Covid-19 fallout pushed the care industries into the home. A sweeping set of changes from that time that may have appeared temporary. But a number of these changes are likely permanent. Telehealth vs. in-person: the Covid-19 public health emergency declaration to reimburse doctors for providing telehealth services for Medicare recipients has been repeatedly renewed. Bills are in Congress will make it permanent. Medical practices are now offering choices to patients – in person or telehealth? Home care vs. assisted living – the demand is for home care. Hospitals continue to close, especially in rural areas. Acute care delivery at home for Medicare recipients has been endorsed by the American Hospital Association – and bills supporting it may pass. Finally, the CMS-created codes for remote patient monitoring (RPM) can be used for reimbursement of chronic disease monitoring services.
We are used to citing population surveys to cite trends. Tech adoption among older adults is clearly increasing. The growth has been tracked most recently in survey samples that compared the most recent with prior time periods: AARP surveyed 2063 and Pew Research surveyed 1502 adults. And Linkage Connect surveys the oldest, with a sizable sample of 2398 older adults. For all three, broadband access and smartphone ownership and use is growing. But what if tech adoption came from a sample size of 2.9 million households pulled from the 5-year census (American Community Survey/ACS) data? That was posted in November of 2021, with surveying ending in 2020 (just before Covid-19) and was made available within the last month. Good news -- seventy-six percent of the 65+ population as of 2020 has access to broadband -- and tech adoption has clearly risen since 2015. One might assume that post-Covid census data will be even more significant.
Isn’t March a l-o-n-g month? So many weeks, so many blog posts to, uh, post. Note the top trends that matter this year. Many changes underway in the enabling tech categories for older adults – including the importance of tech for home care agencies – not just the apps for the workers, but for care recipients, such as remote monitoring. And for hearing aid wearers, the smartphone can carry multiple apps that improve their quality of life. Finally, the smartwatch, aka personal emergency response device, gets another entrant – and the very first mobile PERS ('medical alert') company, Mobile Help, is acquired. Summing up the month:
Covid-19 fallout pushed the care industries into the home. A sweeping set of changes from that time that may have appeared temporary. But a number of these changes are likely permanent. Telehealth vs. in-person: the Covid-19 
We are used to citing population surveys to cite trends. Tech adoption among older adults is clearly increasing. The growth has been tracked most recently in survey samples that compared the most recent with prior time periods: 
Staffing issues continue to plague senior care organizations. The news articles pile up – 
Isn’t March a l-o-n-g month?