Navigating technology in the world of fall management.
I was recently driving from Wisconsin to Missouri and my trip began by plugging my phone into the car's Wi-Fi system so I could listen to my music. At the same time I entered my destination in Kansas City, MO so GPS could guide me to the right location. My I-Pass allowed me to go through all the tolls without slowing down and my wife was answering my emails and texts while taking calls from customers during the drive.
While we were driving, my daughter "Face-timed" me from Australia as she was taking the train to work. She complained a little that the signal wasn't perfect but I told her to remember that she was on the other side of the world and neither of us were using Wi-Fi so maybe she should take that into consideration. And did I mention that it was free?
When I take a few minutes to contemplate the way technology has affected our day-to-day lives over the past 20 years, it makes my head spin. Here is a short list of companies or products that weren't around until the mid 90's or later that have dramatically impacted our everyday lives:
Smartphones (1995)
YouTube (2005)
Netflix (1997)
Google (1998)
Facebook (2004)
Amazon - (1994)
iPods (2001)
All of these areas have pluses and minuses and I'm not advocating for or against any of these technological advances, I'm merely pointing out that they represent tremendous change in the way we go about our daily business. I think everyone can agree that our personal and professional lives will never be the same as a result of these technologies.
Apple recently celebrated the 10-year anniversary of their iPhone and when people were asked to review the original iPhone they were completely underwhelmed. The iPhone 7 is soon to be replaced by the iPhone 8 and the technology is barely 10 years old. It makes me ask the question then:
"Why are so many facilities using fall management technology that is 30 or 40 years old?"
Not only are facilities using decades-old technology, they're frequently complaining about things like alarm fatigue while they're using these "antiques." What gives? People upgrade their smartphone technology every year or two but somehow when it comes to fall management equipment, facilities are content to use technology that was designed when Betamax and Spielberg's "E.T." were big hits. Has anything remained the same since the late 70's or early 80's?
The technology is now available to eliminate cords, utilize your nurse call system, obtain data that can be analyzed and reduce nuissance alarms. Not only can these advancements help you provide better patient care and create a more home-like setting for your patients or residents but it can often be done at a lower cost to your facility. To learn more about how our technology can help your facility, please complete your email information and we will be in contact to show you how we can help. Thank you.