ramp-up of remote care offerings for the home. Why? As the pandemic continued, hospitals were losing $50 billion per month of revenue by June and many went out of business permanently. In addition, most doctors lost revenue as 70% of their patients deferred treatments resulting in excess deaths from causes such as Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and heart disease. These deaths were not directly caused by Covid-19, but were the result of delayed care, fear of care, or emotional distress. Providers now envision a care continuum that may extend into ‘hospital at home’ offerings.

Telehealth becomes an expectation – no longer just a future. As the pandemic proceeded, organizations experimented with (now-reimbursed) telehealth across multiple types of consultation, ranging from dermatology, plastic surgery, internal medicine appointments and beyond. In fact, in April, 43% of primary care visits for Medicare patients were through telehealth. Through July, CMS noted that 10 million Medicare beneficiaries used telehealth visits. The total of 34.5 million services including children represented a 2,632% increase over the prior period. Even as older people move back into the waiting rooms for in-person visits, the telehealth offering in its multiple formats is now an option in provider care. Because its use will persist in some format, industry leaders want to standardize appropriate workflow, video platforms, and communication with patients. Their efforts will likely be more formalized through multiple proposed 2021 regulatory changes.

[This is the 5^th blog post in the series about The Future of Remote Care Technology and Older Adults 2020, a research report to be published later in Q4 2020]

 

category tags: 

Telehealth-RPM-Voice Health, Boomer-Senior Tech Business, social isolation, computers, internet and social networking

• 

from Tips For Aging In Place https://www.ageinplacetech.com/blog/future-remote-care-technology-and-older-adults-2020-themes-emerge

Five Recent Voice-Enabled Innovations for Older Adults 2020

Voice-enabled innovation softly races ahead. Technology innovation announcements whiz by at what seems to be a breakneck pace. Consider Amazon’s Whisper Mode – “I think you just whispered to me – Sau ‘turn on’ Whisper Mode.” Not just for insomniacs, imagine its utility for the faint-voiced older adult wanting to ask a question.  Or consider Apple Family Setup, which enables an Apple Watch to be set up and used without an iPhone, enabling texts, calls and GPS location.  Oe in-Car voice technology like Garmin Speak-Plus for directions without a screen (that’s a plus).   Here are five from recent times:

Amazon Care Hub. "Care Hub represents the next iteration of smart speakers, which have evolved from just playing music or providing the weather forecast, to enabling home security services and now supporting senior citizens at home. With Amazon’s Care Hub, users can receive notifications of their loved ones’ own Alexa interactions to monitor their activity throughout the day or ensure they have been reminded to take their medication, for example. A user can also “drop in” on a loved one by video calling them within the app. And most importantly, if a loved one uses their voice to call for help, Alexa will notify the user. (Alexa cannot call 911, but will notify the designated emergency contact.)" Learn more at Care Hub. Not yet released.

Amazon Guard Plus.  "Guard Plus will add a more robust "sounds of activity" detector, which will listen for doors opening or closing and other sounds associated with unwanted visitors. Second, Guard Plus will bring deterrence features, for instance triggering Alexa to play a recording of dogs barking if a security camera catches someone sneaking around the back of the house while you're away. Finally, the Guard Plus will add a new hands-free emergency help line, run by a third-party company, to connect users to emergency services like police, the fire department or emergency contacts." Learn more at CNET.

Constant Companion. "Constant Companion uses voice technology and video to create engaging experiences for older adults, anyone living alone, and senior communities. The company’s mission is to make people’s lives better by increasing their connection and protection. Constant Companion’s systems are supported by advanced security to protect privacy, as well as professional 24/7 monitoring. The monitoring system is voice activated, eliminating the need for wearable devices. The company protects individuals throughout the U.S. and partners with home care providers and assisted living facilities in about 200 cities nationwide." Learn more at Constantcompanion.com.

Google Nest Hub Max. "The Nest Hub Max, with its large screen, loud speakers, and built-in camera, is suitable device for keeping connected with family and friends Google Assistant and Nest teams have, well, teamed up, to improve that user experience for seniors to make their lives easier during these times. Nest Hub Maxes will have a pre-loaded shortlist of contacts that will make it easier to make a video call with as few taps as needed. There will also be new “What can you do?” informational cards that will give users hints at the many things they can ask Google Assistant to do for them." Piloted at Merrill Gardens.  Learn more at SlashGear.

 HandsFree Health Medical Alert. "HandsFree Health™ announced a medical alert system that integrates 24/7 emergency monitoring with the popular voice assistant, WellBe.The new medical alert experience uniquely combines the WellBe® Emergency Alert Smartwatch, WellBe voice assistant, and WellBe app for wellness support with emergency services help. WellBe Emergency Alert Smartwatch expands on the HandsFree Health voice technology platform with a sleek smartwatch that provides the comfort of emergency support directly through the watch or through the WellBe voice assistant device. The smartwatch can be used all day long as a heart rate monitor and pedometer and along with WellBe Smart Speaker, the HandsFree Health platform offers medication reminders, appointment reminders, and can record blood pressure, glucose and weight."  Learn more at HandsFree Health.

 

 

category tags: 

Voice First/AI/Voice Assistants, Telehealth-RPM-Voice Health

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from Tips For Aging In Place https://www.ageinplacetech.com/blog/five-recent-voice-enabled-innovations-older-adults-2020