During the Massachusetts Technology Council's Healthcare Lunch & Learn session, our speakers described their approaches in bringing healthcare technologies to help seniors and their caregivers (families). There were three key themes from their presentations and our group discussion which include the need to:

1) Define the right service bundles.
At Dovetail Health, Ben Bielak shared their learning around the need to offer "multiple services". Their customers wanted to start with a smaller step. Dovetail continues to listen to them and now offers an "assessment" as the first step with an ongoing monitoring service. Dovetail Health also learned about the importance of the "personal" aspect of their service.

Jim Albert believes in the cable bill model for Masonicare and is planning on a "Basic" and "Premium" service package. Through research and testing with seniors (and their families), Jim will validate which technologies to bundle into each package and whether there are additional packages required based on the needs of the senior.

2) Test different price points for each service bundle.
With a private pay model, Dovetail Health needs to find the optimal pricing. Ben referenced a study by Forrester Research which showed that the percentage of people that "say they would pay for services or equipment to help them stay at home as long as possible" is much higher that those that are actually " seeking medical care not covered by their insurance".

As Jim Albert explores different service bundles for this senior market, he will also be determining the right price for each service. He will need to consider the cost of supporting the technology and how this cost may vary for seniors living on campus (one of his company's 19 locations) vs. in their own homes in the community. Unlike Dovetail Health whose model is self- pay, Masonicare is currently supported by their Masonic organization. However, Jim will explore other business models for Masonicare in the future and pricing will impact market adoption.

3) Understand the information element of the service.
Although information (data) is being collected from these different healthcare technologies, it will be essential to determine what information needs to be delivered to each stakeholder (i.e. senior, caregiver/family, clinician), in what format and through which communication method (web, phone alerts, email alerts).

Jim Albert touched on the information needs of care team which includes personal safety, vitals, medications, sleeping patterns and ADLs (activities of daily living). Ben Bielak mentioned the requests for reports by the families. Dovetail Health sends out this information to the families and care team.

Future Plans
When planning this event, we purposely added the "Emerging Business & Market models" to the title. Companies will continue to learn from the market and evolve their business models accordingly.

Jim plans to do a pilot program at Masonicare, connecting these technologies based on the senior's need and learning how seniors will use them within his "smart apartments". Dovetail Health will continue to prove the value in bringing a "holistic approach to senior care" with a "dedicated geriatric health management team" to assist with health and lifestyle issues. As a technologist, Ben will be exploring different devices and web based technologies to streamline the collection and communication of information about the senior to enhance care.