Family Health Network Continues to Make News! ? First Flight ...

Family Health Network was on the front page of the ?Connect? section in today?s N&O! C0ngrats FHN!

Until a couple of years ago, Rita Slotnick was intimidated by computers.

?I was overwhelmed with the technology, really,? said Slotnick, 80, who lives with her husband, Irv, 81, in the Fearrington Village community in Chatham County. ?I didn?t know where to start and, of course, I was afraid I?d break something or do something quite wrong.?

Slotnick can make light of her technophobia now because she?s largely conquered it with the help of software developed in Research Triangle Park by Family Health Network. The software, a computer application called Connected For Life, demystifies the intricacies of technology for seniors, allowing them to stay in touch with their families and friends, who can monitor the health of their elderly loved ones.

Slotnick now is on the computer several times a day, using Connected For Life to check and send email and Skype with her children and grandchildren in New York.

?It?s wonderful to be in touch with the different clubs and friends here,? she said. ?I think I would be really missing out on a lot of activities and pleasures without the computer.?

CEO Harry Bailes, a lawyer-turned-entrepreneur, started Family Health Network in 2009 with a simple goal: to make technology both usable and useful for seniors. ?Older people shouldn?t be thought of as liabilities but as assets,? he said. ?They have become disconnected. Their health is dependent upon the roles that they play.?

Bailes, 65, said the burgeoning economic and psychological costs associated with living longer inspired him to create a way to bring families back together. The software allows seniors to keep in touch with their ?circle of care? through a simple interface that facilitates video chats, emails, appointment scheduling and the sharing of family photos.

The software has a two-pronged approach that combines the fragmented efforts of its competitors. On one hand, Connected for Life serves as an aging services platform, targeting people who want to age in the comfort of their own homes while staying connected to their families. The software also helps strengthen the ties between seniors and their health care providers.

The first step in creating the software was designing a simple interface that seniors would find inviting: a photo carousel and a personal message center.

The center allows seniors to compose emails, choose from preset messages and record voice notes.

?The ability to send a message with a voice message attached for this older group of people, that?s been really very appealing,? Bailes said. ?Now if you?re a granddaughter, you get this message and you hear your grandma talking to you.?

The next step was removing the physical keyboard, creating touch-screen capabilities or allowing for point-and-click commands.

?I believe that?s the major reason that a lot of older people haven?t embraced computers,? Bailes said. ?The keyboard is a major problem, so there?s one on the screen.?

The software costs roughly $30 a month per family, and Bailes said he has about 100 clients right now. Slotnick was part of an initial pilot program in Fearrington Village and is using the software for free in exchange for providing feedback to the company.

Other companies, both big and small, are targeting the same market as Family Health Network. Intel and General Electric have a joint venture to develop technologies for senior living communities while Telikin, a Pennsylvania company, makes a computer that comes with software designed for seniors.

But Bailes argues that his company?s offering is unique. Telikin bundles hardware and software and, unlike Connected For Life, can?t simply be downloaded onto an existing computer, while GE and Intel are offering services at a different price point and selling their technology in a different way, he said.

Family Health Network has about a dozen employees, including contractors. Bailes said the company has received about $1 million from angel investors, grants and his own contributions. Before starting Family Health Network, Bailes was an executive vice president with Connexion Technologies, a Cary company that builds and manages telecommunication networks for residential communities.

The number of clients using Family Health Network?s software could soon increase if proposed programs that use Bailes? technology are approved for funding.

Johnston County?s Community and Senior Services Department built a grant application around the software, supplementing it with community members, friends and family who would help support the senior, said Neal Davis, the department?s executive director.

The grant proposal, which would be funded by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, aims to equip 500 seniors with the technology and a human network of support during the next three years for $3.1 million.

?There?s not many people we?ve found that are focusing on this particular situation,? Davis said. ?(Family Health Network) is local, so it makes it easy to interface with them. It?s nice to have someone down the road that can react along with the changes that we see.?

The grant competition, called the Health Care Innovation Challenge, is scheduled to announce winners on March 30.

The company also received a grant of its own in October when the National Institutes of Health awarded it $190,000 to conduct a study to assess the capabilities of the software. If the results are promising, the company can compete for a second round of funding worth $1.5 million. Bailes said his team hopes to apply for a second phase of funding by the end of summer, just in time to gain a competitive edge in its ever-expanding marketplace.

?It?s hard to find somebody that?s doing all the things that we?re doing,? Bailes said. ?This represents some of the best work in this space.?

As for Slotnick, she?s gone from being worried about breaking her computer to embracing all the things it can do. When a Family Health Network technician recently stopped by to update her software, he installed something new.

?He put in solitaire,? she said, ?which was fun.?

Source: http://ffvcnc.org/family-health-network-continues-to-make-news/

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