Bluetooth hearing aids capture the boomer market.

Express Scripts is testing GlowCaps -- automated reminder from the pillbox itself.

Everybody's doing it - reproving benefits of telehealth. When you put these together, you have to ask why.  What is the reason that large organizations don't cite previous studies rather than spend money to prove the same point? We're not talking about drug trials here, we are talking about telehealth monitoring, a technology that has been around for a decade at least, that has been studied and deployed, but not uniformly reimbursed (which is the real problem here). >>> Read more . . .

Firms launch a year-long study on home monitoring for those with chronic diseases.

Although 80% of doctors rely entirely on a paper trail, is now the time for electronic medical records?

Apocalypse and opportunity -- the bet is that we're not going to age well.   Our favorite gloom-and-doom source, CNBC, has offered up today's Doomsday Boomer Prediction. Those boomers are going to be a healthcare nightmare: "They visit the doctor more, they consume more services, and they aren’t afraid to use their $7 trillion in collective wealth to improve their quality of life. From physical therapy, to cosmetic surgery, to the latest in life-saving technology, Boomers just aren’t built to grow old gracefully." So inventions of every type are being crafted to help us in our quest to fight this gracelessness and support us as we get old enough to really take that predicted 8% Medicare spending bite out of the GDP by 2035.  >>> Read more . . .

The apocalypse now -- boomers use too much healthcare...or everyone uses too much?

Behold the persistence of PERS (Personal Emergency Response System). Like the little engine that could, this product category refuses to exit. Also called Medical Alarms, Medical Alerts and panic buttons, it is most recognizable as the fear-mongering "I've fallen and I can't get up" device. PERS has been around for decades, but has seen relatively little innovation over most of that time. Actually it's worse, when you think about it. The PERS market is saddled with consumers complaints about shady sales tactics (Life Alert), new market entrants with no understanding of seniors, and a widely disseminated worse-than-50% success rate at alerting after a fall, either as a result of the device not being worn or worn but not pressed. >>> Read more . . .

Home care (unlike nursing homes) represent a growth market. Home care agencies are showing solid revenue growth according to the National Private Duty Association (NPDA). Seventy-one percent report that revenue increased from 2008-2009, despite a poor economy and 83% indicate that they are hiring in 2010. >>> Read more . . .

Study of women age 65-75 indicates improvement in executive function skills after one year of strength training.