LAS CRUCES, N.M., Jan. 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- An alarming number of people will not be able to rely on loved ones to care for them in old age, as the caregiver gap continues to widen. According to the AARP Public Policy Institute, the population aged 45 to 64, the peak caregiving age group, is expected to increase by just 1 percent by 2030, while the population aged 80 and older will rise by 79 percent.
In the face of America's caregiver crisis, Electronic Caregiver®, a 24/7 virtual care and health technology company based in Las Cruces, New Mexico, is offering a solution with Addison Care™. Following on the heels of CES, the world's Consumer Electronics Show, this groundbreaking technology will be presented for the first time at the 2020 HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition March 9-13 in Orlando, Florida. The event brings together nearly 45,000 health information and technology professionals, clinicians, executives and market suppliers from around the world.
Addison Care™ is paving the way for the Smart Health Home with Addison, the Virtual Caregiver™, a state-of-the-art, 3D animated caregiver with an endearing personality. She is designed to engage with and help monitor the health of aging and chronically ill clients, as well as child patients, via touch-screen devices strategically placed throughout a residence.
Addison Care™ has been featured on Fox Network News, AARP, Yahoo! News, Reviewed.com, MaRS, AP News, McKnight's Long-Term Care News, StreetInsider, KTSM9 News, I4U News and more, as well as garnered attention from Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson and A&E Networks.
"All of the things that [Addison] can answer, the things that she can do for in-home care is something that I've not seen before," said A&E Networks Head of Enthusiast Brands Christian Murphy, after seeing a demonstration of Addison's capabilities at CES 2020. "I think it absolutely has global implication, without question."
Equipped with high-quality sound, far-field microphones, Intel® RealSense™ depth cameras and several Bluetooth devices, Addison provides voice-driven medication reminders; leads patients through the steps of recording a vital, such as weight, blood oxygen levels, and temperature; ensures patients are adhering to their doctor's health recommendations, and offers 24/7 emergency and telehealth services at the touch of a button. She will also be able to monitor behavioral health, provide rehabilitation support by demonstrating various physical therapy exercises and respond to questions via integrated Amazon Alexa software.
Addison is anticipated to be released during the second quarter of this year into assisted living and independent adult living environments.
"…We're going through some cost reduction and some refinements, so we're going to actually improve the quality, bring the cost down and we're going to introduce something that nobody expected," Electronic Caregiver® CEO Anthony Dohrmann said.
Along with keeping loved ones in the loop, Addison Care's vital-tracking technology allows health organizations to monitor patients remotely, giving physicians and care team members the ability to react in real time and provide better outcomes. Electronic Caregiver® has already deployed the Addison Architecture to manage thousands of patients nationwide with its Pro Health, a home-based smart health hub that monitors vitals and key health metrics. This service falls under Remote Patient Monitoring, which is now reimbursed by Medicare for qualifying chronic illness conditions and covered by Medicaid in some states.
Plans are also in the works for Addison, the Virtual Caregiver™, to enter the market as part of the Medicare-based Remote Patient Monitoring solution, reducing high health care costs for patients. A study by West Health and Gallup, published in 2019, showed that in the span of a year, seniors had withdrawn an estimated $22 billion from long-term savings to pay for medical expenses not covered by Medicare.
"I don't think there's any question that revolutionizing health care in this country is one of the major grand challenges that we will face over the next several decades," said New Mexico State University Chancellor Dan Arvizu at CES 2020. "I think being able to reduce those costs, focus on preventative medicine – especially for elderly care – is enormously, I think, important both for the country, for our economic success, and ultimately, for the quality of life that I think we all expect."
Video links
CES 2020 Addison, the Virtual Caregiver™, overview: https://vimeo.com/386124857
See Addison in action: https://vimeo.com/375008338
About Electronic Caregiver®:
Electronic Caregiver® has become a leading and highly recognized brand for virtual care solutions and Remote Patient Monitoring services. The company staff size more than doubled in 2019 and is nearing 150 full-time employees. Electronic Caregiver® has invested more than $55 million and 10 years into research, development and a staged rollout of virtual care and health management solutions for chronic care patients, child patients and older adults.
Electronic Caregiver® offers its solutions through a network of leading national home care providers and health institutions and team members. Addison Care™ is the company's most advanced new technology, offering a Virtual Caregiver™ that deploys technology using IoT, 3D animation, mixed reality, Bluetooth, natural language processing, machine learning, visual sensing and a suite of integrated electronics. The company manages its business using an advanced proprietary enterprise management platform designed by the company and named Orion.
Electronic Caregiver® and Addison Care™ are now involved in numerous official clinical research initiatives in clinical settings to further validate utilization and efficacy in areas of improved outcomes, improved treatment adherence and optimized continuum of care.
SOURCE Electronic Caregiver
