Episode 23: Seniors Home Services can Help Seniors and Caregivers make Remaining in your Home a Reality!

Seniors Home Services is a nation-wide company that provides a myriad of services to seniors and their caregivers, in order to help people "age in place".  Some of these services include a 24/7 Home Monitoring System, connected home monitoring options, home modification, bath conversion, air purification, and education on grants and programs that may be available in your state.  Please listen to my conversation with CEO, Jim Bland to learn more about America’s most complete one-stop shop for everything seniors need to ”Age in Place” safely in their own homes for as long as possible.

Learn about Seniors Home Services recent partnership with Axxess  and the Homes Renewed Coalition.

Support The Home Modification for Accessibility Act: H.R. 7272
Write to your Representative : https://p2a.co/0lTt5rf

Transcript

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[00:00:00] Janet: And with us today, we have Jim Bland. He is the CEO of Seniors Home Services, which is a one stop shop for many services that will help individuals age in place. And I'm so excited to have him here with us today. Thank you, Jim. 

[00:00:20] Jim Bland: Janet. It's a pleasure to be here with you today. 

[00:00:23] Janet: Yes. And I want you to tell our listeners all about what senior home services does to help seniors age in place and stay at, stay at home as safe as possible for as long as possible, which is just such a beautiful statement.

[00:00:42] Janet: And I will let you just get control of the conversation. 

[00:00:47] Jim Bland: Well, you know, thank you so much. Cause I, I really do I'm impassioned with, with what our company does. We're headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland, and we serve the entire United States from Annapolis. We have the largest [00:01:00] network of accessibility contractors throughout the country that, that you're specialize and.

[00:01:05] Jim Bland: Accessibility type of modifications for stair lifts, ramps, grab bars, bathrooms, kitchens, flooring, lighting, all those things that, that need to be done to, to the home. And you know, what we we know is that over 95% of seniors want to be able to stay in their homes for as long as they possibly can.

[00:01:25] Jim Bland: Mm-hmm we also know that It's very, very difficult locating the education, locating information and those type of things. So seniors home services is a provider of anything and everything that someone needs to be able to age in their homes and the equally as important. We're an educational resource center.

[00:01:46] Jim Bland: And you know, today we live in a market where it's not really proactive. Mm-hmm, people won't plan because the senior does not want to admit they need help. They don't want to admit right. That changes should be made and no, [00:02:00] I don't. I'm okay. Well, regrettably things happen very quickly in this, in the marketplace because of a.

[00:02:08] Jim Bland: Stroke, something that ended up well causing a hospitalization mm-hmm and you know, at that point, the, the things have changed. Things have changed drastically and the family gets notification without a whole lot of notice that a discharge is taking place and mom or dad is coming home. And they're like, oh my gosh, what do we do?

[00:02:30] Jim Bland: Where do we find this stuff? What should we be doing? So we provide a comprehensive 70 page electronic guide that shows that what the journey needs to look like. Every bit of education has to different products, services, what you need, what you don't need. And you know, one of the things that people always ask and families always ask this, I, I isn't there somebody who's gonna help pay for some of these things as well.

[00:02:55] Jim Bland: Mm. So our firm has done all of the research [00:03:00] state by state, by state for state programs, but also not only, you know, state programs, but all the different private entities, whether associations, nonprofits grants loans, all those types of things in each. And we include that in the guide.

[00:03:17] Jim Bland: So it really is. It's a phenomenal resource that we give families free to charge. We also provide to the family free consultation over the phone, walking them through what their situation may be. Things that they should consider. And then if they would like, we can also free of charge, have one of our accessibility specialists come to the home mm-hmm and really go through what the situation is, because it's really important to understand what the, the senior.

[00:03:49] Jim Bland: Is experiencing and what their situation is in order to know maybe what needs to be done in the home and what does it need to be done, right. Or you don't need to spend money. So we all offer all of that. And [00:04:00] that, that doesn't cost anything to have that what really is, it's one of the things I take great pride in though.

[00:04:06] Jim Bland: Janet is our connected home monitoring system. Mm-hmm and you know, there's a, there's a a time when, when a majority of seniors that. Then discharged will go through an episode of care with a, a home healthcare agency, which are wonderful, wonderful people. Right? 

[00:04:26] Janet: I mean they're, and, and you're referring to a 

[00:04:27] Jim Bland: skilled, skilled agency.

[00:04:29] Jim Bland: Yeah. Skilled care. And you know, they're in a, in the home a couple times a week half hour, 45 minutes. And you know, their job is to help, help keep people out of the hospital and to get 'em back when they beat and those type of things. And, you know, God bless these people. They do a phenomenal job. They really.

[00:04:46] Jim Bland: we also know that there's a need for in many cases non-skilled or not, or non-clinical non-medical care. Right? Mm-hmm and and most families can't afford 24 7. It's just, you know, prohibitively expensive. But [00:05:00] what we provide is this really neat system called connected home monitoring, which is where we fill in those hours when someone's not in the home with the senior, you know, the family is worried in a lot of cases.

[00:05:13] Jim Bland: You know, they may live, you know, hundreds of miles away. So we have these non camera, non listening devices sensors that are installed in the home. And  tho it collects data points. As far as motion, temperature, doors left, open, all those types of activities falls, those types of things. And it. Feeds that data into AI driven software, which then are monitored by four dedicated coordinators care coordinators, monitors who get to know the senior, the senior gets to know them.

[00:05:45] Jim Bland: Mm-hmm what we're looking for is, is, is unusual activity, you know, have, do we have a fall? Do we have a door left there? We have laundry taking place too main trips to the bathroom, not getting outta bed when we should stove left, open. And, and then, you know, we report that [00:06:00] information to the appropriate designation where the, where the family wants that, that information to be reported.

[00:06:05] Jim Bland: And you know, we do that for $139 a month and that's pretty darned incredible for those certain that are being provided. 

[00:06:16] Janet: It really is. And I wanna go back to something you said when you were introducing your company. With the resources that seniors home services offers state by state, what's available to the caregiver to the senior, because that information is invaluable.

[00:06:34] Janet: It, it really isn't, it's not readily available. Okay. Only if you are receiving skilled home care services, or if in the state that you live in case managers from your doctor's. Are providing this information, usually seniors or caregivers have no idea what is available to them. Which is it. It is just terrible.

[00:06:59] Janet: And [00:07:00] that's often when I would go into people's homes and I would recommend equipment or recommend services and they would ask me, well, who's gonna pay for this. And I've lived in three different states where I've practiced as a licensed occupational therapist in Florida. Colorado. And now in Georgia and state by state it changes.

[00:07:22] Janet: Oh yeah. So that was a, a great learning experience for me as a therapist that what's available to someone in Colorado isn't necessarily available to someone in Florida. And oftentimes there are very few things that are paid for by Medicare and it's a shock to the caregiver and the, the senior.

[00:07:45] Janet: That they will most likely bear most of the cost, but if you've gone and done research, which in state by state, there are agencies that will provide grants and you know, where there are monies that [00:08:00] are available for people to take advantage of. But of course you don't have that information, you know, it's, it's worthless.

[00:08:08] Janet: So I think that's a great service that seniors home services is, is offering, cuz that truly is just invaluable. 

[00:08:16] Jim Bland: Well, you know, Janet you're you're so right. The, the that information is out there, but I can tell you, it, it, it was, you know, on a per state basis. Hours and hours. Yeah. Hours of scouring through and finding the correct resources that, you know, some of it's not income related.

[00:08:38] Jim Bland: You, you don't have to be low, low income in order for some of these organizations to help pay because, you know, but, but if you're real wealthy, you're not going to probably get those, but they're, they're there to help the net middle America who is makes more money or has more assets that are not. The maybe Medicaid or on a lower [00:09:00] program.

[00:09:00] Jim Bland: Mm-hmm , but, but to help them. And it's like finding a needle in a haystack. So we went ahead and found all the needles and put 'em in their own little stack we make those available to the to the families and it really does it, it saves them so much time, so 

[00:09:16] Janet: much effort and stress and stress and, and makes the process just so much faster because now, you know what's available.

[00:09:23] Janet: Yeah. And what's not available. And so now you can plan, which  so let's go back to your home monitoring system because going in the home, you know, I would come across many patients that would, were wearing something around your neck or wearing something around their wrist. And it wasn't always successful because it would be left in another room.

[00:09:45] Janet: You know, or they would forget to use it. So tell me how your system is different from the systems that have been in place for several decades now. 

[00:09:58] Jim Bland: Well, [00:10:00] the, the, the wearables there's some challenges there because normally it is incumbent upon somebody, number one, wearing it. Mm-hmm number two, pushing the button, right?

[00:10:10] Jim Bland: Number three, being able to push the. And what we traditionally find the senior doesn't wear it. It gets left on the night table, or it gets hung someplace. Mm-hmm . As a matter of fact, we had an incident several weeks ago where somebody the son went into the home and said, oh mom, you've got a new coat rack on the back of your door.

[00:10:31] Jim Bland: And she said, no, that's where this hangs when you're not. It's like, oh gosh, with an 

[00:10:38] Janet: attitude. pardon? With an attitude. She said it 

[00:10:42] Jim Bland: with an attitude. Oh yes. And so then you have the issue of if somebody falls and you know, they are incapacitated, they're not gonna be pushing any puns. That's not gonna happen.

[00:10:54] Jim Bland: Mm-hmm but then you also have the third one and that's the senior, the senior's mental. [00:11:00] They could fall and they could be in pretty darn bad shape and, and need help, but they don't wanna bother anybody. They don't want to push the button. They don't want anybody knowing they. , they don't want anybody to know that, which happens a lot.

[00:11:15] Jim Bland: So because they're, they're, they, you know, they're afraid that, well, gee, this will need lead to me not being able, I'm gonna have to move. So our system with the infrared with non cameras, no, no cameras involved, no listing devices. Because the seniors won't stand for that. If mm-hmm detects if we have movement, if we have a fall, if we have vertical going to horizontal too quickly all of those types of things door have been left, open someone's, you know, we, we can even, you know, tell if, if mom is supposed to be up at eight 30, you know, they get very routine mm-hmm mm-hmm and it's it's 10 of nine and, and she's not out of bed yet, and we're gonna reach out and go, you know, Mary.

[00:11:55] Jim Bland: You're normally up by now. And are you feeling okay? Mean, [00:12:00] well, you know, not really. I, you know, I, I feel warm and, but then we would say, well, Mary, we also noticed there was three trips to the bathroom last night. Not your normal one sometimes too. Mm-hmm Mary, do you, do you, you feel like you're you're you're, you know, you said warm and clammy, she goes, yeah.

[00:12:19] Jim Bland: Well, you know, that's a clear indication. That there is a potential urinary tract infection coming on mm-hmm or is there, which is going to lead to a fall and many other things taking place. So we can then go ahead and intervene and say to the home healthcare agency or to the family or to wherever the escalation path is Mary needs attention.

[00:12:42] Jim Bland: So, right. You know, I tell people, Janet, what, what we do, we prevent an incident from becoming TRO. 

[00:12:51] Janet: exactly. You, you, you really prevent something terrible from happening. Yep. And, and that's, you know, that, [00:13:00] that right there is such a valuable phrase because most of the time we can prevent these terrible things from happening as long as we know what the signs are.

[00:13:10] Janet: Yep. And when someone lives alone, You don't know. And like you said, they're not necessarily going to give up information. Like I'll, I'll give you an example. So I was telling you before we started recording that my daughter's puppy fell and fractured his radius. An and I was telling my mother-in-law about.

[00:13:32] Janet: And she said, well, what we can all take away from this is that we need to be careful. We all need to be more careful and I'll just leave it at that. Yep. And that said to me, things have happened that haven't been communicated to us in her own home. so and, and that's, that's what happens. They don't tell you because they're afraid of decisions that the caregiver may make, [00:14:00] perhaps moving them or feeling that they can't live by themselves anymore.

[00:14:04] Janet: Not trusting them, they're gonna lose their independence. And then also not wanting to bother people. No, you know, you said, and then downplaying the, the situation and the, the fact is. If you're having multiple little incidents, whether, you know, like a patient would tell me, oh, I didn't fall. I just slipped off of my sofa, you know?

[00:14:28] Janet: Or you know, oh, I, I almost fell, but I was able to hold onto the wall. So things are happening where your stability is changing. Right. And if we know about that, then we can prevent a big incident from happening like a hip fracture, a humoral fracture, a head injury. Yeah. Which is probably the worst, because you don't know how you're gonna recover surgery, can't fix a head injury.[00:15:00] 

[00:15:00] Janet: So it's so important to have these monitoring systems. Like the one that 

[00:15:05] Jim Bland: your company offers, it makes such a, such a big difference. And you know, the other thing, Janet, that we find this, you know, because of the socialization aspect of it, I mean, we reach out and talk with the senior, whether by tablet, where we're doing visual and audio communication or by phone mm-hmm , whatever, whatever they like.

[00:15:25] Jim Bland: And we'll spend a lot of time with them. It prevents them from being lonely and isolated, which, you know, as we were discussing previously, lonely in isolation is, is an epidemic among the seniors today 48 to two 49% of them report feeling that way, which is the equivalent, you know, from a health standpoint of smoking 15 cigarettes a day will increase the risk of stroke or heart attack by 29% and will increase the onset likelihood of onset of Alzheimer.

[00:15:58] Jim Bland: By over [00:16:00] 50%. So it's really dangerous. So we, we prevent prevent that from happening and you know what they end up doing Janet. They tell us things that they're not telling their doctors, they're not telling their families. We don't, we don't breach their, their, their confidence. We

[00:16:17] Jim Bland: work with them to get them, to tell their physician or to tell their family what's taking. now I have to be, you know, very Frank, if it were a, a life and death type of situation, we're gonna, we're gonna say something. Yeah, we have to. But for the most part, we, we wanna, we want, we want them to do that and to feel like, and, and, and know that they're not going to be losing their independence because.

[00:16:45] Janet: Right. And so you said that the cost of this system is $139 

[00:16:51] Jim Bland: a month, $139 a month. Okay. We do not have a long term contract, so it is month to month. And it's just a [00:17:00] phenomenal system. And if somebody wants, you know, additional socialization and you know, there's different levels to it, but the, the the 1 39 it's, it's amazing.

[00:17:09] Jim Bland: The value that, that. 

[00:17:11] Janet: mm-hmm . And so what are the additional levels? I, I know that you have a system that goes a little bit further, that costs a little bit more. Can you tell 

[00:17:23] Jim Bland: me about that? Yes, that is if we have somebody who we know is, is a, is a, a fall risk. There are some higher level of type of sensors that we will put in that are there are infrared that are going to.

[00:17:40] Jim Bland: See right when somebody's walking along, it will tell you, boom, there's a fall. We can see them on the floor. We don't see them. We just see images, electronic images. Okay. And, and that's instant fall detection. The the, the normal system will tell you pretty darn quickly if you've had a fall, but it may take a few [00:18:00] minutes.

[00:18:00] Jim Bland: It could take 10, 15, the, you know, the there's a thing with falls called the golden hour. You, you really want to try to, to respond as, as quickly as you can. And that first hour's really important with, without the technology in the home, you'd be surprised and you wouldn't do because you're, you're an OT and you, you know, this business.

[00:18:19] Jim Bland: The amount of falls that occur where someone's laying there for three or four hours. Oh, wow. Oh, I can tell you stories and the damage that that does to somebody, it makes it so they can't. It's terrible. So we can, we can, that's the additional service we can offer. And then we also offer if they want us to reach out two or three times a day and have conversations and they want that place every day, that that brings the price up a little bit to have that additional socialization taking place.

[00:18:49] Janet: Okay. Okay. And so by how much can you, can you tell me that 

[00:18:55] Jim Bland: would get into the low two hundreds. Okay. Yeah. Okay. [00:19:00] Still, you know, between the levels, you may go from 1 39 into the you know, the upper a hundred mark and then to the lower 200 mark. But. After all is said and done for, for 24, 7 coverage.

[00:19:15] Jim Bland: Yeah, it's pretty darn affordable. It's it's 

[00:19:18] Janet: very affordable. Well, my godmother, she was living in a skilled nursing home and she was paying $2,700 a month, which is very, very affordable that's because it was in a private home. It wasn't in a facility, so they only had a few seniors. So when, when you just consider that what it cost to have skilled.

[00:19:40] Janet: 200, $250 a month is nothing. No, no. And you get to stay in your own home. So now transitioning the conversation to the part of your business that offers services, where they will send someone out to assess [00:20:00] a home safety and then tell you what you need and, and what you don't need. Tell me about that.

[00:20:06] Janet: How to make your home safer? 

[00:20:08] Jim Bland: Well, the way that works, our accessibility contractors that's all they do. They they're, I mean, they're, they're 100% of their time. They're, you know, this is not somebody who is a general contractor who says, oh yeah, I can figure out how to put a stairlift in or yeah, we can, we can redo a bathroom if you want that done.

[00:20:30] Jim Bland: Now, these are people who work with mobility challenged, disabled. Seniors you know, every day. So they'll come to the home and they'll do an evaluation. You know, they will go ahead and speak with them as to what's mom's situation. And cuz what, what families will do a lot of times he goes, we, we think we need some type of.

[00:20:53] Jim Bland: Bars put in, in some type of lift and so, well, you know, there's, there's a wide [00:21:00] variety of that. So what they'll do is, is come out and do that assessment, do the evaluation and let a family know here's the, the most reasonable course of action to take. That's gonna be the most affordable. But is also going to accomplish what needs to be accomplished.

[00:21:18] Jim Bland: Here's what you probably don't need to do. You don't need to spend money where you don't need to, and then be able to let them know what that's going to cost mm-hmm . And then also our consultation with them we'll go through and, and help them determine how it can be paid for as. And, you know, okay.

[00:21:36] Jim Bland: Today, what a lot of people don't realize, you know, many seniors have a tremendous amount of assets wrapped up in their home. Uh it's it's equity, right? That is there. And there are a lot of different ways. That that equity can also be leveraged and used to be able to help that senior stay there as long as possible as well.

[00:21:56] Jim Bland: Exactly. We actually have a company that we work with [00:22:00] who can provide a complete free analysis, free consultation as to all those different types of, of products that would be available. 

[00:22:08] Janet: Okay. Yeah. And that's great. So that's where all of that knowledge really comes in handy, like depending on what grants are available.

[00:22:18] Janet: You know, or different programs that you can use using the value that your home already has. 

[00:22:27] Jim Bland: Well, you know, what's also neat about it, what we subscribe in doing, and, you know, I looked at your website and it looks great. And I can tell you you, oh, thank you. Follow the same philosophy. And that is making modifications to the home, using something called universal design.

[00:22:44] Jim Bland: Mm-hmm where we are making modifications for the purpose of the home, being more senior. Accessible for someone to be able to age in place without it looking institutionalized. Mm-hmm . So that means [00:23:00] that when it is time to sell the home, those, that money that was spent doing those type of activities would be recouped as an investment because somebody else looking at the home would go, wow, these are things that have been already done to the home that I'm not gonna have to do as a buyer.

[00:23:17] Jim Bland: And they can see that intrinsic value that are doing. 

[00:23:21] Janet: exactly. And with the number of people that we have turning 65 every year chances are the person that wants to buy your home is going to also be a senior or is going to be, you know, in, in their fifties where they're going to appreciate the changes that you've already made to your home, especially if they were done.

[00:23:45] Janet: Nice. And that's why it's so important to have a professional come in so that you can have these modifications made and they are not going to take away from the aesthetic design of that space. 

[00:23:58] Jim Bland: Well, you know, in fact, [00:24:00] they'll add to it. They'll add to it. And when you, you would just hit a very good point.

[00:24:03] Jim Bland: When you look at the, the demographics, you know, almost for the last decade, there's been 10,000 people a day turning 65, that mm-hmm statistic of 10,000 a day. Turning 65 will continue until 2030 mm-hmm . So when you look at the sheer magnitude of the senior market and the aging market and the demand.

[00:24:27] Jim Bland: Homes to have that type of those micro modifications done to them. Mm-hmm, , it's a, it's a huge selling point. And the other thing is, you know, even if you have somebody who is younger, who is looking in the market, they also are looking at it from the standpoint, if we acquire the home and it already has these things done.

[00:24:46] Jim Bland: Chances are mom's gonna be moving in with us for a few years. Exactly. This is already going to accommodate what, what mom needs. So there's, there's tremendous advantages to having these done and having 'em done correctly. 

[00:24:58] Janet: That that's, that's very [00:25:00] true. So you're not only speaking to the senior, but you're also speaking to the 

[00:25:03] Jim Bland: caregiver.

[00:25:04] Jim Bland: Well, the adult child. Yeah. And we know at the, the adult child. Yeah. That's that's, who's driving the bus. that's exactly. That's who's driving the bus. 

[00:25:13] Janet: So Jim, I also wanted you to go over your air purification system because air quality it's so important. It's rarely talked about even though C O P D which stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is one of the most common conditions in the elderly.

[00:25:37] Janet: And it, it can just dramatically affect our quality of life. If we're even able to leave our homes. And the reason I say this is because if you have to use supplemental oxygen, it is going to be very hard for you to leave your home because you're are going to have to carry a very heavy. Portable oxygen tank, and you're gonna have a time [00:26:00] limit, which is directly related to how much oxygen that tank can hold.

[00:26:05] Janet: So, and if you're in your own home using supplemental oxygen and you're having to move around the home with this oxygen everywhere you go. Let's face it. It's, it's really cumbersome. So having good air quality in your home is just so important to be able to age in place and be healthy. So tell us, what does seniors home services, how do they approach that front and, and make it better?

[00:26:34] Jim Bland: Well, you know, there's, there's, there's a lot of air purification things on the. The one that we utilize is pretty unique. this, this is, it's not a filter type of thing while it has a filter in it, it is an active ionizer type of product. And this was actually developed to be used in the NASA space station.

[00:26:58] Jim Bland: Oh, and the, [00:27:00] it was developed because they wanted to grow vegetables in the space station. Well, when you're growing vegetables in an inside environment like that, they give off toxicity. So this product was developed to eradicate that. Well, what they discovered is that not only does it eradicate those toxicities, it eradicates, mold, mildew, dust, mites, you know, all those types of things.

[00:27:22] Jim Bland: It even. It will eradicate the CO2 V virus, which is COVID As well. And it's a, it's a little piece of equipment that goes in the home about 12 by 12, it's portable. And it it runs, and it will with in about 24 hours, one of those in a 3000 square foot. Will really change the air environment to where the air is so much, so much.

[00:27:51] Jim Bland: He. You know, you don't have dust bite issues, you mold any volatile, organic compounds all of those types of things. And [00:28:00] people don't realize, you know, seniors take over 20,000 breaths per day. And there are many cases where maybe, maybe they have C O P D, but there's also in just so many cases where their lungs are not nearly as strong as, as yours or mine or, you know, right.

[00:28:17] Jim Bland: Their bodies are not processing the pulmonary. Like we are, and that also is critically important for their strength. So if somebody has better air quality is going to have better pulmonary function. They're going to be more alert. They are going to be more cognitive. They're going to be stronger and they're going to be healthier.

[00:28:40] Jim Bland: And, and I always tell people, I said, you know, there's, there's really three things to three legs, to a stool of helping keep a senior at home. Number one, you gotta make sure the house is been modified and is, is adaptable to the senior. Being able to stay there. Number two, you need to make sure the senior.[00:29:00] 

[00:29:00] Jim Bland: Is is healthy and is in good of mm-hmm physical shape and mental shape and everything to be able to stay there. So right. It fall and those type of things. And number three, you gotta have a oversight oversight by having in-home care that's coming in or, and combined the two, our connected home monitoring system, which we have in home care companies today that are actually doing that.

[00:29:23] Jim Bland: They're when they, when they bring a family on for maybe 5, 10, 20 hours a. They'll incorporate our service in with their service to go ahead and give that 24 7 coverage. Mm-hmm so, you know, you're right. Air quality is, is, is critical to making sure that O senior's going to be as healthy as they can be.

[00:29:46] Janet: Right. So I was looking through your website and through your blog specifically, and one of your latest articles is on the partnership that your company has with. So tell us [00:30:00] about that. 

[00:30:01] Jim Bland: Access is a phenomenal organization. They are, they, they provide the electronic medical software and a lot of other software components that, that give a home healthcare agency, the ability to run their business.

[00:30:18] Jim Bland: Mm-hmm it's where the medical records are. It is. Where payroll is, as we're scheduling it, it runs the, the, the business and they have, they have about just over 2,500 agencies that use their service in about 8,000 different locations. The agencies love access because they do such a, I mean, they do a phenomenal job.

[00:30:41] Jim Bland: So we have a program in which what access is really committed to and their agencies are as. Is to, to making sure that the experience that the senior has and the patient has, and the family has, is as positive as it could possibly be. They [00:31:00] also, they want to limit readmissions. So mm-hmm in doing that our connected home monitoring product has been documented during the past six years used in hospitals and home healthcare agencies to reduce hospital readmissions between 67 to 89.

[00:31:18] Jim Bland: Which is a huge number. That's a big, big benefit to an agency mm-hmm . So our product does not cost an agency, anything. And we have a really neat product process put together to where there is a text message that goes to the family, into the senior, from an agency we're not seeing any of that data. So it's all set up to where it's completely HIPAA compliant to where there's a text message that goes up from the agency and has our little video.

[00:31:47] Jim Bland: And our video explains to the family. We know what you're going through. We know what you're worried about. We know it's a pretty frantic time and we know there's a lot of things that you're thinking about that are not covered by insurance. And you're [00:32:00] trying to figure out what to do we're here and it's not gonna cost you a dime.

[00:32:04] Jim Bland: We've got a 70 page guide. That's gonna walk you through everything you need. It's gonna go ahead and provide. Where to get the financial resources in your state to help with these things. And then the family just goes, yes, click. I'd like to get that guide. And I'd like to get that information, they put their information in and then they're connected with us.

[00:32:22] Jim Bland: And then we do whatever we can do to help them with having the best experience they can with bringing mom home from the hospital. Mm-hmm and being able to keep mom at home where we know mom wants to be. And we're quite frankly right. They would like her to be. So it's, it's just a, it's a phenomenal relationship and one that we really treasure and, and, and really admire the, the, the access company, their, their philosophy on what they want to do with helping people be able to stay at home and be cared for at home is, is second to none.

[00:32:58] Janet: Right? [00:33:00] Well, that's great that your company now has this partnership because you're gonna be able to reach many more people. And help many more people, 

[00:33:08] Jim Bland: thousands, hundreds of thousands per month. Yeah. 

[00:33:12] Janet: So tell me about medication management, because that is a huge piece. So I can tell you one of the main reasons why people end up in the hospital is because they're taking their medications incorrectly.

[00:33:25] Janet: Either they're taking too much of it or not taking enough or not taking them at all. So tell us. It because it's so important for people to be able to stay at home, be healthy. You have to take your medications as prescribed. And they have to be looked at really every six months to a year, especially if you're taking more than five medications, making sure that those medications are not interacting negatively with one another, because that can lead to a hospitalization or [00:34:00] a terrible.

[00:34:02] Janet: So how does seniors home services help in this department? 

[00:34:06] Jim Bland: We have, we have two, two things, one that's we we're doing right now. One that's going to be available in the near future. You're so right. Medication mismanagement is that is something that probably causes more hospitalizations than anything else, because it ultimately is what causes a.

[00:34:27] Jim Bland: That put 'em in the hospital. Mm-hmm exactly. And it's because when you go into some of these homes, you open the drawer and they're just bottles piled on top of bottles and piled on. I mean, and you know, you've got, maybe someone's taken eight or nine medications a, a week. Mm-hmm that certain times of the day, certain dose, certain discs and, and, you know, something, they, they, they don't keep track of it.

[00:34:51] Jim Bland: And once somebody feels like they really don't have a handle. They kind of just throw their arms up in the air and they say, you know what, whatever mm-hmm and it just, it [00:35:00] leads this downward spiral. So our equipment is one which is will hold 10 different medications and it holds a 90 day supply of each one of them.

[00:35:12] Jim Bland: And it's very easily programmed into an app that interacts with the equipment to tell the equipment, which medication to spit out into a little cup each hour each okay. Quarter, whatever it may be. And then a little bell goes off to remind the senior to take it. And then a notification tells us that yes, the cup was picked.

[00:35:37] Jim Bland: Now. Yes. We don't know if they swallowed the pills or not, but okay. We do know that that they're not forgetting a dose or they're gonna be made aware that they should be taking a dose. I, I will tell you, we have, you know, we've just seen incidents where people were, you know, really in in, in dad shape and, and we put this [00:36:00] system in the home and they'd go back in and get their blood.

[00:36:03] Jim Bland: 60, 70 days later. And it was just a spot on as it was supposed to be because they were taking the meds. Now you made up hit a very, very valuable point, and that is that these meds need to be reevaluated every six months or so. Well, you know, there are a lot of patients out there particularly heart failure patients where, where it needs to be.

[00:36:28] Jim Bland: Very very frequently because things change with them. So, so rapidly, we have a new little patch that is in FDA testing right now that literally can, will, will tell us about 20 different parameters as far as heart rate, stress rate hydration. You. That feeds it into a physician's office on a screen.

[00:36:57] Jim Bland: And then not only says what's [00:37:00] going on from a monitoring standpoint, but then tells the physician what needs to be modified. So it's a monitoring and, and management. Technology mm-hmm mm-hmm that. And you know, the physician can have an assistant, whoever is taking a look at that and it will tell 'em here's what's going on.

[00:37:18] Jim Bland: This med needs to be taken out new med needs to be put in this. One's gotta go up by five mail. This one's gotta go down. Mm-hmm and it does all that for them. Wow. That's great. And this is collecting data 24 7 mm-hmm and it, it just tells us if they're stressed out, you know, so what we're doing there.

[00:37:37] Jim Bland: We're preventing things. So we can tell three days ahead of time. If there's a heart attack on the. Right. Wow. I mean, and, and it, it is, it, it is, it is really incredible, but that's so valuable that is in going through it's approval process. Now mm-hmm and is getting some spectacular results, but in the interim, our [00:38:00] medication management equipment, You know, goes in the home is just, just a really valuable tool and telling us that, you know, things are being done correctly or if they're not being done correctly.

[00:38:11] Jim Bland: So mm-hmm there can be some intervention to make sure that it is. 

[00:38:15] Janet: And so with this medication management tool, you can also use it for someone who has cognitive. Absolutely. So not, not just for organization to make the caregiver's life easier and the senior, but also having this type of, of tool is very important for people who have dementia.

[00:38:37] Janet: Oh. Because critically really going to, first of all, and, and I have a podcast that I did a few months ago on how long. Someone live alone with dementia because there are a lot of misconceptions, you know, some people think, oh, well, you know, we, we can just leave 'em alone and they stay in their home for too long living alone or [00:39:00] the opposite.

[00:39:00] Janet: As soon as that person has the diagnosis, the caregiver believes that they can no longer live alone and that's not true. So this is another tool that can help people. Stay in their homes, even with the diagnosis of dementia, for as long as they are safe to live there alone. And then once they need a caregiver, if the family is in that position where someone can live with that person, then you know, that can be done or you can make the decision, whether they need to move to skilled care or, you know, or move with a family.

[00:39:37] Janet: So it's all about having information, being educated and having the right resources and tools. To be able to, you know, to live a good quality of life and live life, the way that you want it to, and not make decisions based on fear or lack of knowledge education. 

[00:39:56] Jim Bland: Well, you know, you're, you're so right.

[00:39:58] Jim Bland: Cause everybody's different and [00:40:00] you just hit it, you know, lack of. Education lack of information. We've had a number of you know, we've experiences where a home care company, not non-skilled home care mm-hmm in corporate is the family says, you know, we, we, we think we just need these amount of hours per week and this our system is incorporated into it to cover the remainder.

[00:40:24] Jim Bland: What they found after putting our system in with their care is that the billable hours that they needed, the, the care in the home went up mm-hmm . And the reason being there were things taking place in the home with the senior, when somebody wasn't there that nobody knew about. And we picked up on it and we're like talking to the family going, oh my gosh.

[00:40:48] Jim Bland: Leaving at five o'clock is not acceptable. You need to have somebody with mom until she goes to bed at seven 30 or, or eight mm-hmm . And we're okay after that [00:41:00] until eight o'clock the next morning. But you know, you, you. Five to seven, five to eight. You you've gotta have somebody there. Here's what we're seeing and right.

[00:41:10] Jim Bland: And then, and, and what, you know, you just hit the nail in the head. It's lack of information that the family had that could have led to something happening that is just turns everyone's world upside down. And right. Yeah. It's, it's all about having that information and we take great pride providing.

[00:41:29] Jim Bland: E 

[00:41:29] Janet: exactly. You know, and just information is so powerful. So tell us, Jim, is there anything else before we finish our conversation today that you want to tell our listeners about seniors home services? And then I also want you to tell our listeners how they can get more information if they would.

[00:41:53] Janet: Whole monitoring system or whatever other service that they want. More information 

[00:41:57] Jim Bland: on. You know, I, I think [00:42:00] the, the only thing that I would want to go ahead and just make sure that everybody is completely aware of is that. They, anybody can go to our website and learn as much as they wanna learn about what we can provide, how we can provide it.

[00:42:17] Jim Bland: They can request our free guide right on the site as well, and that they can call us for free consultation on anything in doing that as far as getting ahold of us, the, the best way would be calling our 800 number, which is 800, 600. 7, 2, 1 0. And again, that's 800, 607 2 1 0. And it, on the website, they can also put in their information to just say, contact us.

[00:42:53] Jim Bland: And they can connect with us that way, but we're here without it costing anybody [00:43:00] anything to get that inform. As you talked about mm-hmm information is critical. We know that. And mm-hmm, we like to start a, a, a relationship with somebody by understanding their situation and understanding how we can be most effectively working with them to, to take them through that journey.

[00:43:19] Jim Bland: You know aging in place is, is a journey mm-hmm , and there's certain things that have to take place through that step. And we're here to, to be a part of that journey with. 

[00:43:30] Janet: Okay, well, great. It was a pleasure having you on the show today. I learned so much. Thank you so much and I would love to have you on again.

[00:43:40] Janet: And perhaps once that new technology is on that you were talking about with the heart monitoring, you can tell us about that or, you know, any new partnership we'd love to hear about. 

[00:43:51] Jim Bland: That new technology is amazing. It's for any, any type of the, whether it's diabetes, whether it's heart, whether it's C O P [00:44:00] D any of that thefor amount of information that is being collected and the management that can take place, because what people don't realize, things change so quickly and rapidly in that, that arena mm-hmm

[00:44:12] Jim Bland: And so yeah, I would, I would welcome the opportunity to, to be on with you again. I wanna thank you for, for, for having me and the ability to talk about our company. I, I love doing that. I, I love our company. I love what we do. I'm proud of what we do, and I, I always love having the opportunity to, to let the world know.

[00:44:33] Janet: Well, thank you, Jim. And you are welcome.