OCEANSIDE, N.Y. and CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.—An Oct. 21 release from WellAWARE Systems, a new developer of next-generation wellness monitoring solutions for senior care providers, announced it had entered into a technology-integration collaboration with PERS provider, American Medical Alert Corp. to provide next generation health monitoring solutions that could revolutionize what PERS can do. WellAWARE was launched in May.

Together the two companies aim to deliver an integrated health monitoring solution that incorporates AMAC’s PERS technology and expertise with WellAWARE’s sensor-based wellness monitoring solutions. WellAWARE CEO Jeff Noce said the collaboration enables caregivers to proactively identify and address existing or developing health conditions, as well as emergent situations such as disabling falls. “This can actually work with an individual to establish an individualized base line to try to prevent emergent health conditions. We’re trying to detect the fall or conditions that may cause a fall before the actual fall occurs,” Noce said. “We have a passive fall detector, as well as a stove-being-left-on-for-an-extended-period-of-time sensor. Most of our information is gathered for professional caregivers so they can prevent the UTI (urinary tract infection), they can prevent polypharmacy issues, they can prevent sleeplessness at night, onset of depression … it’s more quality of life and care driven … It’s significant added value for our clients.”

Noce said in the future the integrated solution may go through dealer sales, and WellAWARE is interested in pursuing that eventuality, but currently the next generation monitoring tools are designed to be a complementary offering to what a professional senior living facility would offer as part of their care-giving services.

Fred Siegel, EVP of AMAC said the collaboration would drive innovation and improve the quality of life for seniors. “What WellAWARE has developed is a truly unique product and service and solution to address the issue of not being able to see what’s going on, first-hand. They’ve integrated that with our infrastructure of medical- or healthcare-exclusive communication centers,” Siegel said. “We can now engage early on—before someone perhaps has a fall—and really look at their behavior and lifestyle and activities and engage with them, and with caregivers and with the clinician, if necessary, to take some more appropriate steps to help keep them living at home and independently as opposed to being institutionalized. So we see it as a natural evolution of PERS.”

AMAC managing director of telehealth Daniel Gold agreed. “AMAC has been a traditional PERS provider and we’re the second largest in the country, but I think at the core of our strength is the call center that can handle a full range of healthcare solutions for our clients,” Gold said. “Now we can not only provide the traditional PERS system, but medication management systems, motion sensors and telehealth. As the market evolves people are no longer going to be looking for a single solution but rather a combination item that will ultimately allow them to better care for their clients living at home.”