HealthTech

LONG BEACH and SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The SCAN Foundation has awarded $5 million to The Health Technology Center (HealthTech) to establish the nation’s first center devoted exclusively to advancing the use of technologies that dramatically enhance home and community-based care for seniors.

“There is a looming crisis in the nation’s ability to meet the health care needs of aging baby boomers,” said Bruce Chernof, MD, President and CEO of The SCAN Foundation. “It is imperative that we dramatically expand the use of innovative technologies to improve the quality and affordability of long-term care and help those with chronic health conditions to maintain their independence outside of traditional hospital and nursing home settings.”

According to Dr. Chernof, the “SCAN-HealthTech Center for Technology and Aging” will focus on applied research, grant making, expert convenings and policy development to identify strategies and develop tools that will rapidly accelerate health providers’ adoption of technologies that enhance the care and well–being of older adults.

“Many exciting technologies that can significantly improve the independence of seniors are available today, but are not yet widely used - even though they also deliver better quality and more affordable care,” said Molly Coye, CEO and founder of HealthTech, who will serve as the Center’s CEO and Principal Investigator.  “With the support from The SCAN Foundation, we will tackle some of the most important barriers to adoption, including the lack of awareness among providers and consumers, difficulties in integrating these technologies into care settings, and the need for better business models for deployment.”

The Center will focus on technologies such as remote patient management and monitoring, medication management, cognitive assessment, assistive technologies, disease management, family caregiver communication, and sensors.

“The SCAN Foundation and HealthTech have a shared vision for advancing the use of proven technologies that improve the quality and affordability of care,” said David Lindeman, PhD, who will serve as the Center’s Director.

The three-year grant will be used to establish the Center and develop its programs.  Starting in 2010, a portion of the funding will go toward supporting the efforts of selected health and social service providers to implement and evaluate technology diffusion strategies.

The SCAN Foundation (www.scanfoundation.org), based in Long Beach, California, is an independent nonprofit foundation dedicated to advancing the development of a sustainable continuum of quality care for seniors that integrates medical treatment and human services in the settings most appropriate to their needs and with the greatest likelihood of a healthy, independent life.  The SCAN Foundation supports programs that stimulate public engagement, develop realistic public policy and financing options, and disseminate promising care models and technologies.  The SCAN Foundation was created through a contribution by SCAN Health Plan, a nonprofit Medicare Advantage organization based in California. 

HealthTech (www.healthtech.org) is a non-profit research organization and expert network that develops forecasts and planning tools for emerging technologies in healthcare, and works with a broad range of stakeholders to advance their adoption. The vision of HealthTech is to make healthcare, better, safer and more affordable by advancing the adoption of technology-enabled innovations to make individuals and communities healthier. The mission of HealthTechis to build on eight years of industry leading forecasting to drive the adoption of innovations and technologies that can transform healthcare.  HealthTech offers partner organizations – hospitals, health systems, government agencies and foundations, and many others – a rich array of reports, decision support tools, webinars and education events that support planning, decisions and the deployment of emerging technologies.