Interviewee

Mrs Laurence Oostveen, manager of the vitality center at the Maxima Medical Centre in Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Organisation

Máxima MC is a top clinical hospital  in the Brainport region and has two locations: in the heart of Eindhoven and on the border of Veldhoven and Eindhoven.

What kind of services are you using via the MiBida platform?

There are two main areas for using the open platform: 1) Research in lifestyle improvement and prevention of long term conditions and 2) Support in remote patient care of persons with chronic heart failure and COPD; these patients have sensor technology at home for daily measurement of blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen saturation and they answer daily questions on their wellbeing; all these data are uploaded to the platform. The platform also allows frequent video calls between the patient and nurse. The service is offered 24/7, which means that after regular office hours, the monitoring is taken over by the Coronary Care Unit of the hospital. The platform is also used for cardiac rehabilitation of patients after a myocardial infarct, where patients get a 3 month lifestyle improvement programme. This programme makes use of activity trackers and smart watches and the patients have weekly contacts with physical therapists for physical exercises. So, the platform is used for video communication and collection/upload of data.

Why did you select MiBida BV with this particular platform?

The Maxima Medical Centre was looking for a company with high level of flexibility, open to co-create and co-design the services on a flexible platform. F.e. for rehabilitation we needed a dashboard that could integrate wearable and data from different vendors. Mibida was one of the rare companies that was willing to do so.

How are the experiences with the underlying platform?

The experiences have been excellent up to now.

If now other companies approach the Maxima Medical Centre with their new applications and services, is it then easy to integrate them to the Mibida platform?

Yes, I give you an example. Another company offers an e-coaching service for persons with long term conditions. But this company had no video conferencing. The Mibida company was able to integrate this e-coaching with the already existing video conferencing on its platform and now we have exactly what we want to offer to the patients.

Interviewee

Mr Jos Geesken, Programme Manager at SIZA

Organisation

SIZA supports people with a disability in such a way that they can organise their own lives. More than 3500 people make use of this support.

What kind of services are you using via the IQ Messenger platform?

Siza serves more than 3500 people with physical, mental or multiple disabilities, non-congenital brain injury or an autism-related impairment, children, adolescents and adults. The needs vary from support at home, overnight stays and 24-hour care in a Siza home. From assistance, support and treatment to working in the neighbourhood. Also at work experience places as well as coaching and reintegration. At Siza about 2500 employees work from more than 150 locations in the Netherlands (in the provinces Gelderland and Noord-Brabant, head-office Arnhem).

Siza uses the platform in its newest locations to connect several smart building systems with other systems, like safety alarm systems and an identification system for access control in the apartments. A special service, which is also connected to the platform, is a new app for people with no arm function who can still call for an alarm or control building functions.

Why did you select IQ Messenger BV with this particular platform?

Siza started with a customer journey. We also made use cases for finding the user requirements of our residents and care givers in their daily activities. Then we gave the list of specifications to approximately 30 potential suppliers in the Netherlands. An important question to all of them was: are you willing to co-create with other suppliers of technical solutions and applications? Then we asked them: with which competitors would you prefer NOT to co-operate? Out of this initial customer journey, only 11 potential suppliers remained. Then IQ Messenger was chosen for the central open platform, together with some other companies that deliver more specific applications via this platform.

How are the experiences with the underlying platform?

The experiences are very good so far. In particular we use less devices with more functionality. This also allows us to guarantee more security and safety to our residents and home care clients.

Do  you have an idea about the cost-benefit of the underlying platform, in terms of maintenance, update, data analyses, etc.? Or is this part of the overall package deal with the provider?

This is indeed part of the overall package deal as described in the previous answer.

If now other companies approach SIZA with their new applications and services, is it then easy to integrate them to the IQ Messenger platform?

Yes, but we also put this requirement to new companies: You must integrate with the underlying IQ Messenger platform, else we do not want to do business with you. So far, this approach works very well.

Interviewee

Mr.  Marcel van Dorst, project manager ICT at Avoord care organisation

Organisation

Avoord provides wide range of care to older people, people with dementia and people who require palliative care directly at their homes or neighborhoods.

What kind of services are you using via the Verkerk LIfe Connection platform?

Avoord is a care organisation for institutional and home care in the southern part of western Brabant in the Netherlands. There are appr. 800 residents in institutional care and some 1200 clients for home care and day care.

Since Avoord uses the open platform for institutional care only, you see here the following applications and services: nurse calls from the bedroom, personal safety alarms from pulse sensors of the residents, movement detectors, wandering detection within the facility, personal safety alarms from pulse sensors from the nurses. In addition, we installed electronic doorlocks for access control and electronic key boxes for remote control.

Why did you select Verkerk Groep BV with this particular platform?

A couple of years ago Avoord decided to renovate its old-fashioned technology for alarms etc and was looking for ONE single partner that would support them with all kinds of applications and services in the eight different care facilities. So, a programme for requirements and specifications was made and from all companies that have been invited for a bid, Verkerk appeared to be the only one with an open platform that could be delivered immediately. If now any problem, question or maintenance aspect needs to be solved, there is only ONE company to be approached, which is definitely positive from a long term exploitation and maintenance point of view.

How are the experiences with the underlying platform?

The experiences are very good so far. One can simply download an app and new personnel can easily be added into the system. At regular intervals the basic platform is fine-tuned and upgraded, which is notified to Avoord.

Do  you have an idea about the cost-benefit of the underlying platform, in terms of maintenance, update, data analyses, etc.? Or is this part of the overall package deal with the provider?

There is explicit insight in cost-benefit of the underlying platform, but there are several indicators for reduction of exploitation and maintenance costs: first, there is now only one company that does all maintenance; second, there is a lot of preventive maintenance: if f.e. a battery is about to become empty, the appropriate officer in the facility is automatically warned to replace the battery.

If now other companies approach Avoord with their new applications and services, is it then easy to integrate them to the Verkerk Life Connection platform?

Yes, the electronic doorlock system is a good example: It is not Verkerk, but another company that is the supplier of this technology. But the system has been integrated in a seamless way.

Interviewee

Mr Tim van de Geijn, programme manager Innovation

Organisation

Sevagram Service Center provides  care and services which range from, nursing home care, care home care, rehabilitation care, home care, gastronomy, personal alarms up to and including day activities and palliative terminal care.

What kind of services are you using via the Ascom Healthcare Technology platform?

Sevagram is a large care organisation in the southern part of the Netherlands, in the region Heerlen-Maastricht. It has 24 nursing homes for institutional care and provides also geriatric rehabilitation and home care.

In the past few years Ascom is more concentrating on development of services rather than building new hardware. Sevagram now uses both active (wrist worn and pendant) and passive alarm systems via this platform. Via the concept of “life circles”, persons with dementia that wonder during the facilities, can be given small towards larger circles of free  movement.

Why did you select Ascom Holding AG with this particular platform?

Some decade ago it was normal to select a company for a longer period of time. We chose at that time for Ascom. Because of the transition that Ascom made from being a hardware provider only towards a service provider using an open service platform, we are now very happy with Ascom and do not consider this anymore as “vendor lock-in”. First we thought that with a fully open platform we would encounter the situation that “nobody or everybody” would feel responsible. We did not want to be on the phone with dozens of different partners if a problem would occur. So, an important criterion for choosing a platform was that the service and maintenance would be the responsibility of one single partner, including the testing and experimenting of new services together with other suppliers of the applications in order to maintain its integrity and quality. Ascom participates in a foundation which checks the quality of new applications. Ascom has a partner programme in which at the lowest level, no service is provided on behalf of the third party, up to the highest level, where Ascom engineers also take full responsibility for the service of the third party application.

How are the experiences with the underlying platform?

The experiences are very good so far.

Do  you have an idea about the cost-benefit of the underlying platform, in terms of maintenance, update, data analyses, etc.? Or is this part of the overall package deal with the provider?

It is clear that we save a lot of money by having only one company that does all maintenance and services for the platform and the applications.

If now other companies approach Sevagram with their new applications and services, is it then easy to integrate them to the Ascom Healthcare platform?

Yes, recently we had a nice example: a startup with a smart camera system can make alarms based on analyses of images. We were very enthused about it. The start-up did not want to build its own platform. Now, Ascom has connected this new application to its open platform and therefore all parties are happy.

Interviewee

Mr Rob van den Eijnde, manager ICT at Dichterbij

Organisation

Dichterbij is a organisation which provides tailor-made care and support to people with disabilities and older adults in their homes or schools.

What kind of services are you using via the Viedome platform?

Dichterbij is a care organisation for mentally disabled persons, both at young, middle and older age, in the region Venlo-Nijmegen of the provinces of Limburg, Noord-Brabant and Gelderland. The organisation takes care of 2400 clients, spread over some 800 locations.

From 2004 on, Dichterbij is decentralising its care and from that period on, Mextal has been the technical partner. Only recently, all data are managed in the cloud, which is hosted via Mextal’s servers in Eindhoven and Nuenen. Services are: 24-hour monitoring, remote access control and fire security. The 2400 clients are also connected to the monitoring centre via so-called life scenarios. This means that the client demand is leading, not what the care organisation thinks is the best. More recently, the concept of data driven care has been introduced: from certain data and signals in the electronic client record, suggestions are made for certain care and support. An example is: data from sensors might give a clear signal that a certain client is becoming anxious or restless.

Why did you select Mextal BV with this particular platform?

A long time ago already, amongst other platforms, the Viedome platform proved to be the platform with the least minor points. It was the most stable and reliable platform, in full duplex and full IP. In the meantime both Mextal and many other companies offer lots of new applications and services, but Mextal provides a full service, including maintenance and support. As a client from Mextal, we know exactly what costs are incurred for the platform and its services. This if offered in an all inclusive contract and a pay for use model.

How are the experiences with the underlying platform?

The experiences have been excellent up to now.

Do  you have an idea about the cost-benefit of the underlying platform, in terms of maintenance, update, data analyses, etc.? Or is this part of the overall package deal with the provider?

This is indeed part of the overall package deal as described in the previous answer.

If now other companies approach Dichterbij with their new applications and services, is it then easy to integrate them to the Viedome platform?

Mextal itself is continuously looking for additional products and services from third parties. But also Dichterbij looks at what comes available on the market. Then the contract between the two parties says that Mextal is obliged to integrate qualitatively sufficient third party products into their platform, for the benefit of Dichterbij. This means that Mextal is not a simple supplier of hardware but a system integrator based on their open platform.

Interviewee

Manager of the care organisation

Organisation

The care center for older people “Nonntal” offers a space for 96 residents and is divided into 8 house communities. The organization offers older citizens a safe place to live and help them enjoy an individual quality of life.

What kind of services are you using via the 2PCS SYSTEM platform?

The platform enables the existence of one centralized alarm system which is applicable in all house communities of the care organisations. In concrete terms, each resident carries a bracelet which is equipped with an emergency button. At any time of the day the resident can call for assistance by pressing the button and alarming the available care personal. The bracelet transmits also information to the platform regarding the movement habits of the resident. Based on the parameters which are set in the platforms’ software an alarm can be triggered (a gatekeeper function) in case the resident leaves the facility of the care organization. The platform provides an additional “security” function that allows for the care personal to track a resident outside of the house and can even provide information on her/his geo location from any point around the globe.

Why did you select 2PCS Solutions GmbH with this particular platform?

“Nonntal” has a new building with a standard emergency call system which does not offer many functions. During the acquisition phase, our organization contacted many providers of open platforms, including big companies such as Phillips. However, none of the received offers matched the requirements of “Nonntal” for easy undegradable, cost saving and user-friendly platform. Fortunately, we received at a later point information about 2PCS Solutions GmbH and their easy to install platform. Since then, for more than two years the care center successfully applies the services of the platform and can report only on its positive experience.

How are the experiences with the underlying platform?

The experiences have been excellent up to now.

Do you have an idea about the cost-benefit of the underlying platform, in terms of maintenance, update, data analyses, etc.? Or is this part of the overall package deal with the provider?

We have been offered similar services of a platform which is developed by a big Austrian technology company. However we established that they are five times more expensive and complex to understand that the ones offered by 2PCS Solutions GmbH. Moreover, the cost-benefit ration of 2PCS SYSTEM platform is excellent and the company offers a good technical support.

If now other companies approach “Nonntal” with their new applications and services, is it then easy to integrate them to the 2PCS SYSTEM platform?

At the moment we do not have the need to integrate additional applications or devices into the platform. We are fully satisfied with the services which are offered by 2PCS SYSTEM platform.

Interviewee

Mr Yannis Ferras,  Health Psychologist MSc in the manucipality

Manicupality

Metamorfosi is a settlement in the western region of the northern part of Athens. Its populations is around 35.000. 50 private homes are currently using the services which were initially deployed during the ACTIVAGE project.

What kind of services were you using via the AITOES platform?

We applied the services of AIOTES platform to enable the monitoring of 50 private homes in our municipality. Hence, we were able to help the older people remain independent. The platform helped us to address efficiently request of the residents and manage effectively cases of emergency via devices such mobile phones or wireless panic buttons.

Why did you select ACTIVAGE with this particular AIOTES platform?

AIOTES and its services were brought to our attention by the Center for Research & Technology HELLAS (CERTH) during the project’s piloting phase in Greece. Since we were actively implementing an Active and Healthy Ageing (AHA) program in our manucipality we decided that the services of AIOTES platform would be an asset to our undertaking. Moreover, after the completion of the ACTIVAGE project, a local provider built upon the services of AIOTES a new commercial platform which is currently applied. The services of the platform successors of AITOES facilitates the connection between the various devices and sensors and thus provide us with a centralized control of the hardware infrastructure and care situation in the homes of our older residents.

How are the experiences with the underlying platform?

For us, as a municipality which is interested in implementing digital technology for active and healthy ageing, it was an useful and interesting experience. As a whole we are really satisfied with the services of AIOTES and will recommend it to other interested municipalities or care organisations. The older people who were involved in the piloting phase wanted to continue using the services of AITOES. A neighboring municipality have even showed interest in using AIOTES for its older residents.

Do you have an idea about the cost-benefit of the underlying platform, in terms of maintenance, update, data analyses, etc.? Or is this part of the overall package deal with the provider?

Since ACTIVAGE was funded by the EU, we did not have to pay for the provided platform’s services. However, we do pay for the equipment and services of the platform successor. Through its telehealth service we are able to check remotely the physical and mental status of the older people. We have also a psychologist who can arrange appointments with our residents through the platform.

If now other companies approach the municipality of Metamorfosi with their new applications and services, is it then easy to integrate them to the platform which is built upon AIOTES?

Yes, the platform allows for devices of third parties to be easily integrated and managed.