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 Today in Health it, the story is CVS launches, home Medical Alert monitor. Will it work this time? My name is Bill Russell. I'm a former CIO for a 16 hospital system and creator of this week in Health IT a channel dedicated to keeping health IT staff current. And engaged. I wanna thank our sponsor for today's show, Sirius Healthcare.

They reached out to me about this time last year and said we'd love what you're doing and really appreciate your mission to develop the next generation of health leaders. Uh, the rest is really history, as they say, and they've been supporting our efforts ever since. If you believe in our mission and want to support our show as well, please shoot me a note at partner at this week, health it.com.

Alright, on to today's story. This is from HIT consultant. . CVS Health. This is from the article CVS Health today announced the release of Symphony Medical Alert System to help caregivers monitor the safety and wellbeing of loved ones even from afar. The collection of in-home and wearable devices offers a new at-home experience by connecting a suite of sensors that can monitor for falls motion and room temperature, while also providing a 24 7.

Personal emergency response platform for use when needed. Symphony is designed to support the growing number of seniors choosing to maintain an independent lifestyle at home, as well as those involved in their care spur in part by Covid. As you may know, an increasing number of seniors are choosing to age in place, but Covid has also highlighted major challenges in staying connected to loved ones while socially isolated.

Enter Symphony, a collection of in-home wearable devices that are now available in approximately 650 CVS hubs. Online. That's obviously a spokesman talking unlike other systems that requires a wearable alert device. Symphony includes a voice activated smart hub that lets seniors call assigned caregivers, emergency responders free.

24 7 sensors placed around the home can monitor motion, temperature and air quality, and alert caregivers of anything out of the ordinary through the free caregiver smartphone app. Symphony's system also provides alerts for falls or other emergencies. Symphony's, the latest example of ways that CVS Health is supporting seniors at home and it goes on and does some marketing stuff.

Let's talk about the packages a little bit. Designed to fit a family specific needs and adapt to a variety of homes. Two, easy to use. Symphony device options are available. The basic bundle and essential bundle, while both systems come equipped with the Smart hub and a wearable care button, the essential bundle also includes motion sensors and a voice activated fall sensor to automatically detect falls in the bathroom.

Alright, how much does this stuff cost? Pricing starts at 149.99. For the Symphony Basic Bundle and 2 49 99 for the essential bundle, a monthly service fee is required, although no long-term contract is needed to activate once activated, each Symphony bundle can help support safety at home as well as in event of an emergency, and they go on.

And a little bit more marketing from the SVP of Virtual Care. All right. What's the so what on this? Aaron Martin posed the right question. Aaron Martin is the head of Providence Digital Ventures, and he asked the question on social media, will this work? Why will this work now when it may not have worked in the past?

And I think the answer is yes for three reasons. Number one, CO. Number two, alignment of incentives. And three technology. Let's start with Covid. Covid has changed how we live. We now have new habits and new ways of engaging healthcare. A habit is formed over what, 60 days? Well, what is formed over 18 months.

It's beyond a habit, whatever that is. And the second thing is incentives. When incentives align in healthcare, magic happens. CVS is one of the largest payers in healthcare. Their incentives are right to keep people well in the home, in an agent place scenario. Finally, the technology is just easier, more reliable, and more personal.

So those are the three reasons. What does this mean for your health system? If you're going to compete with this and you should. Here are some things that we've learned over the years. Number one, the technology package has to be really, really, really simple to use. Number two, there are costs of standing up the call center and monitoring location, which you have to account for, as it will be one of the greatest costs in the long-term scenario.

And number three, going into the home is no small deal. There are legal constructs, training and the like. I used to run an organization, I was a VP of an organization. We had thousands of engineers that worked for companies across the US and actually outside the us. And I remember a story where one of our techs had several sexual advances made by the homeowner, where they were sent by us to do work.

Again, going into the home as an extension of the work environment is no small deal. Uh, know what you're signing up for. Do your homework and do it right the first time because coming back from mistakes. Is hard. So that's all for today. If you know of someone that might benefit from our channel, please forward them a note.

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Thanks for listening. That's all for now.