Why Digital Home Health Isn’t Selling

I believe it is more about the transition from the AV/Home Theater dealer to being a true Electronics Systems Contractor (ESC). This industry is struggling to transition from “Home Theater” guys to really address the electronic needs of our lives (even as we age). This same speed bump happened with IT services and video gaming. The CEDIA market practically fought back because it was not home theater, whole house AV, or control system. The industry is still struggling with energy management, which is a lot more than energy monitoring. This industry is at an important juncture that will require a lot of dealers to adjust to being a true ESC.

Have you ever tried to sell tech to old people?

Therein lies the problem. This article is about selling piece of mind to care givers and helping an aging population live in their own home with autonomy. It isn’t about selling technology to old people. They do not want to live in a “old people’s home”. They want to live at home and not be a bother to their children. They key is to sell the benefit, not to sell the technology. The CEDIA market is struggling past that transition of selling the cool technology and start selling the benefit. We are touching everything electronically in the home, and yet we ignore a major lifestyle shift, aging in place.

Paul is right on. The primary sales target is the family member and/or caregiver, not the elderly “loved one.”

This is an interesting article, Jason, thanks for posting!

I see a few reasons why the market has been slow to accept!  One of the problems was technology in general!  It took a while to really get a hold on the industry!  We started selling GrandCare back in 2006, set up a dealer network in 2007.  Some of it was just a waiting game, waiting until the market caught up with the early dealers’ visions. 

I think in a lot of ways, all of our dealers have been extremely visionary, so often way ahead of the curve. They saw the need, they saw the solution years before the general public noticed.

So, some of it was just getting prepared, waiting it out, getting educated and educating their local population on the solutions available.

I do agree with you that so often, there is much more hand holding and explanation/education involved (at least for now) in this industry. We often find that many of our dealers that are successful have experience already in the elder care market OR have been smart to partner with an aging expert.  Some of our dealers have partnered or hired on a geriatric care manager, nurse, continuum of care expert, etc.  These partners are the ones that know HOW to talk with the caregivers/loved ones AND they know how to identify problems and help to solve them using technology.

It’s darn hard to sell something to a demographic that you really know nothing about. For this very reason, in 2008, I started up industry wide aging/technology webinars. They were designed to educate our dealers on the aging market and how to apply tech to those situations!  They are still happening - the 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month - we meet here: http://grandcaresystems.webex.com (all are welcome)

Biggest mistake is when a dealer joins this market to “make a quick buck” - it’s not an easy sale, but it IS fulfilling, heartwarming and as an added bonus, the margins are good!

Thanks for the post!

The other issue is the difficulty of the family member to “sell” the idea to the loved one and for the loved one to use the monitor apparatus consistently.

The PERS market is already saturated by well-known players in that market, and it’s hard to beat them on price. If you already have a call center it’s a simple add-on, but you’re still in a battle for market share.

AFA upscale solutions, nobody ever mentions price-point as being part of the difficulty. The current products I’ve seen are well into 4 figures, yet offer little or no direct utility to the person under care.  I can easily understand family members choosing to enlist one of the many personal home care services with those dollars instead.  We in this business like to think there is a tech answer for everything, but this seems like skating uphill to me.

And liability? Regardless what a manufacturer might tell you,  EVERYBODY would be on the hot seat if something happens to Granny and the lawyers get involved.

Your comment that there is no liability to the dealer, that is is borne by the manufacturer (GrandCare) is incorrect.  This has been a major hurdle for us as a dealer.  I have had communications with GrandCare and their insurance carrier and both have stated that we are responsible for our own insurance to protect us if the system goes down.  GrandCare will not let us “piggyback” because we are the installers and blame could be placed there.  It has been a major struggle to find anyone who will even entertain insurance for our company and the couple of quotes I’ve gotten are extremely high.  I cannot even imagine if we carried/placed PERS products what our insurance would be.

Pam hit it on the head..

“Liability”... my favorite word.
If you don’t have TV or Music no one can die.  Even if the product is perceived as life care… I think you could have issues.

Yes - we do not say there is zero liability to the dealer. We (GrandCare) are liable 100% (not the dealer) for our software (we are agreeing that it works!). We do not mfger any of our hardware (the touch computers or sensors), so although we may be held liable for those things, we are not making them. Pam is right, dealers may share liability (if blame can be placed on the installation, set up, faulty equipment) if something were to happen! I think the biggest hurdle can be that insurers don’t quite understand what we are - being that it is a fairly new category!!
Liability is always a stickler - especially when getting into a cutting edge (shall I say bleeding edge) industry like this!!!!

I think you are right. It is a process to court a prospective buyer. I am in the clinical field and I am a dealer. I have recruited and trained a team to speak to primary care physicians, families who seek in home care, etc. I have families who come to me for other in home services and this still seems to be a unjustifiable purchase for them, mainly the price. Many ask; is it covered by Medicare? Working with any provider involves hand holding too plus agreements, not to mention we have to be able to answer health information technology questions. we have just brought our first physicians on board this month. I’m hoping their endorsement to their patients will help. A vendor who just plans to do installs will have a tough go in my opinion. I have been a dealer for a few months working 50 hours a week to get a support model in place based on what my current client feedback has been. Just now I feel like we might be getting there. However, I have a team of outreach coordinators (3), installers ready to go (3), internal staff and an advisory board with attorneys, health professionals, etc.  Why? Because with health reform and the requirement of providers they are looking for partners who can provide them more benefit, integrated billing, cost containment, quantifiable aggregated data to improve health delivery. Why all of this for home care? Because if we are talking about aging in place, a physician gives orders to a nurse and chronic care is carried out by a nurse, caregiver or family member, hence the progress notes which should go back to the clinical professional for proper continuity of care. When the senior is high functioning, they may be the end user. As health diminishes, the caregiver and family members may communicate more. If a health professional is missing when the senior’s health diminishes there is no professional in the at-home care loop and they end up at a nursing facility eventually. The families I speak to say this and say why by a system if my mom is going to go to a nursing facility soon? Proper community health support structures help for true aging in place (in my opinion),  helps to justify the long term use of a GC system, hence the price also is justified with the need and the ability to save money over a longer period of time.

Is anyone gearing a system towards disabled vets? These would the most independant of the bunch that require home health care.
As far as the elderly… Untill an electronic device can put someone on and off the pot
there will need to be a caretaker present.

I think all of these systems are very appropriate for disabled vets. In fact, we have talked with the VA a number of times about the GrandCare System, it seems like it would have great applications in that field. GrandCare can be used for all kinds of things. I use it in my own home to monitor my kids (I get a call if they get out bed during the night and if the front door opens during the night - I have a 3 year old wanderer)
I also use it to ensure that my dog is let out during the day, remind myself to give the kids vitamins, it provides our family calendar, a way for the boys to view carefully selected youtube videos and play games. There are other uses where boomers use it to monitor their own vitals (glucose, weight, bp, pulseox).

I feel that there is a very large upside. There are currently over 100 million citizens in the US over the age of 50 (according to the 2010 Census). This, much like other technologies, is just in its early adoption. Consumer awareness is limited: this will change. by 2015 there will be a shortage of 150,000 doctors (accd. to the Wall St. Journal). Thus as the population increases and doctors decrease, technology will fill the gap (IMO).

Home health is in its infancy, but has a bright future.

The Digital Health market is related to the Digital Smart Home market, which has not taken off after 40 years. Here one reason why: http://www.mhealthtalk.com/2011/06/when-will-the-digital-smart-home-market-take-off/

It’s not a sales PUSH but a demand PULL that requires marketing and responding to market NEEDS. Even then there are issues with inertia, techphobia, interoperability and complexity. Our site tries to address these issues with a community to help connect people with low- and high-tech solutions for home healthcare.