Posted by Ken Accardi on Tue, Sep 07, 2010 @ 08:11 AM
We often blog about "Aging in Place Technologies" and the reason is that we beleive that these technologies represent an opportunity for home care companies to do two things: 1) keep abreast of what's available (and often marketed direct to consumers and their families) and 2) Look for ways to grow your businesses with this technology. As an example, two weeks ago we did a blog post entitled Wired Homes for Tracking the Elderly: A private Duty Differentiator that you can read here. That post talked about home monitoring solutions that families are considering in lieu of private duty care, but then outlined a way that you can in fact grow your business by embracing the technology.
Today we bring you an update from Laurie Orlov, who is an expert consultant in all matters related to aging in place. She publishes a blog at http://ageinplacetech.com. Below is a sample of her research and writing with information to connect you to her site.
Aging in Place Technology Watch August Newsletter
by Laurie Orlov
August was a bonanza of buzz, buzz, buzz. Usually August is a snoozer (and a slow news month) in the business world, what 
with vacations and organizational regrouping. But beginning with the August 3 Intel-GE Joint Venture announcement that fueled hope and speculation about accelerating intentions, more activity and media tracked right behind. During August, Great Call announced a new Jitterbug medication reminder service, Healthsense received a round of investment led by Radius Ventures, a $1.3 billion M-Health market sizing got Qualcomm and AT&T excited. Or maybe that that was 'mHealth' -- Best Buy (re)surfaced with health-related stuff in stores. Within the general what's-it-all-mean confusion, more press followed last month's NY Times series -- this time NPR offered up a series on aging and technology as well. Never one to shut up, I offered my own 'bah humbug' assessment of the assessment.
Alzheimer's hype, hope, oops...reality. Speaking of saturated media coverage, August was a month in which the unsuspecting might actually think an Alzheimer's revolution was at hand. Following July's news of amending (expanding) criteria as to what consitutes the disease, next came identification of biomarkers as possible early warning indicators. But stay cautious about remedies and prevention: see yesterday's NY Times published the NIH jury and Duke 'meta' study -- a study of all previously published studies about what's proven and what's not. The short answer about the various prevention and remedies studied to date -- the answer: NOT PROVEN. Implication? New criteria potentially broadens the population beyond the current 5 million, diagnosis is potentially going to be at an earlier age, and nothing has been proven to work at staving off or curing the disease. To me, this signals an opportunity to create or re-purpose smarter GPS and geo-fencing apps (not just technologies) to prevent wandering, not just find those who are lost -- and while we're at it, let's see some studies that prove which ones work best and under what conditions. We're going to need them.
And how long before the iPad solves everything? Ah well, sigh, I guess it will be just a bit longer, judging from the Nielsen study noting that only 15% of iPad buyers are over age 56. I bet that even those (no demographics to prove) are not that much over, either. And will the smart phone be the remote monitoring and fall detection device of choice, meaning all others rest? Not in the near term -- seniors aren't buying or using them either. So for all those who ask about this -- I doubt it. Remember, Apple doesn't even want admit to marketing to baby boomers!. And carriers express interest and even dabble a bit here and there, but invest little or nothing in marketing. So in the meantime, keep on keeping on with solutions for the foreseeable future. When there's a big change, you can read it on this site early and often.
And for those who might be running around here and there like I will be in the fall -- look on the left side of the website at http://www.ageinplacetech.com for a list of events.
For any of you who are interested in aging in place technologies and who will be in the Boston area on September 23rd, Ankota helped organize a great event featuring Laurie. You can learn more and sign up at http://silvertsunami.eventbrite.com/.
Ankota provides software to improve the delivery of care outside the hospital. Today Ankota services home health, private duty care, DME Delivery, RT, Physical Therapy and Home Infusion organizations, and is interested in helping to efficiently manage other forms of care. To learn more, please visit www.ankota.com or contact Ankota.
Posted by Will Hicklen on Wed, Jan 27, 2010 @ 02:36 PM
Ankota announced its entry into the Private Duty Home Care market last week, timing the announcement with its exhibit at the 5
th Annual Private Duty Home Care Leadership Summit in Phoenix, AZ, January 24-26
th.
See related news release ANKOTA ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF ANKOTA HDM FOR PRIVATE DUTY HOME CARE (January 18, 2010).
http://www.ankota.com/releases/bid/33990/ANKOTA-ANNOUNCES-LAUNCH-OF-ANKOTA-HDM-FOR-PRIVATE-DUTY-HOME-CARE
Q: Why is Ankota entering the Private Duty market?
A: (Will) Private Duty has always been part of our plan. Our vision is to change the way that healthcare is planned, coordinated, and delivered outside of the hospital setting, and Private Duty is an important piece of that equation.
It's also a big market, and growing rapidly. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 1.2 million people work in private duty care and more than 400,000 jobs are expected to be added by 2020, making it the fastest growing segment in home care. We see a huge opportunity to help Private Duty companies better plan and schedule their services and operate more profitably, especially in an era that demands greater accountability.
Q: Why is Private Duty growing so quickly?
A: (Will) There are several trends driving this, but one of the primary reasons is that Private Duty companies are uniquely positioned to provide what are called "non-medical" services to the elderly. The "Silver Tsunami" is coming, and the population that is aged 65+ is expected to triple over the next 20 years. People prefer to live at home as long as possible and avoid nursing facilities as long as they can. The demand for home health and support services will continue to increase, and Private Duty will play a major role.
Q: Why does Private Duty need another software company?
A: (Will) They DON'T need another software company! They need to be more productive with the resources they have and they need to grow their businesses profitably. Technology can enable a lot of that, but most software companies miss this opportunity. We're stepping in to solve it with technology that organizes health care into a "delivery model," to make it more efficient and reliable. We call it "Healthcare Delivery Management," or HDM for short.
Posted by Ken Accardi on Tue, Jan 12, 2010 @ 07:22 AM
Today, NAHC shared the following information about National Influenza Vaccination Week that is going on now and we're publishing it here to help spread the word to the home care, private duty and DME companies who follow our blog.
National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW) is a national observance that was established to highlight the importance of continuing influenza vaccination, as well as foster greater use of flu vaccine after the holiday season into January and beyond. This year's NIVW (originally scheduled for December 6-10, 2009) will be held January 10-16, 2010. Visit www.Flu.gov/getvaccinated for more information.
Since the spread of 2009 H1N1 influenza is likely to continue into the new year, NIVW will be an important opportunity to promote uptake of 2009 H1N1 flu vaccination at a time when demand for vaccine usually drops significantly. While influenza is unpredictable, and while we do not know the likelihood of a future wave of H1N1 influenza, we do know that if more people are vaccinated, the disease is less likely to spread in the coming months.
One of the many goals for NIVW is to engage at-risk audiences who are not yet vaccinated, hesitant about vaccination, or unsure about where to get vaccinated. Every year, certain days during NIVW are designated to highlight the importance for certain groups, like health care workers and children, to get vaccinated. This year's national schedule is as follows:
Day Focus
- Sunday, January 10 Kickoff
- Monday, January 11 General audience and health care workers
- Tuesday, January 12 People with chronic health conditions that put them at high risk of serious influenza-related complications
- Wednesday, January 13 Children, pregnant women, and caregivers of infants less than 6 months old
- Thursday, January 14 Young adults (19 to 24 years old)
- Friday, January 15 Seniors
- Saturday, January 16 Wrap-up
Below is a link to our popular post that explains how to tell the difference between the H1N1 virus and a cold. To learn more about software for home care efficiency, software for private duty care telephony and software to help improve DME delivery operational excellence, please contact us.
Posted by Karen McGagh on Thu, Sep 10, 2009 @ 05:52 PM
Ankota is serious about healthcare reform and is committed to helping to truly reform healthcare. We define reform as providing better healthcare and lower cost. While Washington debates over who will pay for healthcare, Ankota wants to know that entrepreneurs, like Ankota, have already begun the work to make it happen. See the press release here.