DiMe launches new initiative with 20+ partners to help seniors age well
As pressure mounts on the U.S. healthcare system to meet the needs of an aging population, the Digital Medicine Institute (DiMe) launched a new initiative this month to develop a roadmap for effective digital care for older adults who want to live out their final years in their own homes and communities.
“We're going to see a huge wave of people enrolling in Medicare, and the reality is that most current Medicare beneficiaries and soon-to-be Medicare beneficiaries do want to age in their own homes, but the system isn't optimized for that,” DiMe CEO Jennifer Goldsack said.
At the same time, the federal government is leading the charge to advance technology, data and interoperability to improve care for Medicare beneficiaries, creating a window of opportunity to modernize the aging-in-place process, she explained.
Goldsack points out that over the past five or six years, the first wave of gerontech — technologies designed to help older adults live independently — has developed largely in isolation.
“The reality is that all of this has been developed in a complete vacuum, from the actual patient journey, workforce needs, reimbursement considerations, and emerging new technology categories like smart home technology. That's why we're so excited to be working on this right now,” she declared.
If the country's health care system doesn't figure out how to better leverage technology to help seniors, many seniors will end up in care facilities because they can't receive safe support at home, Goldsack said, adding that the situation is not financially or operationally sustainable.
She noted that DiMe's new project brings together a diverse group of stakeholders, including health systems, home health agencies, technology vendors and telecommunications providers. Some of the participants include Epic, UMass Memorial Health, Validic and Withings.
Goldsack said the goal is to connect groups that rarely work together but are critical to home care efforts for seniors — from providing oxygen tanks to ensuring internet connectivity and data exchange between systems.
She hopes the project will help create more practical solutions to the challenges of home care, chronic disease management, dementia and post-hospital care transitions.
By mid-2026, participating organizations will create an industry playbook outlining what “good” looks like for each stakeholder group, policy and financing guidance recommending incentives and payment models, and case studies showcasing early examples of aging-in-place success stories, Goldsack said.
Photo: MoMo Productions, Getty Images
