As advancements in healthcare continue to grow, along with our aging population, it only makes sense that the two form a symbiotic relationship. With the creation of assistive technology, senior adults can maintain an independent lifestyle at home.
Atlanta-based healthcare technology company SimpleC is redefining what life is and can be for the elderly and anyone struggling with memory loss, depression and chronic conditions. The company has developed a technology called the Companion, which can be installed on a handheld device or computer, and programmed for medication, activity and mealtime reminders, as well as offer cognitive stimulation to provide motivation and maintain adequate brain activity.
"The Companion is a friendly, touchscreen technology that delivers very personalized therapies," Dan Pompilio, SimpleC CEO, said. "The therapies are designed to motivate and engage a person to stay on their plan of care or provide behavior support when they're feeling anxious, stressed or depressed. As a platform with artificial intelligence, it tracks and trends a person's mental and physical states, triggering alerts to family and caregivers when something is 'off'---catching a person before a crisis and preventing otherwise avoidable trips to the hospital."
Pompilio was inspired to develop SimpleC's technology approximately 10 years ago, after his father's diagnosis of early stage dementia. Thus the Companion was born. Pompilio likens it to having a close family friend always nearby---a friend who is also a psychologist, physician, statistician, dietician, exercise coach and musician.
SimpleC, with 30 employees working at their Cumberland Parkway location, has teamed up with major partners to deliver its advanced telemedicine. IBM joined forces with SimpleC to provide advanced intelligence through Watson and mobile architecture of IBM Bluemix---in fact, SimpleC was awarded the 2016 IBM Beacon Award for Best in Class Usage of Artificial Intelligence. The company also signed a joint venture contract with Michigan-based JEMS Technology as the exclusive worldwide reseller and telehealth provider.
"The Companion is steeped in research," Pompilio said. "We're working in facilities across America and internationally, with people who have mild to severe memory loss. We have 28 university health system studies that help guide, direct and streamline the technology to an ever-friendly and efficient platform. With all this research, users of the Companion get real results."
Pompilio continues, "The National Institutes of Health saw how we were helping people in long-term care facilities and awarded us with four ongoing multimillion-dollar NIH grants to get the Companion out into the hands of people living at home. We have a growing customer base that clearly indicates our technology is making a difference in people's lives."
This virtual caregiver not only helps the user sharpen his cognitive abilities and increase independence, it also helps family and friends. Companion helps the entire network participate in care, strengthening memories by letting the user remember the faces and voices of his circle of loved ones. Anyone can be invited to use the Companion---sending a picture, a voice message or even a video just saying hello. It's a non-drug approach to spark motivation and connect to an aging family member and those with cognitive issues.
SimpleC generates revenue through the licensing of the software---$119 per license with no additional cost for access by the family or clinicians. Many of SimpleC's clients have enterprise pricing because they are healthcare facilities and health systems providing the Companion to residents and patients.
When asked where Pompilio sees SimpleC in five years, he said, "We will be considered the gold standard for care for any chronic condition. I am humbled and proud that the idea I had for my dad has morphed into an international solution for the senior care market, and now any chronic condition."
