America’s 65-and-over population is projected to nearly double over the next three decades, from 48 million to 88 million by 2050.
The world’s population is getting older every day. As a result, more and more adults are able to better manage their lives and their healthcare through the power of technology. This evolution has ignited a whole new sector of technology.
Age tech is shedding some much-needed light on market gaps and opportunities for underserved senior populations.
So what exactly is age tech? And how is it transforming health outcomes for the older populations of the world? Let’s take a closer look.
What is Age Tech?
Age tech is any type of technology that helps improve the lives of aging adults. Age tech is built and designed around the needs and wants of older adults.
Some examples of age tech include:
- A social network focused on enabling people displaced by automation to pursue what they want with more of a purpose
- A platform that helps seniors transfer wealth to their younger relatives tax-efficiently
- New banking services like Revolut, Startling, or Monzo (which partnered with PayPoint and allowed its senior customers to deposit cash in person in about 30,000 shops in the UK)
- Automatic lights
- Activity and health monitoring apps
- Automated cabinets
- Video doorbells
Why Age Tech is Important
The world is changing in new ways when it comes to demographics. There’s never been a time in human history where there have been so many people reach old age at the same time. There’s also never been a time in history where seniors have been so ready and willing to embrace technology.
In the past, grandparents wouldn’t have likely been using the same tech as their grandchildren. Now grandparents are on Facebook just as much if not more than their grandchildren. Smartphones are yet another example. Approximately 61%of adults over the age of 65 say they own a smartphone.
Baby boomers are right behind their grandchildren using smartphones and social media at extremely high rates. Seniors are using healthcare apps as well, which means they have an interest in managing their healthcare in smart and tech-savvy ways.
Because of that, the age tech market is expected to grow from $1 trillion to $2 trillion in the coming years. This is a huge opportunity to improve the quality of life for seniors through the power of technology.
How Age Tech Improves the Quality of Life for Seniors
Age tech significantly improves the quality of life for seniors in a multitude of ways. For example, it can help boomers better manage their healthcare data, age in place if they choose to, and have more control of their lives overall than older adults have had in the past.
Age tech is helpful to seniors in multiple areas of their lives, including transportation services, food delivery services, and mobile healthcare apps. Age tech also:
- Keeps seniors safer
- Helps them monitor their health and wellness
- Keeps them connected with family and friends
- Provides entertainment
- Helps them get access to transportation and food
- Provides peace of mind for everyone
Tech-driven tools are truly a game-changer for senior care. All of this technological innovation is only leading to better health outcomes for older adults
As discussed in this informative and collaborative article by Bishen Singh, Dr. Vijeth Iyengar, and Dr. Leith States, age tech is improving senior health outcomes by:
- Expanding digital and health literacy
- Improving remote healthcare monitoring and delivery
- Optimizing care plans and models
Because of these unbeatable benefits, age tech investments show no signs of slowing down: “This investment occurs amid an increasingly underserved patient population and underscores both the breadth of market opportunities and the importance of addressing disparities through technology-enabled solutions as means of promoting healthy equity via access and care.”
Supporting Seniors with a Healthcare Data Platform
Health plans are putting additional pressure onto their provider networks to align with payers and patients to improve healthcare delivery, outcomes, and overall performance.
Additionally, CMS guidelines encourage healthcare providers to incorporate more innovative technologies to meet the needs of an aging and diverse population. More and more providers are adopting technology that helps streamline services, with top-of-the-line security and CMS compliance in mind.
A healthcare data platform empowers providers serving seniors in multiple ways, offering a patient 360 view from a single secure location. This technology fosters greater collaboration, interoperability, and transparency so patients are active participants in their own care instead of just witnesses to it.
Using a healthcare data platform to coordinate care also helps eliminate fractured care, minimize data loss, and facilitate between primary clinicians and specialists better. That means:
- Fewer medication errors
- Fewer trips to the emergency room
- Fewer hospital readmissions
- Value-based care that serves the “whole” patient
- Fewer diagnostic tests that can cause unnecessary stress
- Ability to recognize the social determinants of health that affect the patient’s health
Every patient, boomer or not, should have the tools they need to advocate for themselves and the care they desire. A healthcare data platform is one of these tools that support seniors during their care journey and allow providers to deliver the best possible care.
A Healthcare Data Platform is A Step in the Right Direction
Age tech has become an integral part of the lives of hundreds of thousands of baby boomers. By equipping seniors with the technology they need, we’re empowering them to live life on their own terms and take back control of their healthcare management.
With a healthcare data platform, healthcare providers coordinate patient care and impact patient outcomes in a positive way. Solutions like Skypoint Cloud make all the difference in providing excellent, coordinated care across teams with a complete view of senior care.
Schedule a demo of Skypoint Cloud to take a step in the right direction.
