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Help, I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Reach My Apple Watch!

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Connected health, wearables, digital health, population data, and big data are all the rage right now. As the baby boomers reach retirement age, the market for technology to help the aging population gains momentum.  Changes happen quickly. That’s why we’ve decided to produce a new #LMCTechTuesday Innovation in Aging Series to keep you, and ourselves, up to speed.

Who were the early players in this market? Who paved the way and shaped this booming connected health world? What happened before the rest of the world knew that this stuff even existed?  Where did they get their ideas for products, for marketing, for financing their innovations? What did they learn along the way? What would they do differently? And most importantly, where are their visionary products and minds taking us tomorrow?

We decided to swing for the bleachers right away with long term care veterans Myron Kowal of RCare and David Inns of GreatCall. What’s after that? Watch for all your favorites: Charlie Hillman, Mary Furlong, Jill Gilbert, Laurie Orlov and many more.

“The series is dedicated to the groundbreaking innovators who paved the way for the aging and technology marketplace we see today,” said long-time aging/tech veteran and LMC founder, Laura Mitchell. “There is so much we can learn from the people at the forefront of the industry. These are the people with the vision to define and educate this market, setting the pace for the many complementary and necessary products and services that help so many seniors today.  I have learned so much already and I hope you appreciate their wisdom as much as we do.”

A new interview will be featured every Tuesday on the Laura Mitchell Consulting blog with the hashtag #LMCTechTuesday.   

What industry experts are saying about the LMC “Meet the Innovators” project:

“The Independent Aging technology industry is still very young and undeveloped.  All of the industry participants need to work together to share ideas and help stimulate primary demand.  By having these conversations and learning from them, we can all grow more interest and momentum in the space.” David Inns, CEO of GreatCall

“The past 10 years have felt like a sprint uphill, but I wouldn’t trade the experiences and relationships I and GrandCare made along the way. I feel like we’ve been a major player in redefining how people age at home. That feels good and what feels even better is that people are finally buying into the notion of using enabling technologies.” Charlie Hillman, Founder of GrandCare Systems  

“People don’t understand how much has changed in the past 10-20 years in the nurse call and emergency response space.  This series is critical to outline where we’ve come from, and where we’re going, on our quest for faster and better products and services to help the people we love.” Myron Kowal, CEO of RCare (Response Care)

If you are interested in this market and what the heavy-hitters have to say about it, follow the Laura Mitchell Consulting blog. Learn about the history, present and future of the aging technology industry directly from the insiders who have made this all happen.

Do you know someone that should be featured in “Meet the Innovators”? Contact LMC at info@lmcllc.us and let us know.

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Meet the Innovators: Charlie Hillman, CEO GrandCare Systems

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In the third edition of our blog series on innovators in the Technology and Aging industry, we’re talking with Charlie Hillman, founder and CEO of GrandCare Systems. Below is an excerpt of our recent conversation.

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Q: Thanks for talking with us, Charlie. Can you briefly explain who you are and what you do?

A: I’m Charlie Hillman, CEO and founder of GrandCare Systems. I make people’s lives better. At least I hope I do.

Q: How did you get into this industry?

A: It started with a personal need. My great-aunt Clara was living next door. She was in her late 80s at the time. We got along great. I checked in on her frequently, had her over for meals once or twice a day. But when she had a problem with her furnace, we didn’t know, because she didn’t want to bother us. A simple temperature sensor could have alerted me to the problem right away. Anyway, it started there, and evolved into something much more. Some of it comes from what I think I’ll need when I age. At some point I realized that, without an application of technology to our aging and healthcare challenges, our country, which includes my grandchildren, will be in trouble.

Q: How did you create your product?

A: I started it in the early 90s. Part of it was in my basement, initially. I’m an engineer. So I started tinkering with what would become GrandCare, using the existing level of technology, but always with a mind that things would improve. So I left some “fill-in-the-blank” areas, where I knew technology would likely show up to enable what I wanted to do, and that would make it affordable for everyday people to use. You always program for the next machine. We still do that. Those that program for present end up creating a product for the past.
[pullquote align=”right” cite=”Charlie Hillman, CEO GrandCare Systems” link=”” color=”#69AE22″]”You always program for the next machine. Those that program for the present end up creating a product for the past.”[/pullquote]
Q: What would you change about this industry?

A: I’d like to give the end user a little more say in what happens. I’d like to reduce the influence of people who are in this industry primarily for the money.  This is an emotional and passion-driven industry. You can tell who has a heart and soul for changing the way we age, for the better.

Q: How is GrandCare changing the way we provide aging services?

A: GrandCare’s systems make it a lot easier for more people to worry about someone’s well being, including the family and the people themselves. Enabling someone to have more control over their situation, more influence over their own wellness, is extremely important, and really the only way we get significant improvements.

What’s interesting is that influencing people to take better care of themselves quite often has to do with where the advice is coming from. The system doesn’t have an opinion. It doesn’t have an emotional or irritable response to your behavior. You might not do something if your daughter told you to do it, even if you know it’s good for you, but you would do it when your system tells you to. And the best part is that GrandCare never gets tired of providing constant reminders.GrandCare

Q: What’s next for GrandCare?

A: An expanded market penetration, once the government, and society as a whole, realizes this is the only way for the healthcare system to remain solvent. Our technology is enabling technology. It is a vehicle to provide better, faster and more transparent care. We need drivers such as nurses, doctors and caregivers using it to analyze vitals and activity patterns and to really influence patient behavior.

Q: What advice would you offer a new entrepreneur in this space?

A: There will be no lack of people telling you you’re wrong, that what you want to do can’t be done. Someone will tell you not to quit your day job. You have to shake it off. Have faith in yourself. Have faith in your vision.

GrandCare is the winner of the 2012 CEA Innovation Entrepreneur Award for Small Business of the Year, and is a two-time winner of SeniorHomes.com’s Most Innovative Senior Products Award.

Laura Mitchell Consulting is a strike team of experts in the aging and technology industry. Know someone that we should feature in our “Meet the Innovators” blog series? Contact us at info@lmcllc.us and let us know!