More Keynote Speakers Announced for CAST-Led Summit

Keynote Speakers Announced for Collaborative Care & Health IT Innovations Summit

Be sure to register for the Collaborative Care & Health IT Innovations Summit! Join us June 23-25 in Baltimore, MD, for the premiere cross-sector, collaborative care health IT conference, which LeadingAge CAST convenes.
 
Three keynote speakers have been announced:

  • LeadingAge CAST International Chair Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, of the Margolis Center for Health Policy at Duke University, will discuss value-based payment and care reform, including new opportunities for technology partners.
  • Steven Posnack, M.S., M.H.S., executive director at the Office of Technology, will share the latest efforts at the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT (ONC) to advance person-centered health IT initiatives.
  • Peter Kress, the senior vice president and chief information officer at CAST Patron Acts Retirement-Life Communities Inc. and CAST’s own co-founding Commissioner, will discuss artificial intelligence (AI) applications in collaborative care.

I will moderate the discussions. This year’s Summit theme is “Technology Integrating Pre-Acute and LTPAC Services into the Healthcare and Payment Ecosystems.”

Summit sessions will cover the ways technology is enabling innovative care delivery and payment models, plus broader health IT, interoperability, and health information exchange modalities. The Summit also brings significant value for health information exchange intermediaries, consultants, system integrators, and solution providers. Register today!

Code Discusses Telehealth at World Health Care Congress 2019

CAST Associate Director Scott Code served on a panel at World Health Care Congress 2019, where he shared the importance of social connectedness in home care.
 
He told the panel that telehealth is much more than virtual health visits—it encompasses remote patient monitoring, educational disease-specific content, medication management, activity and daily living monitoring, and safety technology. He also raised the question of what to do with this data once it’s collected. Code’s comments appeared in a recent AJMC article.

Watch for LeadingAge Member Survey in June

On June 6, watch your email for a LeadingAge member survey. Please complete this confidential survey, which will provide important baseline information about the LeadingAge membership. The survey includes foundational technology questions. The results will provide four benefits to you:

  • Compare yourself to others in the field, with fresh data on LeadingAge members’ services, resident populations, and workforce makeup.
  • Find national and state-level staffing data.
  • Reap the benefits of data-driven advocacy.
  • Lay the groundwork for the future, against which LeadingAge can track national and state trends in the long-term supports and services field, conduct further research, and realign its member services and resources to help members address those trends.

I urge you to complete this important survey.

Link∙age Connect Releases 2019 Technology Survey

Link∙age Connect found smartphones, smart TVs, and smart speakers to be the hot items in its 2019 Technology Survey of older adults age 55-100. Approximately 70% are willing to buy technology and are upgrading products such as the television, tablet, and mobile phone.
 
Yet respondents noted low interest in new technologies. The survey also found that far fewer older adults in affordable housing own devices or have Wi-Fi access. Report authors identified several low-tech approaches, such as helping older adults simplify their lives, as opportunities for tech developers.

Eskaton Becomes First California Provider to Offer Alexa to All Residents

Earlier this month, Eskaton Village Roseville became the first senior living provider in California to offer Amazon Alexa to all its residents in one community. The new voice-first enhancements reach 100 seniors in assisted living and are built on the community’s existing Smart Home capabilities. Residents can use them to turn on and off lights, adjust their thermostat, call the front desk, and ask for the events of the day. Eskaton partnered on the project with K4Connect.

How Robots Can Help People with Dementia

Researchers at the University of California San Diego are helping to pave the way for robots to help both people who have dementia and their caregivers. Research results identified characteristics these robots should have, such as being able to adapt to changing behaviors as dementia progresses.

CAST Members Make News

Please join me in congratulating several CAST members: the Gold Partner that launched a new app, the Patron that piloted a robot, and the Supporter and the Business Associate that embarked on new partnerships.

If you have news to share with CAST or if I can be of assistance in any way, please don’t hesitate to contact me.