HEALTH CLIPPINGS - SUMMER 2008

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Urgent Case Manager/Consumer Notice:
Digital phone providers may be putting seniors on PERS at risk.

• Many seniors are switching to phone service provided by Cable TV, VOIP, “Vonage”, “Comcast”, etc. and other internet providers. These are typically sold to save money. (see below picture)
• Their effectiveness with a standard analog PERS (medical alarms) is intermittent and may not work when you need it most!!
• Many providers continue to tell potential customers that the analog units work on a digital system. Without upgrades, they may or may not.

The Details: Traditional medical alert units (PERS) were designed to communicate by way of POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). After placing a telephone call, the emergency unit sends information from the home to the monitoring center to determine which emergency unit is calling and what type of help is needed. When consumers switch to digital phone service, the data can be distorted or omitted as the bandwidth of the internet service provider fluctuates, resulting in missed or inaccurate emergency reporting at the monitoring center.

Emergency alert systems communicate with monitoring centers via tones. These tones can be altered, distorted, or completely missing when using VOIP.

The change to “digital” may come at a much higher price if emergency help is not available when someone needs it most. “The biggest problem is that consumers are switching to VOIP service, and without knowing it they have significantly reduced the reliability of a device designed to help them remain safe and independent,” says Andy Schoonover, President of Valued Relationships Inc (VRI), a leading monitoring provider. “Many medical alert providers have no way of knowing the change has occurred until something goes awry.” Unfortunately, some medical alert providers have taken the strategy of telling customers that traditional solutions will work, even when they are not reliable and could fail at any time. In response to the growing number of seniors switching to VOIP service, we have introduced “DIGICARE”, (DIGI for short). DIGI is a VOIP compatible PERS unit that leverages proprietary hardware and software changes in the Medical Alert Care Center to receive both emergency and maintenance calls.

Please add this unit to your MHM price list @ $42.00/Month and indicate “DIGICARE” or digital needed. If you need a new price list please go to our web site and download information request, or email Dan@mthommed.com, r.e price list.