Thomas Franks, President, Homestead Telehealth

Currently, there are approximately 34.5 million seniors in the United States and by 2030 this number is expected to grow to almost 71 million. In fact, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control, around 10,000 seniors are turning 65 every day. This means that nearly seven baby boomers are turning 65 every minute. With this staggering number of the aging population, the demand for home healthcare is also skyrocketing. Today, the majority of seniors prefer to spend the rest of their twilight years in the familiarity and comfort of their homes. They aspire to be in charge of their own health without putting an additional burden on hospitals and other healthcare agencies.

Thus, efforts have been made to involve greater use of technology that may enhance home caregiving for elders with uncompromising quality, service, and integrity. Fortunately, the introduction of modern technologies such as Proactive Telecare can help elderly populations to address their complex care needs at the comfort of their home while cutting costs and improving quality. This technology can provide immense value by helping them to proactively monitor and manage their health. Staying abreast of this advancement in Proactive Telecare, Homestead Telehealth offers simple, cost-effective yet highly efficient Telecare solutions to keep the aging population safe, healthy, and secure while remaining at home for as long as possible. Its proprietary, professional-quality Telehealth and Telecare technology enable home health and hospice agencies to ultimately increase patient engagement, improve patient satisfaction, and drastically reduce avoidable readmissions.

The Incredible Journey of Homestead Telehealth

The origin of Homestead Telehealth can be traced back to 2005 when LifeGuardian Technologies, LLC, a prominent medical alarm company opened its door and pioneered the medical alarm industry with a brilliant new idea. This was the very first medical alarm company to develop and nationally distribute a Plug-N-Play home medical alarm system for seniors. The company sold the products directly to consumers nationwide and it was so successful that almost every medical alarm system sold today is now distributed the same way. In 2016, LifeGuardian Technologies, LLC became SafeGuardian, LLC to accommodate a wider range of products and services dedicated to developing unique life-saving wearable technologies. Having years of experience in the medical alarm industry, the company had a deeper understanding of the needs of the aging population.

“Seniors had several problems with the traditional medical alarm systems. They were home-based with a typical range of only 200’ – 1,000’and required a landline phone system which many families no longer have. The aging populace was also hesitant to press the help call button unless it was a life-or-death medical or personal emergency, fearing that activating their medical alert would signal to family that maybe it was time to move them into a facility or home. Moreover, early fall alert technology resulted in many false alarms, and seniors became afraid to wear them to avoid an unintentional activation,” elucidates Thomas Franks, president of Homestead Telehealth.

In 2016, SafeGuardian, LLC created a division called Homestead Telehealth to serve the patients of certified home care and hospice agencies nationwide. It again revolutionized the Telehealth industry by introducing the new “Proactive Telecare” approach to home patient care. Since then, Homestead Telehealth has been working alongside home medical professionals to refine and customize the CareCallers to fit the needs of a growing senior market.

So, in response to direct consumer requests, the company designed developed, and distributed the CareCaller™ Help Alert. Incorporating advanced wireless technologies, the CareCaller™ line of devices are designed to call and text family, friends, loved ones, caregivers, hospice nurses, and home health care providers directly with the press of one button while bypassing the need and additional cost for the device to go through a third-party monitoring service.

Delivering a Wide Range of Telehealth Products and Services

Today, Homestead Telehealth stands tall as a nationally-recognized leader in wearable Proactive Telecare™ technologies. Its exclusive CareCaller™ line of help alert products consists of wireless (cellular-based) pendants, SOS Smartwatches, and tablet-based telehealth platforms.

• CareCaller LTE Pendant

The CareCaller™ LTE is a wireless cellular-based help alert button that is the only nurse call button designed for home healthcare, visiting nurses, and hospice agencies nationwide. Its exclusive features and benefits include one-touch help alert activation with an SOS button, built-in speakerphone for two way talk from the pendant, text message alerts, fall alerts with sensitivity adjustment and call-in & chat, and 24/7 call routing. The fully HIPPA-Compliant and fully customizable system also has a home health agency management dashboard, real-time GPS locator, secondary caregiver call button, ability to update settings and contacts anytime, waterproof features, and voice assistant.

• TempAlert™ Pendant

A TempAlert™ is the “next generation” LTE mobile wireless, cellular help call button designed to enable and encourage home health patients to call their home health provider. It can continuously monitor body temperature and will send a text message alert to all pre-set caregivers if the readings exceed pre-set maximums. It also has a heart rate monitor that acts as a valuable bio-sensor especially for those that have pre-existing heart conditions including atrial fibrillation, heart attack, and/or heart disease.

• SOS Smartwatch Wearable

Homestead also offers a fully cellular-enabled smartwatch with a one-touch SOS help alert, call-in & chat feature, text message alerts & notifications, real-time GPS locator, built-in phone book, and heart rate monitor. After two years in development, it has released its first 4G LTE SOS smartwatch wearable for active seniors, home health, and hospice patients.

• GrandCaller™ Telehealth Tablet & App

The latest addition to Homestead’s Telehealth product and service offering is its GrandCaller™ tablet with an online web admin interface, app portal, and intuitive touchscreen menus with virtual office visits using HIPPA-compliant video chat. The large Hi-Def tablet has secure, encrypted, and locked down appliances, Optional, secure FDA Class 1 approved biosensors, and tracked reminders.

Serving Clients with Excellence

As a proven innovator of industry-leading solutions for the past 15 years, Homestead Telehealth listens closely to all stakeholders including seniors, senior advocate associations, healthcare industry leaders, medical professionals, and visiting nurses nationwide.

“Based upon the needs they convey to us – a wish list of sorts – we then strive to develop unique products and services that are not available anywhere else. We are laser-focused on creating high ROI, low-cost, easy to use and quick to deploy telehealth and telecare solutions,” asserts Thomas.

Homestead Telehealth’s culture is driven by its underlying philosophy —K.I.S.S. method – Keep It Simple (for) Seniors/Staff. The leadership team believes that the best solutions in life are simple and effective and when it comes to home healthcare with 24/7 care and support, nothing is simpler than pressing a button and speaking immediately with their caregiver. Keeping these values as the cornerstone, the company constantly strives to innovate to make its solutions better while remaining simple for the user.

Continues To Innovate and Distribute New Telehealth Solutions

The COVID-19 outbreak has drastically changed the way healthcare is delivered worldwide and it is clear that in the post-covid-19 world, the role of Telehealth will be integral for our health care system. Cognizant of this fact, Homestead Telehealth is currently focusing on leveraging technologies and pioneering the development of Proactive Telecare solutions to provide patients with easier and healthier lives at home.

“Homestead Telehealth will continue to innovate and distribute new solutions to help keep our aging population safe, healthy, and secure while remaining at home for as long as possible,” concludes Thomas.