Are you faced with the possibility of buying a medical alert system?

There are so many companies in the home medical alert system market these days. It can be confusing to know the who, what, where, and why of it all. How do they work? Do they have hard-to-use technology? What if you’re just sick and not in need of a 911 response? How will you know your loved one has had an incident? Are the differences in the systems on the market today significant? Aren’t they all the same?

What would be the five main questions about a medical alert system that you should ask before you buy?

We are so glad you asked! Let’s walk through those areas we have defined as the top five things you should have answers to before you purchase that system.

Question 1: Do I have 24/7 access to a physician?

First and foremost, at Electronic Caregiver, we understand that health happens. And more often than not, you don’t need to be rushed in an ambulance to a hospital. You need to know how to fix your ailment. Sometimes you’re not quite sure whether you should take that over-the-counter medication along with your prescription meds. Who’s going to be able to tell you that on a Saturday at 8:30 PM? Yes, we get it. We’ve been there too.

That’s why we’ve included pocketMD into our systems. With pocketMD, our customers have access to medical advice from the privacy of their own homes — anytime, any day of the week, at any hour of the day. We think that beats having to wake up the spouse or kids or pay for an ambulance for a simple sore throat.

Question 2: When Mom uses her system, who will answer?

Secondly, the advice received when a person activates an emergency medical alert system should only come from someone on the other end of the call who is thoroughly educated. We all want responders trained in the areas that will most likely affect the one calling. That’s just good common sense. Talking to someone who is merely flipping through a chart to find systems isn’t comforting, smart, or safe.

As the exclusive monitoring provider for Electronic Caregiver, Rapid Response Monitoring has been our expert response partner for decades. Founded in 1992, Rapid Response monitors systems for one million customers and employs the most educated, courteous, highly-trained professionals in the industry today.

Why ECG chooses Rapid Response Monitoring Services

“I’ve been in the industry 35+ years. I have dealt with all of the large monitoring partners, and there are countless reasons that I chose to partner with Rapid Response.  Our company and Rapid have had a tightly aligned focus for 20 years, and its #1 agenda is the customer, the customer, the customer. It’s not only our confidence in their flawless execution or the high-quality experience that makes us a proud dealer. It’s knowing that they don’t just have redundancy and reliability: they have people in place that truly care.

Rapid thoroughly vets employees before hiring them and encourages, coaches, and closely manages their teams throughout their years of service. They have incredibly high retention, and you get to form a relationship with the people that you come to depend on.

We’re encouraging others that are innovating and developing in this industry that RRMS is where they need to be as well,”  said Anthony Dohrmann CEO Electronic Caregiver Inc.

So, together, we can provide reliable 24/7 protective services with a stay-on-the-line feature powered by certified emergency medical dispatchers during emergencies.

That’s two of the five questions about that medical alert system you’re preparing to purchase. But there’s much more to these technologically advanced systems.

Question 3: What if Dad forgets to take his medications?

Not only do our customers receive an emergency response and access to a physician 24/7, but most noteworthy, they also receive integral medical assistance and intervention. Whether it’s our easy chime medication reminders or taking and recording health vitals, our customers are fully supported. In contrast, most systems on the market today only answer emergency calls, launch a costly 911 intervention, and then hang up.

Consequently, take the instance of a person receiving a replacement surgery. This individual doesn’t receive any support in their recovery and rehab. That’s where Electronic Caregiver’s proHealth system steps in. From taking vitals several times per day to reminders about medications and appointments, Electronic Caregiver systems help our customers recover better. Caregivers and home health agencies alike are finding much assistance in the proHealth systems.

If any of recovery or health monitoring milestones are missed, responsible parties are contacted. This also drastically improves adherence for most treatment plans. We even let you know if Dad forgets to charge his unit! We leave nothing to chance for our customers’ protection. And, we’re confident that’s exactly the way they and their families want it to be.

Question 4: Should you inquire about daily activity monitoring when considering a medical alert system?

That is a great question, and the answer is yes! Does the system you’re considering afford you the feature of an app that keeps you in the know? If not, walk away from it. You should be able to receive relevant notifications regarding the system, wherever you are, at your convenience.

For safety and awareness, Electronic Caregiver systems send an alert when it leaves home and arrives elsewhere. The app is available for both family and professional caregivers on iPhone and Android. Our home healthcare partners absolutely love this app!

Question 5: How long is the contract I have to sign?

We’ve heard horror stories about medical alert companies requesting families to pay the balance of the deceased loved one’s monitoring contract. It not only made our stomachs turn, but it also made us angry.

Our CEO, Anthony Dohrmann, stated, “We will not hold our customers’ hostage to an agreement.”

That’s why at Electronic Caregiver, we wrote policies that coincide with Anthony’s passionate defense to protect those at risk.

As a result, we request notification of intent to discontinue service and the return of the equipment. And, that’s it. Because unlike some of the others in our industry, we get it that life happens and we are here to help make it better, not worse.

Five Questions (and maybe a few more) about that medical alert system

In summary, we encourage anyone researching medical alert systems to dig in and find out what exactly a system can, and maybe more importantly, cannot do.

• Can the system tell emergency personnel where the customer is if they are not at home?
• Is that other system capable of reminding, as often as necessary, about medication, appointments, and activities?
• Will you be able to send a personalized message to your loved one on their system?
• Can that system not only take vitals but report those vitals in real-time to a caregiver, physician, or responsible party?
• Does that less costly system come with 24/7 access to physicians on call to help with minor issues helping to avoid inconvenient trips to urgent care or worse yet, ignoring a symptom for too long?

And finally:

• What do you know about the business that will be selling you that system?
• Why did they start?
• How old are their equipment and technologies?
• Do they have staff, accountability, responsibility, or are just a bunch of independent operators working loosely around some company’s ‘policies”?
• Are they innovating and always finding new ways to make aging safer? If the answer is no, look elsewhere.

Electronic Caregiver is a company that cares about its customers. We want them NEVER to have to use an emergency system. We are empowered every time an unfortunate incident is kept from being a worse incident. Your loved ones deserve that. You deserve that. Our loved ones deserve that, and so do we. So, that is what we do.

And at Electronic Caregiver, will always remember our why.