did it artificial intelligence Predict when your elderly loved one will need long-term care?
Statistics show that approximately 70% of adults over the age of 65 will need long-term care at some point in their lives, and the time it takes to get there can be uncertain.
One California company is trying to change that with a new AI platform called Waterlily.
What is artificial intelligence?
Founder and CEO Lily Vittayarkuskul launched the platform after a personal struggle with caring for a family member.
“When I was a teenager, I had to navigate a family member’s long-term care, and it shaped my thinking about the importance of being prepared for these crises,” she told FOX News Digital. Told.
Statistics show that approximately 70% of adults over the age of 65 will need long-term care at some point in their lives. (St. Petersburg)
“When my aunt was diagnosed with the following illness, my family was very unprepared. terminal cancer And we were thrown into a long-term care scenario. So I know how difficult the conversation can be, and how important it is to have it as soon as possible before it’s too late and all remaining options are unavailable. ”
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Vittayarkuskul, a former NASA data scientist, was inspired by this experience. AI model Anticipate your family’s care needs and help them plan and finance.
How the platform works
The Waterlily AI platform begins by collecting an individual’s demographic, health, and financial information through a detailed questionnaire.
“Using this data, we use multiple AI models to predict individual-specific costs and care trajectories for long-term care,” Vittayarukskul said.
Waterlily begins by collecting an individual’s demographic, health, and financial information through a detailed questionnaire. (water lily)
The model predicts the likelihood of: elderly senior Will you need long-term care? At what age will you need care? How many hours will you need care? What kind of facilities will you likely use? How much will your family have? Is it possible to make a contribution?
“Using all these projections, we can create a highly personalized estimate of the cost of their long-term care and model their current financial plan to see if they can cover the cost with their own funds or insurance. , will help model how to ‘fill in the remaining gaps,”’ Vittayarkuskul said.
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“By guiding families through these sensitive data-driven conversations, we are helping to give concreteness and shape to nebulous risks that many would rather avoid than confront head-on.” doing.”
answer big questions
There are some big questions that every family faces when considering. long term caresaid Vittayarkuskul.
“Where will you age, at home or in a facility? Who in your family will participate in your care? How many hours will you need?”
This model considers the likelihood that an older person will need long-term care, the age at which the person will need care, the amount of care the person will need, and the facilities available to the person. Predicts whether a person is likely to have a high sex or what their family is likely to be. To step into it. (water lily)
“What I find really interesting is the impact of questions that normally aren’t even asked. [At] At what age do you need nursing care? ” said Vittayarkuskul.
“This has an incredible impact on long-term care costs and financing strategies.”
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Medical bills According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the population is expected to grow at a rate of 5.4% annually. Therefore, while families may be able to delay the burden of long-term care costs, those costs will continue to increase over time.
“The cost of long-term care doubles every 12 years,” Vittayarkuskul points out.
“That’s why it’s so important to think about how your long-term care funding strategy will grow over time, whether through asset investments, inflation-protected insurance policies, or another strategy.”
The platform predicts the age at which seniors will need long-term care, allowing families to start planning sooner. (water lily)
Waterlily helps address this important issue by predicting the age at which users will begin needing long-term care.
“This can be a difficult number to face, but we find that looking seriously at this number actually drives health changes and an important kick-start. family conversation about the planning process for users,” said Vittayarkuskul.
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The key is to start the preparation process as soon as possible, she advised.
“It doesn’t have to be a perfect plan or cover all of your costs today,” she said.
“It may be worth repeating, but it’s far better to get even 10% of your planning done and start preparing today than to wait until it’s too late.”
App in action
The app is currently available through a waiting list, and more than 100 financial advisors are already using Waterlily to create long-term care plans with their clients.
John Schieve, COO of long-term care at Prudential Financial in Satellite Beach, Florida, used Waterlily as a customer in March 2024. The company is piloting it as a solution for customers in 2024.
Waterlily also calculates the estimated cost of long-term care for older adults. (water lily)
“Water Lily’s Care Planning feature is a digital solution that uses data and AI to consider care planning in a holistic and informative way, while involving family, friends and trusted advisors in the decision-making process.” he said in a statement to Fox. News Digital.
“This tool is easy to navigate, presents a variety of scenarios, and quickly determines critical next steps,” he continued. “It can be used at various stages of life, including pre-retirement, retirement, and receiving nursing care.”
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Dustin Eldridge, founder and managing partner of TEAM Private Wealth Management in Dallas, Texas, says that instead of asking insurance companies to predict a customer’s potential care needs, which can be time-consuming, Waterlily He said he found it to be a good alternative.
“From the beginning of the process to receiving the results required multiple phone calls and emails,” he said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
The app is currently available via a waiting list, and over 100 financial advisors are already using Waterlily to create long-term care plans with their clients. (water lily)
“With Waterlily, I can hop on the tool and get projections within 10 minutes. As an advisor, this allows me to spend less time on these tasks, but more importantly, it allows me to provide real-time feedback. You will be my customer.”
Families interested in using Waterlily can ask their financial advisor to join a waiting list or join individually when the company launches direct-to-consumer access later this year.
Benefits and risks
According to Dr. Harvey Castro, a Dallas, Texas-based board-certified emergency medicine physician and national speaker on AI in healthcare, water lilies have great potential benefits, but there are also a number of challenges to consider. There are.
“The handling of personal health data raises serious privacy and security concerns and must be handled with care.”
Castro, who was not involved in the platform’s development, noted that data and security are important factors.
“The handling of personal health data raises serious privacy and security concerns and must be handled carefully,” he told Fox News Digital.
AI experts acknowledged the need for tools like Waterlily as the workforce ages. By 2050, most Americans will be over the age of 60. (St. Petersburg)
Castro noted that the accuracy of AI predictions also depends on the quality of the data the model collects, as potential bias can pose a risk to the quality of the plan.
“It is also important to balance technical predictions with human judgment to ensure that AI complements, rather than replaces, human expertise,” the expert added.
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Despite the potential risks, Castro acknowledged that tools like Water Lily are needed as the workforce ages. By 2050, most Americans will be over 60 years old.
“At our current pace, we face a significant shortage of health care providers to meet this need. elderly population” Castro said.
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“AI stands out as a key solution to these challenges and promises to support sustainable health systems through more accurate care planning and the potential for automation of aspects of care.”
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