INDEPENDA KEVIN CHEN | GIOVANNI TRASOLINI | KRISTY WONG | KARAN DIDI | BUS237 GROUP ASSIGNMENT ELDER CARE BLOG URL: INDEPENDA.WORDPRESS.COM 1

SUMMARY What is Independa? Pros vs. Cons Competition Critique Case Study Morals 2

WHAT IS INDEPENDA? ● An elder-care software system developed by Kian Saneii ● Idea came from assisting his parents in taking care of his grandparents ● Launched in 2009 ● TV based platform controlled by a single remote ● No need for login usernames or passwords 3

KIAN SANEII ● CEO, Chairman and founder of Independa ● Prior to Independa he worked at Websense Wireless ● Bachelor of Science in Computer Science 4

PROS VS. CONS 5 ProsCons Assists Nurses and CaregiversThere will always be a factor of fear Combats Social IsolationSystem glitches could occur Connects loved onesAny problems have to be fixed immediately, to maintain 24/7 care

PROS ● Nurses can look after more patients ● Independa can bring upon relief of social isolation ● Interaction between family members 6

CONS ● There will remain a constant fear ○Elderly person may need immediate attention ● Disruptive systems glitches, or the site may crash ● Problems need to be attended immediately ○The problems have to be fixed quickly, and may be a problem. if there is not adequate staff people will have to wait, and time is not a luxury in this case. 7

COMPETITION ● Two most prominent competitors: 1. Caremerge 2. Health sense 8

CAREMERGE ● Launched in 2012 ● Main goal of tying people together via the cloud service (Caremerge) ● Allows for practitioners, nurses, and families to be on the same page (Caremerge) ● Convenient way for loved ones to keep up to date with their elderly person ● Relieves stress for the families 9

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HEALTH SENSE ● Allows for seniors to stay home by themselves and avoid an elderly home ● How it works ○Sensors are placed throughout the household ○monitors a person's activities ● Works by noticing discrepancies within the individual's behavior ○For example: there is a sensor on the medicine cabinet to see how many times it has been used (Heathsense, 2013). 11

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WHY INDEPENDA IS BETTER ● Real competition is Health-Sense because it is an in-house service like Independa ● Independa is better because… ○Based on a broader scope of measurements ○Involves social life, environment, activities, as well as health and safety (Independa4U, 2013) ● Health sense is mainly geared towards the safety of a person and medical issues 13

PROFESSIONAL OPINION (CRITIQUE) ● The impact of Telehealthcare on the quality and safety of care ○an article talking about the effects of Telehealthcare ● Telehealthcare is using technology to send information around, concerning a patient ● Health Service Utilization ○“A decrease in the utilization of healthcare services is often taken as an indicator of improved efficiency and quality in telehealthcare studies" (McLean, et al., 2013). ○significant reduction in hospitalizations rates for asthma sufferers 14

PROFESSIONAL OPINION (CRITIQUE) ● Quality of Life ○“Improvement in quality of life due to telecare is only found in some patients suffering from chronic heart failure or asthma, but not in any patients suffering from diabetes” (McLean, et al., 2013). ● Satisfaction ○Overall patients’ satisfaction levels were higher when travel times were reduced and costs of travelling were lower. (McLean, et al., 2013) ○Generally happier when convenience is increased (McLean, et al., 2013) 15

PROFESSIONAL OPINION (CRITIQUE) ● Costs ○The professionals need training for handling new responsibilities, and maintain accountability. (McLean, et al., 2013) ○New demands will lead to an increase in costs, however it unintentionally outlines the more important costs (McLean, et al., 2013) ○Costs outweigh the benefits initially, but may even out (McLean, et al., 2013) 16

CASE STUDY ● Kendal at home ○“Kendal at Home combines the security of a continuing care retirement community with the freedom and independence of living in your home” (Giacobbe, 2014) ● Works by integrating; ○Software provided by Independa ○TVs ○Caregiver app 17

CASE STUDY ● Limits the amount of equipment needed ● With integrating Independa, Kendal at home can improve… ○ staff efficiency ○ increase satisfaction ○ increase quality of care ○ all while prolonging independence (Giacobbe, 2014) ● Integrating Independa and Kendal at home, Kendal at home saw great success due to Independa helping the reach lower costs. 18

MORALS ● Conflict among our opinions and the laws we must abide to ● Balance between social responsibility and corporate profits ● Could this technology be controlled by the Government ● Prevent abuse of elders 19

CONCLUSION ● Pros generally outweigh the cons ● Competitive advantage makes Independa the industry leader ● Case study provides first hand benefits ● What does the future hold? 20

REFERENCES British Columbia Law Institute. (2011, July). BCLI. Retrieved July 23, 2015, from Canadian Centre for Elder Law : Daley, J. (2015, May 26). Entrepreneur. Retrieved July 23, 2015, from The Brilliant Software That's Turning Grandma's TV Into a Caregiving Tool: Giacobbe, L. (2014, October 8). CCRC without Walls Members Households. Retrieved July 22, 2015, from Independa: Healthsense. (2015). Healthsense. Retrieved July 24, 2015, from monitoring/ monitoring/ Independa. (2015, May 5). Retrieved July 23, 2015, from How to Cost-Effectively Minimize Social Isolation in Your Senior Living Community. McLean, S., Sheikh, A., Cresswell, K., Nurmatov, U., Mukherjee, M., Hemmi, A., et al. (2013, August 19). The Impact of Telehealthcare on the Quality and Safety of Care: A Systematic Overview. Retrieved July 22, 2015, from PLOSone: Ramachandran, V. (2014, May 7). USA Today. Retrieved July 23, 2015, from The new nursing shortage: