As the new year kicks off, Forbes has shared "Three Trends In Senior Care That Offer Opportunities For Health Tech Companies." The 2021 predictions reflect the growing need for user-friendly tools that keep older adults independent and support family caregivers. The pandemic has highlighted the following trends.
The new stimulus bill signed Dec. 21, 2020, includes $7 billion for broadband initiatives, including funding to provide broadband for low-income families during the pandemic. The supplemental appropriations provide funding and grants for Tribal broadband programs, telehealth, and rural broadband deployment, among other priorities.
LeadingAge CAST and eight other organizations have named two components needed to sustain consumers’ interest in and use of health IT, including portals and apps:
When the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) asked how to best leverage new technologies to address chronic disease management in underserved populations of older adults, LeadingAge CAST recommended these approaches:
Given the significant and disproportionate impact of COVID-19 and the social isolation it brought on older adults served by LeadingAge members, LeadingAge CAST has released a new Resident/Client Technology Support and Training Guide.
Prior to vaccination clinics, many LeadingAge and CAST members have been overwhelmed trying to pre-register hundreds of residents and employees with pharmacies, including pharmacies partnering with aging services providers.
Initially, the proposed new requirements will only apply to Medicaid and CHIP managed care plans, state Medicaid and CHIP fee-for-service programs, and some health insurance exchange plans. CMS indicates that nothing in the proposed rules precludes Medicare Advantage organizations from also implementing these policies but for now CMS will continue to evaluate whether to extend these requirements to MA organizations. LeadingAge encouraged them to do so noting the issues providers encounter with getting MA plans to timely approve prior authorizations.
Nanowave technology, which is being used to prevent the spread of COVID-19, has come to senior living. Presbyterian SeniorCare Network®, which serves more than 6,500 older adults each year in 10 counties in western Pennsylvania and is a LeadingAge Provider Member, has become the first aging services provider to deploy a new Nanowave technology device made by Dynamics.
This technology is also being expanded to address pathogens beyond COVID-19, which could assist with future infection control.
PointClickCare Technologies to Acquire Collective Medical
PointClickCare, a LeadingAge Gold Partner with CAST Focus, has announced its intent to acquire Collective Medical, a leading network-enabled platform for real-time cross-continuum care coordination. PointClickCare Technologies is a leader in cloud-based software technology and serves more than 21,000 long-term and post-acute care providers, including skilled nursing facilities, senior living communities, and home health agencies.
Strategic planning that future-proofs technology, and nationwide broadband, are among current priorities for technology aging services, said Majd Alwan, Ph.D., CAST executive director and senior vice president of technology and business strategy at LeadingAge.
Alwan recently shared these and other technology-related thoughts in episode 5 of the Reach Radio podcast, “What Every Post-Acute Care Facility Should Know.”
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