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Caleb York is a passionate leader and eager learner who possesses a unique ability to quickly assimilate information and affect positive change. His current mission to help enable older adults to age well in place with VirtuSense Technologies.
Caleb has garnered praise in improving revenue, operational efficiency, and deliverables across healthcare, the automotive industry, and the service sector.
Caleb holds a B.A. in Philosophy and Theology from the Moody Bible Institute.
Please join us as we discuss his experience on how to improve senior living using AI technology and his thoughts on senior care post COVID-19 pandemic.
Hanh Brown: [00:00:00] Today, my guest is Caleb York. He is a passionate leader and an eager learner who possesses the unique ability to assimilate information and affect positive change quickly.
[00:01:24] Caleb has garnered praise in improving revenues, operational efficiency, and deliverable across healthcare automotive industry and the service sector. If there is a problem, he will solve it. And if there is a need, he will fill it. Caleb holds a bachelor of arts in philosophy and theology from the moody Bible Institute. [00:01:46] Well, Hey, welcome. Welcome Caleb. How are you? Well, I appreciate you being here. So what brings you to senior living? So share with us your journey.Caleb York PhB: [00:01:54] Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. Great, great question. I feel like I have a quirky vocational path, so, so I did not set out to, to, uh, to work in senior living and to work for a technology company to work.
[00:02:08] For a medical device technology. I did not set out to do any of this. I grew up in Michigan, went actually to a Bible college in Chicago to a school called the moody Bible Institute. And my intention was to work in, was to be a pastor to work in Christian ministry. I, um, got married, realized that, and there weren’t a lot of positions for the type of Christian tradition I was looking to work for just weren’t a lot of positions that would actually pay a full salary and realize, Hey. [00:02:38] I probably need to focus on providing for my, my new family. And we, we started, we had, uh, we got pregnant pretty early on and had, uh, my daughter, Lucy and I have a three and a one year old. So I got going pretty fast and the family on the family journey and life journey. So it was like, okay, I need to, I need to work. [00:02:56] So worked a series of jobs from, um, you know, having a Bible college background does not necessarily lend itself to an immediate. Uh, and normal career path outside. If you’re not going to work for the church or work in Christian ministry, you know, w what are you going to do? So I just started finding jobs and worked for, uh, in the supply chain for the automotive industry did really well in that it was really intense realized I definitely do not want to do this. [00:03:22] Long-term very aggressive, very, a pretty brutal the supply chain for general motors. It’s very, very tough. So transitioned actually, from there to working at the university of Michigan hospital. So I was managing for three hospitals. I was managing their, their, their team of employees tasked with, uh, infection prevention, cleaning. [00:03:41] So they’re cleaning the or operating room. It was they’re discharging, discharge, cleaning, you know, the normal impacts rooms. Um, there was a fascinating, great experience, fascinating experiences, my first foray into healthcare. And, but I was working midnight. It was, it was very tough on, on, you know, when you, when you have a one and a half year old and you have, it’s just, it’s just a bit very difficult, totally switched schedules. [00:04:04] I would work sometimes I worked 17 days straight at one point for a midnights, just cause there was just. Tremendous need for improving, hoping the light cut off on me in here for improving, uh, the operations of the hospital. And so ultimately I decided, you know what, and I saw a lot of things in the hospital that, that a lot of areas where technology is desperately needed to improve. [00:04:28] Care delivery to improve workflows to there. There’s a tremendous amount of burnout amongst, especially nursing I saw in the hospital. Just, it’s just tons of stress, lots of, lots of difficult, very difficult patients. Um, oftentimes they’re, they’re dealing with both in terms of the complexity of the issues they have. [00:04:45] And also the prevalence of, of psychological issues and all sorts of things that they encounter for these folks coming into the health system. And I got connected with, uh, my wife is from Peoria, Illinois, which is where, where I live now. Um, in her hometown, there was this startup technology startup company called virtue sound and. [00:05:06] Uh, we would come back and visit often to visit her family. And I got connected with these guys here, and I was really amazed by what they’re doing because they’re creating technology to identify using artificial intelligence and sensors, to predict and prevent adverse events mainly for older adults. [00:05:23] But, but I saw, I just saw a lot of applications because I saw the nurses in the hospital running down hallways, trying to get to rooms in time to prevent falls from happening, you know, and they’re using. Really old technology like pressure pads and just, it just seems like this is a space that’s ripe for. [00:05:39] Innovation that’s right. For that. There’s a trend of saw an opportunity to improve on care delivery. So that’s why I joined virtue sense and virtue sense. Um, it’s historic focus has been in preventing falls for older adults, and that has meant that largely we work with senior living communities post-acute long-term care communities, and then also health systems. [00:06:02] So my foray into senior living was entirely unintentional, but it has been a. It’s been a tremendous blessing. Um, I think it’s been, it’s been really educational as to the challenges that exist across the, across the continuum, especially between these different settings of care and the levels of care. Um, but, but yeah, it’s been, it’s been a really exciting journey. [00:06:23] I’m very honored to, I, I feel privileged that I kind of fell into. The path that I’m on now.Hanh Brown: [00:06:30] Well, it’s great to have you in the industry to serve the older adults. I feel like I know you already because you want to PCA. That’s where I sent my kids, um, during their elementary and middle.
Caleb York PhB: [00:06:40] Are you serious? I didn’t realize that.
Hanh Brown: [00:06:42] they’re in college now in one in graduate school.
Caleb York PhB: [00:06:45] Did you have a good experience with PCA?
Hanh Brown: [00:06:47] Yeah. I had a very positive experience at PCA, my oldest. Um, she graduated from public health at Michigan and she’s heading to medical school. And my second, my son, who is studying computer science at Michigan, then I get a senior in high school.
Caleb York PhB: [00:07:02] Wow. That’s awesome.
[00:07:05] Yeah, I had a good, I had a very good experience at a, at, at, at PCA over there in Kim. So I find a lot of fond memories, but I think, uh, I just saw that there, they did a virtual graduation ceremony for their see we’re we’re we’re times we, I mean, it’s, it’s affecting everyone and everywhere, so. Um, just, just thought that was an interesting, I can’t imagine having a virtual graduation, but yeah.Hanh Brown: [00:07:30] Well, it’s good to meet you in social media.
Caleb York PhB: [00:07:32] Likewise. Yeah. That’s I think that’s been one of the unintentional or the maybe overlooked positives. There’s not a whole lot of positives, but one of the positives of the pandemic has been, I think we’re all getting better at networking and utilizing platforms like LinkedIn and other ways to get connected to me and, and.
[00:07:51] Probably a little bit more openness to, to meet people. We haven’t previously to meet them through a format that, that feels a little awkward, you know, getting to know someone online, but yeah, I think we’re, yeah, that’s, that’s one small positive.Hanh Brown: [00:08:04] that’s right during the work from home mode in the past four months or so, as we all adjust to our new life, it is no better time than now to network.
Caleb York PhB: [00:08:13] I was the same way my parents were the same way. They were very, uh, We are, we’re not, we are not super fast technology adopters. We, you know, we had slower internet than my friends. We had, you know, it was, it took longer for me to get a cell phone than most of my peers, but, but there’s also, you know, I think.
[00:08:30] There’s good and bad to that, right? You don’t want, um, I think with my own kids, I think a lot about like, what, what is it going to look like? There’s so little three in one. So I’ve got some time, but, but still, already it’s like, do I let my three-year-old watch, watch Netflix on the iPad? Is that a bad. Is that, is that setting some bad, you know, neural synapse pathways for her, you know, is it, does she really need to be doing that as a parent? [00:08:56] Sometimes I need her to be doing that to, to, to, to get through whatever. Yeah. So I can, I can be productive. I can clean the house. Like, you know, it’s a weekend do thing, but I do think a lot about that. And there’s technology is not, is not blanketly and social media and all these things are not. Purely good. [00:09:14] They can be used for really wonderful and productive things and they can also be tremendously harmful. I appreciate that.Hanh Brown: [00:09:22] So what does senior living mean to you and how are you making an impact?
Caleb York PhB: [00:09:27] Yeah. Great, great question. I, and I continue. I’ve been in the space now for, for just shy of two years. I feel like I, today I understand, I understand senior living and the nuances, uh, tremendously better than I did it two years ago when I started.
[00:09:42] Um, my perspective of senior living was incredibly limited. And I think most people, especially, especially younger people and people who aren’t, who have no reason to, if they don’t have a family member, that’s in some form of senior living. And if they are not themselves looking into senior living for either career or for, or for a living arrangement, um, I think most of the time senior living is collapsed into. [00:10:04] Uh, over simplified buckets of either just a retirement, you know, housing, a community of 55 plus condominiums, or, you know, or it’s a nursing home. But, but the reality is, is that it’s, it’s so much more complex than that. And there’s all these different types of models. And there’s. You know, independent and assisted living communities that, that work in a rental framework or there’s life plan communities. [00:10:25] There’s, you know, there’s all sorts of nuances and, and how these different communities function and how they take care of their, how they take care of their residents and the philosophy and the difference between for-profit and non-for-profit. Um, institutions. And so I’ve gotten a tremendous education over the last two years. [00:10:41] And I think, I think one of the biggest takeaways I have for senior living is that when I started in senior living a couple of years ago, um, there seemed to be. Uh, I had someone tell me actually, uh, somebody, it was someone from, uh, health pro heritage, which is a therapy, a therapy company that works in this space. [00:10:59] He told me, um, there’s this, there’s a big divide between senior living operators who, who see themselves as in healthcare and hospitals or in hospitality and housing versus being in healthcare and, and not all, some of them, some of them view themselves as being in hospitality. Some of them view themselves as being both in the hospitality and healthcare. [00:11:21] And there’s a big, there’s a big gap between, you know, where they see themselves on that spectrum. I think COVID-19 has, has drastically, uh, dramatically changed that paradigm and probably permanently changed that paradigm for most. Operators for even, even the ones who previously saw themselves as more facilitating, you know, a luxury experience of retirement or, you know, or providing amenities or, or doing, there’s been a change where you can’t, if you’re caring for older adults, or if you’re setting up an ecosystem for older adults, regardless of what level of care that’s happening at, you are. [00:11:59] Almost by definition, participating in healthcare and COVID-19 has, has forced that reality on, on operators, um, where, you know, they’re having to worry about infection prevention protocols there. They’re having to create standard operating procedures for, for making sure that for contact tracing for the virus, for making sure people are coming in and exposing residents, you know, all sorts of things that I think previously were just. [00:12:25] No, not on anyone’s radar and understandably so, but I, but I think that the space has, has really there’s a tremendous need. Now. Um, there, there was just a lack, a lack of understanding that if you’re, if you’re in the business of working with older adults, you are by definition, going to be involved in health care. [00:12:44] Um, and I think that that’s, that’s a, that’s a reality. Most people are accepting now.Hanh Brown: [00:12:48] to the industry. The image that I had about senior living or my understanding of it is that it was very institutional where old and sick people go well now, very different. It is all about wellness, engagement, community, dining shopping, you know, what a value proposition that is.
[00:13:10] The residents’ experiences with the CCRC, in my opinion, is longevity, vibrancy, healthy, living in very community driven.Caleb York PhB: [00:13:21] Yeah. Community, friends, all the things that you think you would think you’d want near retirement. Yeah.
Hanh Brown: [00:13:28] I agree. I think the universities and high schools, as they are going back to school or reopening, they’re going to be huge challenges when the students go back.
[00:13:39] Whether it’s in-person or online or hybrid businesses are going to face these challenges as the real.Caleb York PhB: [00:13:45] Yeah, I think I had a very similar perspective and it’s getting to know, um, both the, a lot of different organizations that operate senior living communities now, and a lot of the folks that work in those organizations and then resonance as they go to communities, meeting residents and talking through their experiences.
[00:14:01] Yeah. I’ve been struck by. Um, for those who can afford it, which is a whole nother part of the conversation right. Of, you know, there’s a. Tremendous. There’s a, there’s a, there’s a, there’s a huge need in the middle housing market and the lower income market for, for seniors. So th th that’s a whole nother conversation, but for those who can afford to move into these communities, um, the benefits are obvious and they seem, and frankly, they seem more engaged. [00:14:28] They seem, um, I think there, there, there there’s a lot to be said that they’re aging probably better and healthier. Um, and doing so with more enjoyment and connection than they would in their own homes, which is the appeal. Um, but, but one of the feedback points that I’ve gotten recently from a lot of these communities is their challenges now with COVID-19, is that a lot of the ways that they had some of the things you highlighted, like the amenities, the dining, the, you know, the activities, the, those, those amenities were previously what they use to advocate for people to move in. [00:15:03] Right. You know, you can have someone come in and do a tour or you show them the, you know, the luxury amenities that the spa, the, whatever it is. Yeah, exactly. And now that’s limited out of these operators. The feedback I’ve gotten recently is they’re saying our sales process used to be encouraging residents to move in and connecting with folks from the community, used to be just to bring them in and give them a tour and to kind of talk them through. [00:15:32] What would it look like to live here and all the benefits and the community and everything that has all changed. And at least for the foreseeable future, the question has shifted from, especially because many of those amenities can’t be enjoyed in the same way that they were before with socialized with, with social distancing and with, you know, they’re just trying not to have groups of people it’s changed from a conversation around move into the community because of these amenities to move into the community because we can take care of you better. [00:16:01] And, and here’s the over the over, you know, wherever you’re at in, in, in your particular journey, living with us is going to be a more productive, healthier, you know, we have all, we have things in place to take care of you over the long-term that that’s going to make for a bar. It may make for a vibrant life. [00:16:20] Um, and I think that that is. That is where I’m hearing the conversation shifting of. Um, because a lot of frankly, the, the news, the PR is, is, is challenging. The news has not been great for senior living senior housing and in us. And so they need, they need a new narrative. They need a narrative. That’s, that’s not about all of these things that people aren’t concerned about right now, which is, you know, the amenities, so to speak. [00:16:43] It’s the, how are you going to keep mom and dad engaged, healthy? Non isolated, you know, how are you going to provide for their needs in a deeper, I think in a deeper way than previously, the conversation was being had.Hanh Brown: [00:16:57] living is obviously in the spotlight. You always hear about the statistics. That’s, you know, 46% of COVID deaths are linked to senior living.
[00:17:07] Um, this problem isn’t unique to our industry and I think it’s going to solve itself, but it’s going to take a long time, perhaps one to two year. In my opinion, there are three major challenges we’re facing is not being able to keep our residents safe in having enough PPE. And the second is that lack of testing equipment and the fact that some of these testing is faulty. [00:17:29] And third limited move in, or maybe even no move in due to COVID with all those bad CROs, it’s hard to have a new narrative. We can’t use the amenities you’ve shared and you can’t move new residents in due to a social distance. So this definitely were hurt revenues. Yeah. So those three they’re huge challenges. [00:17:49] And I think businesses, um, when they, we opened both face similar degree of these types of challenges. I think it will take a year or two, you know, hopefully shorter things will get better. People will have the vaccine and their mindset of fear. We’re relaxed a little bit.Caleb York PhB: [00:18:05] Yeah. I mean, that’s the, regardless of what happens with the actual, with the virus and with the psychological kind of ripple effect of everything that’s happened, it’s going to take some time to.
[00:18:18] To, to work at, to work out and to, and I think, I think I I’m, I’m seeing, and I’m curious, I’m very fascinated to see if this continues and at what capacity. And I’m seeing a trend where recently, uh, senior living, uh, leaders who are, who are embracing technology, who are, they’re trying to create a new narrative of. [00:18:39] Of what senior living is going to look like coming out of this and the reason and, and, and trying to create a compelling narrative around, you know, why you shouldn’t do it living post COVID.Caleb York PhB: [00:18:54] Yes, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Because the market that the research is, is out there. Um, I, uh, a company called inquire, um, has a, they put together market research about. Um, occupancy and, and, and, uh, kind of like the pipeline of move-ins for senior living and it’s been, and it’s dry, it’s continually dropped over over this, this, which is, which is, makes total sense.
[00:19:19] Right? So, um, so something, something needs to happen. There needs to be a new narrative and there needs to end. And I think a lot of operators understand that and are trying to position themselves well to come out of this and to have, have, uh, have some new talking points about why senior housing, why now? [00:19:34] And. Sure.Hanh Brown: [00:19:38] Absolutely. So you talked a little bit about some of the products that your company provides. The VST alert, the balance in the home. All of these are solutions that are solving a problem. So is it mainly for detecting a fall? Can you explain what the problem is and how your product serve as a solution.
Caleb York PhB: [00:19:58] virtue sense that the organization I work with, um, our goal is to create technologies and solutions that proactively identify risk for older adults and prevent and prevent whatever adverse event, whether it’s falls, whether it’s as pressure ulcers, whether it’s we, we started as a fall prevention company with, with VST balance, which is basically an assessment tool that takes.
[00:20:23] Traditional kind of gold standard assessments, like a gait analysis or a balanced assessment or a functional movement assessment. And it automates them so that you could have, um, you could even have lower, like I’m not clinically trained as a therapist or anything, but I, I feel comfortable running, running people through these assessments and it captures the data automatically and attracts outcomes. [00:20:42] So basically it predicts. It’s a tool that’s used to predict risk. So if you’re 65 years old and you walk with this gait abnormality, or your probability of suffering a fall in the next year is 72% and here are the recommended exercises to help you mitigate that risk. So it’s a population health tool it’s used by primary care offices. [00:21:02] It’s used, it’s used in a lot of different settings, but it’s basically at a very simple, simple level. It’s. To identify who’s at risk, why they’re at risk and what can be done to help them. And so that’s kind of over a, that’s an overarching kind of broad long-term, you know, how are we, are we tracking our outcomes amongst our residents? [00:21:19] Are they getting better? Are they getting worse as our fall risk as a community going up? Is it going down? Um, that was what we, what we started with, uh, as a company we’ve, we’ve kind of grown, we’ve grown and we’ve added, our vision has been to. We don’t want to just be about falls. Falls is, are, is, is certainly near and dear to our heart. [00:21:37] And it’s central to what we do. But when we really want to expand our technologies to predict and prevent all kinds of adverse events rolled they’re adults. So, so alert is a, is a technology that it’s it’s. Monitored in the room for assisted living, skilled nursing and hospital rooms. It’s a sensor that monitors a patient’s movement and better residents, movement, and bed to predict there’s nothing there anything that’s not touching them to predict when they’ll attempt. [00:22:05] It’s not an opposite either on the ceiling or opposite of the patient’s bed, there’s no wearable with it. There’s, it’s all infrared tech, infrared sensor technology, and then artificial intelligence programming. That’s that’s done on the edge on the sensor. So it’s just looking at their movement and saying, Hey, when is this person going to attempt to get up? [00:22:22] And then it’ll notify staff members. That you know, that with the skilled nursing setting, you know, patient in room 10 is getting out, they need, you know, they need, they need assistance or for an assisted living setting, you know, miss Ann is getting up and, you know, and it’s, it’s 2:00 AM. She might need to use the restroom wherever, but she, and she’s, she’s capable of living in assisted living, but she does need some help. [00:22:44] And to prevent the fall from happening at night, you know, someone should, should ultimately probably go help her or, or she’s attempting to exit her apartment. Cause she’s disoriented. And, you know, she, she is suffering from some cognitive impairments, no camera, no videos. So it’s protecting all of the, all of the, um, all of what’s happening is happening on the sensor itself. [00:23:03] And it’s not recording or streaming video anywhere, which means it’s really low data bandwidth and it’s PR and it’s, and it’s sensitive to the privacy of the, of the, of the person being monitored. As well as to the institution. So we’re not, we’re not recording things happen. And sometimes the institution is going to be culpable, right. [00:23:20] Or it has some responsibility. A staff member took way too long to respond. You know, things happen. Right. We don’t want to record that. We don’t want to. We don’t want to create discoverable. You know, we don’t want to create liability for our partners right after in fact when events occur, we want to help. [00:23:35] So the staff member, we have Android and Apple apps basically. So they’ll get a notification through an app through one of those applications or through another end point device to let them know that that, that that person is getting up. And it’s discreet. Doesn’t it. We have a voice that comes up that comes through the sensor in the room to let the, let the person know not to get up. [00:23:54] But that’s optional so they can choose whether or not they want to have that feature, or if they just want to send silent notifications to staff members. Um, but that technology, even that we’re expanding to, we don’t want to just monitor falls. We’re expanding to monitor movement in bed. This is more for skilled nursing and for hospital units for, for predicting pressure injuries. [00:24:15] So, you know, has the person rotated at now? Um, do they need to do staff members need to rotate this patient more frequently, et cetera. And then as well as. Uh, we’ve recently launched a vital monitoring. We have a vital monitoring patch and FDA patch that the patient can wear. The resident can wear. And it’ll it, it integrates with the systems that will notify. [00:24:35] You can set thresholds based on comorbidities or, um, you know, if they have, if you’re suspecting something like COVID-19 or whatever the situation may be, but it’ll send vital monitoring signatures and alerts to whoever you want them to go to, to let them know that, Hey, this patient, you know, this patient’s. [00:24:53] Blood pressure has dropped significantly. You know, they’re, they’re, they’re running a temperature now they’re, you know, their heart rate is slowing whatever the, whatever the need or the particular application might be. So our goal is to grow and eventually we’re going to move beyond the, the, the patch itself and do contactless vital monitoring. [00:25:13] So our goal is to, is to really. Um, positioning ourselves to across the continuum of care, whether it’s in the hospital, whether it’s in the home, whether it’s some skilled nursing, wherever it is, we want to be able to provide proactive, preventative care for older adults to, to ensure that they’re aging healthy. [00:25:29] They can age successfully healthy and while wherever they are.Hanh Brown: [00:25:32] That’s great. So are there any features for improvement you’re working on? That’s not yet in place.
Caleb York PhB: [00:25:39] Yeah, absolutely. I think it’s, if we’re not, um, there’s always opportunities for improvement and for growth. And I think the only way that that happens is honestly through partners, through collaboration and partnership with, with these different communities and organizations that we work with.
[00:25:54] Cause we’ll, we’ll design a technology. And oftentimes even if the technology had had great, you know, it may have made a lot of sense to us. It has great in theory has great application points. When we implement the technology for the first time, we learn all sorts of things about, you know, workflow and there’s lots of improvements to be made for each of these we’ve come a long way. [00:26:16] And I think most, most of our solutions at this point have, have, um, have really developed nicely, but there’s always opportunities for continued collaboration input of, you know, things like w on our VST balance system, we did not use to have a cloud. Um, where all the information went. So the clinicians or whoever’s using system would have to go to the actual physical system to look at reports and things. [00:26:39] And now we created a cloud database, so it’s all automated so they can, wherever they are, they can log onto the cloud print off reports. They can check. A risk board that shows the different residents and their, and their fall risk likelihood, and it’s all in one place. But that, that came about over time. [00:26:55] Right. And it required input from our partner that that would be, that would be needed. That that would be desired. Um, so I think as we continue to build on our platforms, there’s going to be. And there continue to be inputs that we received from, from folks and communities we partner with that affect ultimately the product development. [00:27:14] And what’s, what’s desired to be a part of the technology. So for example, um, I had a call this morning with an assisted living administrator in Ohio who, uh, is concerned. Her primary concern was actually in, in and wander in residents wandering. Um, they’re they’re they don’t have a memory care unit, but they do have, it’s an assisted living community with. [00:27:33] Folks that are struggling from, from that are various stages of cognitive impairment. And, and she was concerned about that. And our technology is not primarily a wander prevention tool, but they’re also struggling with a lot of falls and our technology, I think. Um, right now is helpful in alerting when people are getting up. [00:27:52] So it can help you notify. It can help you understand at night when, when someone might need some help. Right. Which could include just a, just a trip to the bathroom. It could be that they’re actually trying to exit their apartment. And they’re, you know, they’re, they’re trying to head out the door, whatever the situation might be. [00:28:05] So it does have applications for that, but I think there’s a lot of opportunities in the future for us as we. Continue to build on the platform, adding something like a full, a full wander prevention solution that integrates with the system would be a fantastic value add for, you know, we, we want to try as much as we can. [00:28:23] We want to try and do everything that we want to be an all-in-one. An all encompassing solution for the need. So, so that there’s not all these different point end point solutions. There’s not all these different technologies that these communities have to adopt and integrate with. It’s one, one kind of system that manages their risk and, and, and address their needs. [00:28:44] But we, but we, we have a long way to grow. I think there’s a lot of opportunities to, to address some of those additional concerns.Hanh Brown: [00:28:50] Well, that’s exciting. It sounds like you have a very strong baseline in various assisted living communities and that’s probably your best feedback. Is that right?
Caleb York PhB: [00:28:59] Yeah, absolutely.
Hanh Brown: [00:29:00] So, anything else you’d like to share with regard to the three core products you are.
Caleb York PhB: [00:29:05] for the, for the communities and the operators that are evaluating, adding technology solutions to help. Help address their needs. Um, it’s a, it’s a, we’re, we’re deeply appreciative. We, we partner with, um, with about three, 300 senior living organizations across the country, along with, with, um, several health systems and the partnerships that we’ve had that we have today, they’ve been immensely.
[00:29:29] W we hope that it’s by directionally, um, valuable, in other words, that as we add partners, that they’re both, that we’re helping them. Solve solve problems, meet needs. And likewise, they’re helping us understand how to better solve their problems and meet their needs. And it can be truly, can be a collaboration. [00:29:48] So I think that the more, um, I’m excited to see more of a movement towards senior living operators and organizations wanting to partner with technology providers to figure out. Cause I think it needs to be a collaboration ultimately. If we try to create something in a vacuum and we’re not deeply collaborating with the people that are going to be using it, it’s not going to be as good as if, um, if, if some of these organizations like, like many have for us reach out and are willing to are open and willing to talking and communicating, collaborating to figure out how best we can, we can meet their needs.Hanh Brown: [00:30:23] Absolutely. So you need the residents, the caregiver, and the operator give you feedback. Then using these feedbacks as improvements or upstream improvement to continue to optimize your product, or that sounds exciting.
Caleb York PhB: [00:30:37] The last thing I want, I would want us to do is create technology that we think is super cool and doesn’t mean anyone’s needs it.
[00:30:43] Doesn’t, it doesn’t solve real problems. Right? Like it, and I don’t want to be, I don’t want to be involved in that. I want to be involved in, in, and really accomplishing things with, with these communities and. And helping move, move care. I think it’s tremendously exciting where I get really excited is, is, is I think I find myself in this unique position to be at the start of some really tremendous innovations that in the future I can look back on and say, wow, like what an impact that had on how older adults are cared for it’s changed the, like it I’ll just give you one quick example of that. [00:31:19] So in primary care, primary care visit, Fall risk is traditionally and typically not covered. Um, for, for the vast majority of seniors, uh, that are going in and receiving care, it’s not a part of their annual wellness, their Medicare annual wellness visit. Um, it should be, and the CDC has recommended that it is, but it’s just, it’s just, it just isn’t. [00:31:41] Um, and part of the reason is because the, the, the recommended protocols require movement evaluations and things that are both time-intensive and physicians don’t feel confident. It’s not their, it’s not their ballywick. They don’t feel confident. Doing a movement evaluation with somebody to figure out if they’re a fall risk, because that’s not, that’s really, wasn’t what their training was in. [00:32:00] And so it’s just, it’s just not an area of expertise.Hanh Brown: [00:32:02] The implication is huge. How can you tell an older adult death? You’re not at risk, but we all know that they are.
Caleb York PhB: [00:32:10] so it’s just not happening. And so our, our gait analysis tool is being used in primary care clinics. Is to provide in 30 seconds, a quick evaluation of someone’s risk and a report and a recommended intervention.
[00:32:24] And that by itself, I think my, my, my belief is that that has the potential to be in 10, 20 years, you know, um, something akin to the stethoscope, right. Where it’s just, it’s just a standard practice that everyone in medicine does when evaluating an older adult fall risk. And their needs associated with, with falls. [00:32:45] It’s just, just like blood pressure or anything else. It’s a critical part of their care. Um, so, so I just look at this as a landscape of opportunity for, we could really truly drill down on, on needs and provide solutions that help address those needs quickly.Hanh Brown: : [00:33:02] Well, that’s an admirable mission and I think it’s very much needed best to you and your team.
[00:33:07] Well, let me ask you a couple more questions, given that you are in the senior living industry. Have you thought about your aging journey and what does that mean to you? And are you living a brain healthy lifestyle?Caleb York PhB: [00:33:19] Yeah, I, you know, that’s a great, that’s a great question. I, uh, I think I’m often convicted that I need to be healthier now, as I look at, um, especially as I go in these communities, a lot of these communities have folks that are just extremely healthy and active and you know, very fascinated.
[00:33:36] They’ve lived, lived led really interesting lives. They’ve done. I’ve met. Um, my astronauts at some of these communities I’ve met, you know, the, somebody who cloned a cat, uh, you know, just some fascinating people who have done absolutely amazing work in their lives. And they’re very, they remain in tremendously active and engaged and it shows they’re, they’re really healthy. [00:33:57] They’ve they’ve, they, they appear to be really enjoying life into their seventies and eighties, you know, and I look at that and I think about, I don’t want to be the kind of person that when I, as I get older, I’m suffering from all these sorts of comorbidities and things. And I, and I, and I’m experiencing a rapid decline in quality of life. [00:34:17] You know, I want to be active and to age well, like, like a lot of these folks that I’ve seen. Um, so I think I need to do a better job of, of eating well, exercise, doing all the things, all the, the life habits. Now that set you up for that later. Um, but I think. I am fascinated to see. I think that by the time that I’m in, you know, I’m evaluating retirement, the landscape will look so massively different than it does now. [00:34:44] Um, and I think that the, the critical, and I think a lot of people understand this, uh, both for cost and for, um, and for, uh, probably primarily for cost and for convenience. Figuring out how to take care of people effectively in their own homes. Yeah. And the future is, is, is going to be increasingly important. [00:35:08] And I think is only going to that. That’s not going anywhere. So the expansion of pace programs for, for skilled level care, the homes, the, you know, the, um, kind of CCRC without walls concept of, of you taking a senior living community and, and expanding its reach to taking care, to doing home health and taking care of people in a broader. [00:35:29] Sounds. I think all of that is, has really fascinating implications for the next five, 10, 20 years and beyond. So, um, I’m excited. I’m very interested to see who knows what the world even looks like in the next six months after COVID-19. So I it’s just a really interesting time.Hanh Brown: [00:35:48] Yeah. Well, it was a pleasure to connect with you and to learn about your journey and your contribution to this industry.
[00:35:54] Thank you so much.Caleb York PhB: [00:35:55] Yeah. Likewise. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me on.
Hanh Brown: [00:36:00] Thanks so much.
You can reach Caleb via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/caleb-york-524584155/
