Print“The key is, how do you take that infrastructure beyond just basic voice, data, and video? Healthsense allows us to foray into the wellness management and wellness monitoring area.”
Healthsense says it will leverage Verizon's broadband Internet service as a communications backbone for its networked health monitoring systems in a co-marketing deal aimed at developing new business in assisted-living centers.
With more than 36,000 assisted living communities in the United States housing more than one million seniors, according to the Assisted Living Federation of America, the opportunity to track and better manage health with new technologies is large.
Remote monitoring for healthcare management could significantly cut emergency room visits, reduce hospital admissions, and slash the length of hospital stays, according to a study prepared for Better Health Care Together, an alliance of business, labor, and policy groups. In total, the study forecasts that remote monitoring if fully embraced could reduce healthcare expenditures in the United States by $197 billion over 25 years.
Already companies such as Google, AT&T, and Microsoft have moved to take advantage of this burgeoning opportunity with joint ventures of their own.
"Clearly, we have a big fiber broadband infrastructure," says Eric Cevis, vice president for Verizon Enhanced Communities. The key is, how do you take that infrastructure beyond just basic voice, data, and video? Healthsense allows us to foray into the wellness management and wellness monitoring area.”
Under terms of the agreement between Verizon and Healthsense, senior-living communities already using Verizon's FiOS service or interested in installing or upgrading a home healthcare product will be referred to Healthsense. Healthsense will then provide those customers the monitoring devices, equipment, and 24-hour monitoring and maintenance services.
Healthsense bills its technologies as helping reduce the costs of home healthcare while allowing seniors to remain independent in their homes or assisted-living communities. Its eNeighbor system, for instance, uses a standard wireless Internet connection and small wireless sensors to keep tabs on seniors' regular activities, such as opening the refrigerator or walking into the kitchen. When those activities fall outside a normal range, the system automatically calls for help.
“Having the Verizon FiOS network already in place enables us to reach a wider base of communities more quickly,” says Healthsense president and CEO Brian Bischoff in a blog posting about the deal.
Verizon's FiOS Internet customer base increased to 4.3 million during the first quarter of 2011, giving the company customers in about one third of the homes it could potentially serve, according to the company.
Another Verizon unit, Verizon Wireless, is already working on another angle with BL Healthcare. In January, the pair announced a Healthcare Access Terminal that delivers multi-point high-definition video conferencing and simultaneous sharing of medical telemetry between remote patients and caregivers.
May 13, 2011
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-can_you_hear_me_now_i%e2%80%99ve_fallen_and_i_can%e2%80%99t_get_up.html
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