Quil — which is the healthcare joint venture of Comcast NBCUniversal and Independence Health Group — announced Quil Assure, a platform connecting caregivers with their loved ones. Once launched, it will include ambient sensors, voice-activated technology, integrated emergency assistance, and caregiver coordination tools and resources. Over time, Quil Assure will integrate with the company’s existing consumer engagement platform, Quil Engage, to deliver a comprehensive solution that helps individuals and their caregivers manage every aspect of health and wellness.
Why does it matter?
With ten thousand Americans turning 65 each day and more than 55 million seniors in the US, the market for at-home support and care for seniors is growing rapidly, and the demand for tools to safely age in place is getting louder. The PERS (Personal Emergency Response Systems) market alone is estimated to be valued at over $5 billion come 2025.
Today, more than 50 million Americans provide unpaid care, and nine in 10 seniors would prefer to stay in their current homes over the next 10 years. All factors suggest that the home is the new frontier of healthy aging and care for millions.
The Quil Assure platform aims to help that goal and will, in that sense, get to know consumer behavior over time using ambient sensors that will monitor activity and send real-time alerts if there is a deviation from normal patterns. Voice-enabled capabilities will allow caregivers to reach out through an in-home speaker to check in on their loved ones
“Hi Mom. It looks like your cell phone isn’t charged, and I’ve been trying to reach you. Is everything okay?” And Quil Assure will allow caregivers to partner together to support the same individual so they can better coordinate tasks and manage transitions in care, keeping everyone on the same page. Together, Quil Engage and Quil Assure aim to deliver confidence and peace of mind.
Quil plans to launch Quil Assure to consumers by the third quarter of 2021 following a series of pilots beginning this December. Today, Quil Engage is available to consumers via partnering providers and health plans.
On the record
“Today, few solutions exist to monitor the health of our loved ones at home. Consumer health platforms fall short of delivering on the promise of engagement; wearable monitoring technologies are limiting; and caregivers are often left in the dark,” said Quil CEO Carina Edwards. “Quil is re-thinking the whole aging at home experience with an integrated platform that fits into our daily lives. Personalized education and step-by-step guidance to engage consumers and caregivers combined with in-home smart sensors to monitor health in real-time are just the beginning.”
The context
As noted above the market for senior care technology is booming; we have a report dedicated to this market which you can get from our sister site, DHbriefs. Entitled “Senior Care 2.0,” it goes through multiple technologies that have been embraced by the industry to make life easier for people in their golden years. You can get the report for free when you sign-up for DHbriefs’ Premium Membership. Check it out.