Tag Archive for: Myron Kowal

Why privacy matters with the latest and greatest nurse call systems.

RCare with shadow

Our customers know RCare as the industry leaders, the head innovators. Usually that means a helpful new technology, a new thing that goes beep. Not this time. Today we’re leading the industry in an entirely new way: privacy.

We realize that this might raise a few industry eyebrows. But nurse call systems are no longer the simple, one-dimensional products of 20 years ago. The ever-increasing need for interoperability and integration with EMR and population health systems necessitates a more secure approach. And while all that new functionality helps deliver better care, it also demands additional responsibilities from companies like ours. That’s why we at RCare have decided it’s critical to ensure that all our solutions are HIPAA-compliant.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulates, among other things, the use and disclosure of protected health information. That is, it establishes guidelines for keeping private medical data private.  It’s an important issue for our customers and so it’s important to us, too.

Turns out that becoming HIPAA-compliant isn’t a small thing. In fact, people familiar with our plan often asked us why we were even bothering, since none of our competitors seem to be doing it. The answer is that we want to be proactive, to get out in front of these issues. Taking a “wait and see what happens” position struck us as an irresponsible approach to privacy and security. We know where the industry is going. We know because we’re taking it there ourselves. So why wait until a crisis occurs? Why wait until someone’s medical data is not safe and private? We think now’s the time to address HIPAA compliance.

Our customer facilities already know all about HIPAA, but to make sure RCare matches their level of compliance we had to take a careful look at a lot of different areas, from the way we design our products to our own internal practices. We now have policies on how to secure client data, like making sure protected information is encrypted at every stage of use. We have performed risk analysis and mitigation. We have rigorous policies about breach notifications, so our customers will always know exactly what is going on with their data. On top of all this we have done extensive training to make sure that everyone at RCare understands these policies and practices–including how important they are.

Going forward we want all our customers to know that even as their care models are being enhanced through our newest and most innovative features, their privacy and security are guaranteed.

You’ve always known that RCare’s got the most advanced nurse call solutions. Now you know that RCare’s also got your back.

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RCare is taking to the road for the next few weeks,  introducing the Pretty Pretty Pendant at trade show and conferences around the country.  Looking for us? Check out LeadingAge Illinois, and ISC West.

About LeadingAge Illinois

LeadingAge IL Annual Meeting & Exhibition offers a premier forum to showcase products and services to an elite group of members that are interested in finding the most innovative solutions for their communities.  

Location:  Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center & Hotel, 1551 Thoreau Drive, Schaumburg, IL 60173

Dates:  April 5 – 7, 2016

Time:  Sessions begin at 7:30 a.m. on April 5 and conclude at 12:00 p.m.on April 7.

About ISC West

ISC West is the largest security industry trade show in the U.S. Meet with technical reps from 1,000+ exhibitors and brands in the security industry and network with over 28,000 security professionals.

Location: Sands Expo Center, 201 East Sands Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89109

Dates: April 5-7, 2016

Time: Sessions begin at 8:30 a.m. on April 5 and conclude at 4:30 p.m.on April 7.

Will we see you at any of these conferences? Tweet us at @ResponseCare and let us know! For more information on RCare, please visit www.rcareinc.com or email info@rcareinc.com.

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Response Care, Inc. (A.K.A. RCare), is honored to announce they have been awarded the Rochester Business Journal’s 2016 Health Care Achievement Award Honorees in the Health Care Innovation category.

The Rochester Business Journal chose 21 individuals and two organizations (RCare being one) for its 14th consecutive year of awards celebrating the impact of healthcare innovation in the Rochester community.  The Health Care Achievement Awards recognize excellence, promote innovation and honor the efforts of individuals and organizations who are making a significant impact on the quality of health care in Rochester. The awards honor the best that Rochester has to offer.

RCare’s Myron Kowal, a veteran attendee of this exclusive awards ceremony, was delighted to learn his organization had been selected.

“I have been attending this ceremony for years and am delighted that I will be able to be on stage with some inspiring innovators in the Rochester area,” said RCare CEO, Myron Kowal. “I am proud of the RCare Innovative team for honing and releasing the latest in Nurse Call technology, the G4 Advanced Locating Protocol. This new, ground-breaking technology is ultimately what secured us the award.”

Since 2006, RCare has been devoted to improving the lives of elders around the world. Beginning in the Rochester, New York area, RCare continues to flourish and now serves facilities throughout the United States, Canada and most recently into Europe.

The honorees in all categories will be featured in the Health Care supplement in the Rochester Business Journal.

For more information on RCare, please visit www.rcareinc.com or email info@rcareinc.com

American PendantOur Pretty Pretty Pendants have been a Pretty HUGE success!  Needless to say, we’re Pretty excited.

We know seniors can sometimes resist wearing bulky, ugly PERS pendants. And who can blame them? It can seem like putting on an embarrassing badge of frailty. All of which made us wonder: Why do pendants have to be ugly?

Turns out, they don’t! It isn’t an actual requirement. (We checked).RC-PPP

While we knew at least some seniors and senior living facilities would be interested in our new, Pretty Pretty Pendants, we didn’t realize that we’d sell out immediately. But don’t worry, we’re making more. Want to get yours sooner rather than later? Get signed up for our Pretty Pretty Pendant waiting list, and get it pretty soon.

New shipments are expected soon, so contact us to add your name to the waiting list today!

Please visit https://rcareinc.com/contact/.

March 7, 2016 Rochester, NY – – RCare, Inc. is honored to announce that CEO Myron Kowal has been chosen to serve on the prestigious Executive Advisory Board of Argentum.

Previously known as the Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA), Argentum is the largest national association dedicated to professionally managed, resident-centered, senior living communities and the seniors and families they serve.  Kowal’s RCare has been leading the nurse call and monitoring industry since 2006, making them a valuable asset to this executive advisory board.

Myron Kowal has a long list of accolades and leadership roles under his belt including providing services for Habitat for Humanity and the Greater Rochester Area Partnership for the Elderly (GRAPE). He is also a recent recipient of the Rochester Business Journal 2016 Health Care Achievement Award for Innovation.

“Technology is changing the way care is delivered, while enhancing the professional caregiving experience,” said Kowal. “I am honored to help advance Argentum’s mission to improve the lives of seniors and those who care for them, as technology continues to play even more of a critical role.”

Motivated by a passion for the senior community and caregivers, RCare is a fixture at industry events such as the Consumer Electronics Show, the American Health Care Association, PEAK, LTC/CXO, Environments for Aging (EFA), Eden Alternative, Argentum, and LeadingAge. They will have a large presence in booth #408 and be sponsoring ancillary events at the upcoming Argentum Senior Living Executive Conference in May. The Argentum event will take place May 10th from 10:00am-1:30pm and May 11th from 10:15am-1:15pm in Denver, Colorado.

About RCare:RCare with shadow

RCare is a provider of UL 1069 tested wireless nurse call and personal emergency response systems for the entire spectrum of eldercare and senior living. RCare components integrate into a variety of healthcare communication systems to create efficient and verifiable responses to medical emergencies. RCare works together with distribution partners to build individualized, flexible and seamless systems to enhance professional caregiving teams and their residents.

 

About Argentum:Argentum_Logo

Argentum is the largest national association dedicated to professionally managed, resident-centered senior living communities and the seniors and families they serve. Since 1990, Argentum has advocated for choice, accessibility, independence, dignity and quality of life for all seniors.

RC-PPP 2In March, RCare will be stealing the spotlight at the LeadingAge Peak Leadership Summit, where we will introduce our new lightweight, waterproof Pretty Pretty Pendant. This push-button pendant, available in a variety of patterns and designs, can be worn as a wristband or necklace.  We have two distinct designs for our Pretty Pretty Pendant Series: a fashionable, beautiful and sleek design for those who don’t wish to sacrifice elegance for security and also our latest model, the Patriot Pendant. This is a symbol of liberty, freedom and independence that can be worn proudly by any American.

“We’re really passionate about combining style with function,” said RCare CEO Myron Kowal, “These beautiful pendants can be worn in the shower, out in the garden, anywhere really, and they provide peace of mind to the wearer and carer. They’re also nice looking. We think this is an essential piece to actual compliance.”

The Peak Summit, held March 14-16 in Washington, D.C. is a unique conference that brings together the highest-level executives and business leaders in the aging and technology industry, and fosters education, strategic thinking, and networking.

RCare’s Myron Kowal will be sponsoring a reservation-only Aging 2.0 Fireside Chat on the Sunday evening leading up to the conference. The event,  hosted by Aging 2.0, features roundtable panelists speaking on  “Digital Aging: Successful Technology Implementation in Senior Care.” Panelists include  include Kowal of RCare, Pete Celano of MedStar and Charlie Hillman of GrandCare Systems. It will be moderated by Laura Mitchell from Laura Mitchell Consulting (LMC), an expert in marketing and growth strategies for the aging industry.

For Reservations
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/aging20-washington-dc-digital-aging-successful-technology-implementation-in-senior-care-tickets-22199669810
Early Bird sales until Friday, Feb 26 at 5pm
General Admission from Feb 26 at 5pm –  March 9th at 5pm
Last Minutes tickets available after March 9th, until 6pm on March 13th

Fireside Chat
Where: Stone’s Throw Restaurant, Marriott Wardmann Hotel
When: 7:00-8:30pm, Sunday March 13th
7-7:30pm Networking/Registration
7:30-7:35pm Welcome & Introduction to Aging 2.0
7:35-7:45pm Opening Remarks by Myron Kowal, CEO of RCare
7:45-8:15pm Roundtable Panel Discussion, moderated by Laura Mitchell of Laura Mitchell Consulting
Panelists: Pete Celano (MedStar), Myron (RCare), Charlie (GrandCare), John Rydzewski (Direct Supply)
8:15-8:30pm Networking Cocktail Reception

When a resident at Columbia Healthcare nursing home triggers their nurse call system, they get help fast. Every time. How do we know? We compiled a list of every call in 2015 and analyzed the data. The average response time was 2:56. That’s from January to December, first shift through third, day in and day out. The whole year. Just under three minutes.

But we dug deeper, because an average doesn’t always tell the whole story. When you go over to Bill Gates’ house, the average net worth of people in the house is a deceptive $40 billion dollars. That’s why, in addition to averages, we need to know how much variation there is in the data. Did some people wait really long times and others get lightning fast service? Nope. The wait times were very consistent. The standard deviation (the average distance away from the average wait time) was only nine seconds.

That’s how we know that Columbia residents not only get rapid responses, but that they get them reliably.

We could tell you that RCare is partly responsible for these great numbers. But we don’t have to.

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Recently, rumors have been circulating that the newest version of the iPhone is set to debut save one crucial feature–the headphone port. Created in the early part of the nineteenth century, this audio connector was popularized when telephone switchboards were still widely used.

A staple feature of nearly every MP3 player, stereo system, and phone, if removed, all non-bluetooth headphones and speaker systems will become obsolete. We see this trend with other Apple devices as well with each new Macbook being released with a brand new charger.

Isn’t it frustrating when companies make changes that aren’t backward compatible? It leaves the customer holding the bag, expected to throw away previously purchased hardware and re-purchase new hardware. It doesn’t seem very customer-centric, which doesn’t sit well with us here at RCare.  We design our product with the caregiver and customer in mind. We want to create the most seamless and easiest tech transitions. As always, we will continue to grow and innovate, adding on new technology features to make our system even more comprehensive.

But, here’s the good news: you don’t ever have to worry that we will leave any of our valued customers holding the bag.  That’s why we made sure that RCare’s new G4 Advanced Locating Protocol works with all existing RCare transmitters. When we upgrade our systems, we take that extra step to ensure that our new technology works with our old technology. It’s that simple. 

Interested in joining our satisfied senior housing customers and become part of the RCare family? See a video testimonial about how a Wisconsin customer successfully improved the way they provide care for their residents using RCare.

Contact us or visit us at rcareinc.com.

RCare is delighted to announce they have been selected to attend the high-level  Long-Term Care & Senior Living CXO Summit on February 11th and 12th in Los Angeles, California. The Long-Term Care & Senior Living CXO Summit is the premier forum for C-level executives and high-end senior service and technology solution providers. This invitation-only event offers an intimate and private environment for a focused discussion of key drivers shaping the long-term care industry.

Marcus-Evans-LTC-Summit-2014

The summit begins Thursday, February 11, 2016 at 8:30am, with registration starting at 7:30am., and ends on Friday, February 12, 2016 at 6:00pm. The summit is divided into three distinct parts. The first being the Executive Conference Program, where a panel of industry leaders will examine the latest developments in critical strategies and streamlining technology processes. The second being One-on-One Meetings, which are pre-arranged between the Delegates and the participating Solution Providers. Lastly, there will be extensive opportunities for informal networking in a relaxed but professional business environment.

RCare Chief Executive Officer, Myron Kowal and VP of sales, Greg Meade, will be discussing their new Nurse Call G4 advanced locating protocol technology, the first of its kind in the senior living space, as well as brand new and beautifully designed PERS pendants.

 

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A man wearing his RCare pendant knows that help is only one button push away.

It’s 3 A.M. and Alice hears wheezing and coughing coming from down the hall. She rushes down to check on poor Henry who has spiked a temperature, again. She makes a note to check on him again in an hour and looks in on Sophia and Alan on her way back down the hall. All is quiet, a moment of relief.  That moment fades quickly away as her mobile phone displays that Ellen is in need of help.

She returns to her nurse station at Rock Hills Senior Community. This is just another normal night shift for Alice. She monitors the activities of 15 residents.  She responds to notifications such as a pendant being pressed at a bedside, or perhaps a high-risk resident has gotten out of bed.  She manages a team of caregivers and ensures the residents’ physical, emotional and mental needs are being met.

Technology in senior housing communities is rapidly growing. More and more communities are realizing that the Internet is no longer an option, but an expected amenity for not only the residents and their families, but also for the team of hardworking caregivers that care for many residents at once.  Remote monitoring solutions, Telehealth, telemedicine and advanced nurse call technologies are changing the way senior housing provides care.  

Leading remote monitoring and nurse call companies like RCare are making it easier for nursing and caregiving staff to quickly, effectively respond, and manage care for many residents at once. RCare Mobile alerts multiple caregiving staff members with an incident, and allows caregivers to eliminate duplicate efforts by the ingenious “I got it” feature.

When a fall happens, it can be frightening and minutes can matter. RCare’s G4 ALP (Advanced Locating Protocol) can narrow down the location of a pendant to a matter of feet, ensuring better response time and faster caregiver support.  Isn’t it time that you stopped trying to get better and just go for the best?  Choose empowered and faster caregiving. Choose RCare today.