Several years ago our board of trustees and leadership team were at a retreat developing our dashboard, which helps us set goals and measure results in our transformation work. One of the trustees put a question mark in a circle and asked the others what was the big thing’ that is going to change aging services, which wasn’t at the forefront of our work then. The word ‘Technology’ was written in the circle. Today we are piloting 2-3 new technologies per year to determine those that can enhance our customers’ experience and our work.One of those technologies was featured in an interesting story in the L.A. Times last week about baby boomers fueling the ‘aging in place’ movement and turning to technology to help fulfill their parents’ wish to live where they want to live.The tool is called QuietCare. We started using the unobtrusive sensor technology two years ago, piloting it with 20 of our customers. Today more than 600 use it. You can see QuietCare up close here. It helps us spot small health problems before they grow into larger ones; and it helps enhance information sharing and communications between our customers, their family members, caregivers and physicians.The consulting firm BearingPoint, just did a study for the National Commission for Long-Term Care, which is chaired by Newt Gingrich and Bob Kerrey. The report highlights, which you can read here, discuss technology being essential in long-term care, but that it needs to be connected to other segments of healthcare. As the L.A. Times article points out, and as we’ve experienced at Ecumen, technology can enhance people’s lives and break down critical information silos. Baby boomers are going to drive increased use of technology in aging services as more provide care and want technology to help them in this area of their life just as it does in so many other aspects of their lives. In fact, 9 out of 10 baby boomers told us in our Age Wave study, that they ‘EXPECT’ technology to help them live longer and more independently.