Predictive analytics driven by smart sensors and the intelligent capture of lifestyle data, can greatly improve the quality of care for the older adult population.

By: Benjamin Harris

March 29, 2019

Monitoring and caring for elderly can be a resource- and personnel-intensive job – one where even a small lapse in attention or failure to notice a pattern can lead to injury, diminished quality of life, or even death.

As Baby Boomers begin to enter their golden years, the challenges of how to effectively care for an increasing elderly population are steadily multiplying.

Predictive analytics driven by smart sensors and the intelligent capture of lifestyle data, can greatly improve the quality of care for this population. Learning more about even simple patterns that emerge over the daily life of an elderly patient can lead to greater insights from everything from routine health concerns to predicting when a life threatening event is imminent.

“We can predict health from data from different sources,” said Kuldip Pabla, senior vice president of engineering for Raleigh, North Carolina-based K4Connect, a developer of smart tech tools for senior living spaces.

“We can see symptoms of an upcoming problem,” Pabla explained. “Using crowd data, correlated to a current resident, we may be able to decipher the patient. Before a stroke, people tend to have slower activities. If we have historical data, before the stroke happens maybe we can save their life.”

Pabla describes capturing data from three areas: smart home, smart wellness and smart community. If all of the lights are off and no motion sensors are activated in a senior’s house during a time they historically have been active, a predictive system might guess the resident has fallen or gotten hurt.

The system can check to see if the resident has recently ordered a ride from Uber or Lyft or if they have a calendar event which might mean they aren’t home to prevent a false positive.

By integrating the smart home data with vitals captured from wellness sensors, a trend (slower movement a few days before a stroke, for instance) could be spotted and anticipated before a serious accident occurs.

Unlike the Silent Generation, Boomers are already well-connected and no strangers to smartphones and the internet. Monitoring on this level can work at home as well as it can under a controlled environment like a nursing home.

As more Baby Boomers are expected to age in place, this is a good thing. Pabla said this generation already has the devices, so the buy-in is largely there: “With limited exceptions, they can do it themselves,” he said.

This story and more from Healthcare IT News, here!

Senior focused health tech startup K4Connect tapped Keith Stewart, former Chief Revenue Officer for a smart building startup, as the company’s next Chief Growth Officer.

By: Laura Lovett

March 5, 2019

Senior focused health tech startup K4Connect tapped Keith Stewart as the company’s next chief growth officer. 

Stewart was formerly the chief revenue officer for smart building startup Site 1001. At K4Connect he will be responsible for expansion and growing sales. 

“K4Connect is positioned perfectly to collaborate with our clients in order to help the industry usher in a next generation, senior-centric experience that serves all constituents and scales to meet market needs,” Stewart said in a statement. “I do believe that my background in helping to lead companies — ranging from Silicon Valley start-ups to large international organizations — through transformative periods gives me a broad perspective on the opportunities that lie ahead.”

K4Connect also announced that its president, Derek Holt, will now be taking on the additional role of chief operating officer (COO). He will now be in charge of operations, marketing and communications, program management, customer success and product marketing, according to a statement. 

Read more on Mobile Health News, here

As Chief Growth Officer, Stewart will use his 20 years of experience in the technology industry helping to successfully grow companies and sales organizations to fuel K4Connect’s progress and expansion.

March 1, 2019

RALEIGH, N.C. — K4Connect, a software company serving the seniors housing sector, has appointed Keith Stewart as the company’s chief growth officer. The company also expanded the duties of Derek Holt, the company’s president, to include the role of chief operating officer.

Stewart will draw on 20 years of experience in the technology industry helping to grow companies and sales organizations. Prior to joining K4Connect, Stewart was the chief revenue officer for Site 1001, a California-based startup focused on smart buildings, real estate technology and construction technology. Prior to that, he served as a global sales leader and executive staff member in the Watson Internet of Things Division at IBM. Steward served multiple positions during a decade at IBM.

In his expanded role, Holt will continue to focus on all aspects of K4Connect’s business. He will oversee internal and field operations, marketing, communications and program management, including K4Connect’s expansion into the home market.

Prior to joining K4Connect, Holt was a founding member of Startup America Partnership, a public-private partnership focused on the acceleration of entrepreneurship in the United States. He was also a founding member and the head of growth at Main Street Genome, a venture-backed startup focused on improving success rates of businesses through data and technology. 

Holt began his career at IBM and served as the worldwide program director for business partners and general business in the company’s Rational Software Division. Throughout his 10-year career at IBM, he held various technical and business leadership roles.

Learn more from Seniors Housing Business, here!

Valeo Groupe Americas has announced it will have senior living software, K4Community from K4Connect, in its future Valeo Senior Communities in Henderson, NV, and Bluffton, SC.

By: Elizabeth Newman

January 23, 2019

Valeo Groupe Americas has announced it will have K4Community from K4Connect in its future Valeo Senior Communities.

The platform will be incorporated into Valeo Senior’s new Vineyard communities in Henderson, NV, and Bluffton, SC. By using their smartphone, tablet or voice, residents can access services via K4Community’s integration with Amazon Alexa technology. This includes automatic lights and temperature control, and access to activity trackers.

“At Valeo, we’re focused on developing purpose-built communities that cater to, and are inspired by, those we serve,” said Kevin M. Suite, founding partner, president and COO of Valeo Senior. “Since launching Valeo Senior, we have been looking for partners who share that same focus, especially those who are dedicated to enhancing the lives of older adults. It was only natural for us to partner with K4Connect, a company that is solely devoted to providing older adults with the ability to live healthier, happier and more independent lives through smart technology.”

Read it here on McKnight’s Senior Living!

Integrated devices using Amazon Alexa with K4Connect’s flagship product, K4Community, will provide voice-first smart home experiences for senior living residents. 

By: Lois A. Bowers

January 7, 2019

Santa unpacked a bag full of smart technology at The Cardinal at North Hills’ recent holiday party.

K4Connect CEO Scott Moody, dressed as the legendary figure, passed out Echo Dot devices Dec. 19 to residents of the Raleigh, NC, Kisco Senior Living life plan community as part of its expanded partnership with the operator.

The devices use Amazon Alexa, with K4Connect’s flagship product, K4Community, to provide voice-first smart home experiences for residents. Residents can access community content; manage their smart home and wellness devices; communicate with loved ones, community members and the front desk; and sign up for events and outings.

With the visit from Santa, The Cardinal is now fully voice-enabled. And with that visit, The Cardinal became one of the most recent communities to harness Alexa for its residents and staff. But it certainly won’t be the last.

Read the full story on McKnight’s Senior Living, here!

The executive director of The Cardinal, said one of its goals has been to make it as technology-forward as possible. To do that, he said, meant partnering with a startup like K4Connect and continuing to change what is offered to residents.

By: Zachery Eanes

December 24, 2018

Every apartment at the Cardinal at North Hills, a two-year-old retirement and assisted-living community in Raleigh, comes equipped with a pull cord.

It’s a feature that is meant to alert staff in case of accidents, like a medical emergency or a dangerous fall.

But resident Libby Powell has always worried that if she were to fall in her own apartment she wouldn’t be able to reach the cord.

“If you fall in the middle of your apartment you are not going to want to drag yourself to the cord,” Powell, 76, said.

Now, thanks to a partnership between the operators of the community and a Raleigh-based startup, that fear is no longer in the back of her mind. If she were to fall now, she says, she wouldn’t have to move at all. Instead, she would simply have to shout, “Hey, Alexa…”

Since 2017, startup K4Connect has worked with Cardinal owner Kisco Senior Living to make the community more digitally connected by using the startup’s software to seamlessly connect multiple devices regardless of the manufacturer. That lets residents remotely manage tasks such as managing their room temperature, monitoring their health and medication as well as keeping up to date on community events. Families of residents can also use an app to keep track of their family member.

As part of that partnership, the company, just in time for Christmas, provided an Amazon Alexa voice device for every apartment — something the Cardinal says makes it one of the first senior-living communities to incorporate voice technology to such a degree.

In some ways, the Cardinal, with 270 residences, has become a testing ground for new services from K4Connect, which works with 13 senior-living providers and more than 60 communities across the United States. The startup — founded in 2013 by Scott Moody, who previously ran the company that created the fingerprint sensor technology used in Apple iPhones — has raised more than $22 million in capital and now employs 55 people.

“The Cardinal has become a really great area for us to test ideas and to work with residents on feedback,” said Derrick Minor, manager of people operations for K4Connect.

Continue Reading the Story from The News & Observer, here!

Leaders will be tested over the next few years, and they’ll need to know how to adapt when the times are not in their favor, says Scott Moody, CEO of K4Connect, a technology solutions provider for older adults and individuals living with disabilities.

By: Stephanie Vozza

December 21, 2018

LEADERSHIP SKILLS WILL BE TESTED

Leaders will be tested over the next few years, and they’ll need to know how to adapt when the times are not in their favor, says F. Scott Moody, CEO of K4Connect, a technology solutions provider for older adults and individuals living with disabilities.

“Fact is, we have been in a strong economic upturn for the last 10 years and I believe we are in for more challenging economic conditions in the not-too-distant future,” he says. “Many leaders today have not really been tested in a downturn, whether the 2007 downturn, 9/11, the dotcom implosion, or many of the others that preceded those times. It’s never easy to be a leader, but it is darn harder when the tide is not in your favor.”

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Read the full story on Fast Company, here!

Why they’re one to watch: The senior living smart home software company’s cofounder and CEO is Scott Moody, who helped develop Apple’s touch ID system.

By: Anna Hensel

December 19, 2018

K4Connect

Headquarters: Raleigh, North Carolina
VC money raised: $22 million
Employees: 55 
What they do: Developed a software platform that can integrate a number of smart home devices in senior living facilities. 
Why they’re one to watch: The company’s cofounder and CEO is Scott Moody, who helped develop Apple’s touch ID system. With one in five U.S. residents expected to be in retirement age by 2030, K4Connect is serving a big market that has so far largely been ignored by technology companies. In 2019, K4Connect plans to introduce a home-based solution, as well, according to a spokesperson.

Read the full story on Venture Beat, here