While COVID-19 continues to be a challenge for older adults, a new pilot program will provide telehealth and internet access to low-income older adults in affordable housing communities.
Lighthouse for Older Adults will equip older adult residents with internet access, digital hardware and software, telehealth tools, and digital literacy skills they need to access information, healthcare services, and social connections.
More assurance that telehealth flexibilities will continue past the current COVID-19 public health emergency came in early September, at a meeting of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. MedPAC will advise Congress on how to proceed on permanent policies.
Results from recent research indicate that senior living technology is poised to continue explosive growth. A recent survey shows an 80% increase in spending on telehealth and other technologies since the pandemic began, and two additional studies show that telehealth adoption and satisfaction has increased among older adults since the pandemic began.
Senior housing operator Stage Management sought an electronic health record (EHR) solution to improve incident management, record keeping, and communication at Golden Pond Retirement Community. Yardi EHR provided a robust solution. Built into the Yardi Senior Living Suite, Yardi EHR gives caregivers seamless access to resident records and point-of-care charting. Yardi is a LeadingAge CAST Supporter.
COVID-19 has brought explosive growth in telehealth investments and created more opportunities for healthcare tech in senior living, according to speakers at the Collaborative Care & Health IT Innovations Summit. LeadingAge CAST and the LTPAC Health IT Collaborative sponsored the summit, held virtually Sept. 15-17, 2020.
PointClickCare Appoints Betsy Atkins to Board of Directors
A new venture capital firm called Primetime Partners has launched, with a focus on seed and early-stage investments in products, services, technologies, and experiences for the aging.
A bright new technology to fight COVID-19 is being installed at NexCare Health Systems and the Wellbridge Group in Brighton, MI. Ultraviolet (UV) light will be put inside the heating and cooling (HVAC) systems in three long-term care facilities by the end of August, McKnight's Long-Term Care News reported. The remainder of the 26 facilities are expected to have the UV lights by year end.
A new report recommends ways to preserve the expanded use of telehealth that has come from the COVID-19 public health emergency. “Telehealth During a Time of Crisis: Medicare Experiences Amid COVID-19” notes that the expanded telehealth policies, including audio as a reimbursable telehealth modality, have yielded similar rates of access regardless of age demographic, race/ethnicity, income level, and urbanicity.
A bill to provide emergency supplemental funding to programs that strengthen social connectedness and address the negative health effects of social isolation in the Older Americans Act (OAA) has been introduced in the Senate. Technological solutions to increase social engagement would be eligible for this funding.
Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) introduced S. 4477, the “Strengthening Social Connections Act of 2020,” in early August. U.S. Representative David Trone (MD-6) joined in introducing this bicameral legislation in the House.
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