Providers who are looking to implement or upgrade their safety technologies are encouraged to explore the newly updated LeadingAge CAST Safety Technology Selection Tool for guidance on available solutions. In addition to a white paper with background on choosing these technologies, online matrices and an online selection tool can help you narrow the many tech solution options on the market to find those that best fit your organization’s needs.
The tool now includes updates on 50 products as well as information on seven new ones. Case studies show how your colleagues have used smart lighting, a handheld nurse call system, and a fall prevention system powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to increase resident safety and staff and family satisfaction.
The tool now offers information on these newly added products:
Accushield, a LeadingAge Business Partner
- Verify: Automated kiosk-based screening system that vets all third-party care providers and vendors.
- Visitor Management: Real-time visitor reporting and third-party caregiver tracking.
Compass Communications: Wireless nurse call systems established by data and telecommunications professionals.
Securitas Healthcare Electronic Security & Safety, a LeadingAge Business Partner: Wander management, emergency call/nurse call, and predictive fall management.
Smart Care Companion: Advanced AI technology that enhances safety, improves outcomes, and enables older adults to live independently at home for longer.
RF Technologies
- Sensatec: Restraint-free fall prevention solution.
- Help Alert: Badges and fobs that prioritize the well-being of staff, visitors, and buildings.
Firsthand Learning from CAST Case Studies
As part of the updated tool, these CAST case studies enable providers to learn about safety technology solutions in action, based on the experiences of other aging-services providers.
A New Era in Care: How Frontier Senior Living is Transforming Care with Nobi’s Smart Lights
In June 2024, Frontier Senior Living, a senior housing provider that operates 100 communities across the United States, partnered with LeadingAge Business Partner Nobi to pilot AI-powered smart lights in 56 rooms across two memory care communities.
By using vision technology, Nobi equips its AI with the tools needed for superior performance in fall detection and prevention. When a fall occurs, caregivers are notified immediately. Care managers can monitor notifications through a centralized dashboard.
Results include zero unwitnessed falls, ensuring no resident was left unattended; no long-lie falls; an 84% reduction in average intervention time, with response times decreasing to under four minutes; and a 95% reduction in maximum intervention time. The technology streamlined post-incident investigations and offered peace of mind for residents, families, and staff. After the successful pilot, Frontier Senior Living is expanding the implementation across 3,700 living units.
Handheld Nurse Call System Reduces Response Time
The Tuscola County Medical Care Community in Caro, MI, which offers convalescence for post-operative recovery and short- or long-term illnesses, short-term rehabilitation, and memory care, recently upgraded its nurse call system. This move to the VisionLink II from Compass Communications shifted staff notifications from pagers to smartphones. The upgrade increases staff awareness of resident needs and enables staff to initiate a real-time voice call with anyone logged in to the Mobile App, with little training needed.
One month after implementation, Tuscola County Medical Care Community observed a 50% reduction in average call light response times, especially among wait times of more than 20 minutes. The team gained an additional tool for community emergency responses, the community reduced direct replacement costs with the phones versus pagers, and residents are pleased with the shorter response times.
Improving Resident Safety at Alive Medicare with AI-Powered Fall Detection and Bed-Exit Prevention
Voxela, an AI-powered care monitoring system, has significantly reduced incidents and enhanced resident safety at Alive Medicare, headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. The advanced AI video alert system integrates with an existing nurse call and electronic health records infrastructure.
The VCare solution uses a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) vision sensor that detects particular motions, such as bed or chair exits. It sends the notification to a designated caregiver’s mobile device, enabling staff to intervene.
The AI sensor is 99% accurate in detecting true fall events, while reducing the potential for annoying false alarms by 99.8%, and it preserves residents’ dignity and independence. For residents requiring high-priority care, such as those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the bed exit feature enables staff to monitor disease progression while ensuring prompt assistance when needed. The system has increased staff response time, reduced the risk of complications from falls, and lowered staff workload, as well as improved staff retention and resident satisfaction.
Improving Medicare Advantage
