Benefit Specialists, an industry leader since 1980, is a privately owned, full service insurance brokerage firm specialize in both employer-provided and voluntary benefits for companies of all sizes across a broad array of industries.  Affiliated with over 50 of the largest national insurance companies, they specialize in providing customized solutions for companies looking for group and individual insurance products and benefit plans which will meet the unique needs of employees. Recently, Benefit Specialists wrote an interesting article discussing the impact that emerging technologies are having on long-term care environments.  Check out the excerpt below, which explains how GrandCare is reshaping the healthcare landscape. 

“For those who want to maximize their peace of mind, Gomez says the Cadillac of virtual long-term care is a remote-monitoring system like that offered by grandCARE. 

With this system, activity sensors are placed in a senior’s home.  To use grandCARE, Managed Senior Care first evaluates what a typical ‘good day’ looks like for a senior and sets alerts accordingly.  For example, if a senior typically has breakfast by 9 a.m. and the refrigerator hasn’t been opened by that time, an alert may go out to a caregiver. 

As with Banner iCare, seniors using the grandCARE system are set up with a tablet.  In this case, it’s an oversized tablet that can be remotely activated.  If a caregiver needs to check on a senior, he or she can open Skype which will activate the camera and microphone on the tablet.  At that point, the caregiver can look for the senior and call out to him or her to determine whether help is needed. 

‘One of the reasons we like this product is because it’s respectful of the senior,’ Gomez says. ‘ You know when people are watching.  There is no secret monitoring.’”