Boost for assistive technology with new partnership

Tunstall Healthcare has teamed up with MedicAlert Foundation to provide more comprehensive and connected services, and increase the uptake of assistive technology.

Telehealthcare specialists Tunstall Healthcare has teamed up with medical ID jewellery service MedicAlert Foundation to provide more comprehensive and connected services and increase the uptake of assistive technology.

MedicAlert Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation that has been providing a 24/7 personal medical emergency information and identification service in Australia for over 40 years, while Tunstall Healthcare supports people to live independently through a range of personal alarm and assistive technology solutions.

Tunstall MD Lyn Davies (leftl)  showing MedicAlert CEO Heidi Jones the Tunstall Medical alarm
Tunstall MD Lyn Davies (leftl) and MedicAlert CEO Heidi Jones

From July, Tunstall and MedicAlert, which together provide assistance to more than 200,000 Australians, will enter into a mutual referral program.

Tunstall Healthcare managing director Lyn Davies said the partnership offered added safety to clients both inside the home with a Tunstall medical alarm and outside the home with a MedicAlert medical identification bracelet.

“The aim of the partnership is to extend the service offerings to our clients, moving towards our vision of connected healthcare,” Ms Davies told Technology Review.

MedicAlert members will be offered exclusive member rates on a Tunstall personal medical alarm and 24/7 monitoring service, she said.

“With a growing ageing population and the rise in disabilities and chronic disease, people are looking for more support and cost-effective ways to remain independent and safe wherever they are.”

Ms Davies said the partnership would facilitate easier access to assistive technology services and create greater awareness of the solutions available.

“Tunstall and MedicAlert are both developing new services and technologies to meet the changing needs of the market. Together, these solutions will contribute to an increase in the uptake of assistive technology, including wearable devices,” she said.

“Our partnership will ensure greater reach of the message that there are cost-effective solutions available to support independent living and make a difference to peoples’ lives every day.”

The alliance to increase the reach of both organisations is the latest in a growing trend in and around the aged care sector, which has seen mergers, acquisitions and partnerships as organisations strive to build scale and ensure their viability in the changing marketplace.

Late last year following Telstra Health’s acquisition of aged care software vendor iCareHealth, CEO Chris Gray said such transactions would likely continue among the sector’s technology vendors as aged care providers also looked for scale and stability in their suppliers.

On the new partnership, MedicAlert CEO Heidi Jones said her organisation’s core purpose to provide responsive personal medical identification and information for all Australians aligned well with Tunstall Healthcare.

“This partnership marks the start of a range of innovations, services and technology we are introducing to ensure that we continue to meet the needs of our current and new members,” Ms Jones said.

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Tags: assistive technology, heidi-jones, Lyn Davies, medicalert-foundation, tunstall-healthcare,

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