Artificial intelligence helps predict seniors’ long-term care wants: ‘Critical next steps’

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Could synthetic intelligence predict when your getting older cherished one will want long-term care?

Approximately 70% of adults aged 65 years and older would require long-term care in some unspecified time in the future of their lifetime, statistics present — and the time main as much as that may be fraught with uncertainty.

One California firm is seeking to change that with its new AI platform referred to as Waterlily.

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The founder and CEO, Lily Vittayarukskul, began the platform after her personal private struggles with household caregiving.

“I had to navigate long-term care in my family as a teenager and it shaped my view on the importance of preparing for these crises,” she advised Fox News Digital.

Some 70% of adults aged 65 years and older would require long-term care in some unspecified time in the future of their lifetime, statistics present. (iStock)

“My family was gravely unprepared when my aunt was diagnosed with terminal stage cancer and we were thrown into a long-term care scenario. So I know how difficult the conversations get and just how important it is to hold them as early as possible, before it’s too late and all of their remaining options are unaffordable.”

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The expertise impressed Vittayarukskul, a former NASA knowledge scientist, to construct an AI mannequin to predict a household’s care wants — and assist them plan out logistics and monetary plans.

How the platform works

The Waterlily AI platform begins by gathering a person’s demographic, well being and monetary info via an in depth questionnaire. 

“With this data, we use multiple AI models to predict the individual’s unique cost and care trajectory for their long-term care,” mentioned Vittayarukskul. 

Waterlily begins by gathering a person’s demographic, well being and monetary info via an in depth questionnaire.  (Waterlily)

The mannequin predicts the probability that an getting older senior will want long-term care, what age they’re going to be after they want it, what number of hours of care they’re going to want, what amenities they’d seemingly use — and the way a lot their household is prone to contribute.

“With all of these predictions, we can then create hyper-personalized cost estimates for their long-term care — and then model their current financial plan to see if their self-funding or insurance will meet the costs, and help them model ways to close any remaining gaps,” Vittayarukskul mentioned.

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“By guiding families through these sensitive conversations with data, we’re helping give concreteness and shape to an otherwise vague risk that many would rather wish away than face head on.”

Answering the massive questions

There are some sweeping questions that each household faces when contemplating long-term care, Vittayarukskul mentioned.

“Where will you age — at home or in a facility? Who in your family will take part in your care? How many hours will be required of them?”

The mannequin predicts the probability of an getting older senior needing long-term care, what age the individual can be after they want it, what number of hours of care the person will want, what amenities they’d seemingly use — and the way a lot their household is prone to step in.  (Waterlily)

“What I think is really interesting is the impact of a question that typically isn’t even asked: [At] what age will you need care?” Vittayarukskul mentioned. 

“This makes a surprisingly outsized impact on long-term care costs and funding strategies.”

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Health care prices are anticipated to develop at a charge of 5.4% per 12 months, based on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. So whereas a household might be able to delay taking up long-term care prices, these prices will proceed to extend over time. 

“Long-term care costs double every 12 years,” Vittayarukskul famous. 

“This is why it’s so important to think about how your long-term care funding strategy grows over time, whether that’s through asset investment or an insurance policy with a measure for inflation protection, or another strategy.”

The platform predicts the age at which a senior will want long-term care — enabling households to start out planning sooner. (Waterlily)

Waterlily helps tackle this vital query by predicting the age {that a} person will start requiring long-term care. 

“It can be a difficult number to face, but we’ve seen that looking at the number dead-on actually drives wellness changes and kick-starts important family conversations about the planning process for users,” Vittayarukskul mentioned.

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The secret is to start out the preparation course of as early as doable, she suggested. 

“It doesn’t need to be a perfect plan or cover all of your costs today,” she famous. 

“It can be iterative, but it’s so much better to get even 10% of the planning done today and start to make preparations than to wait until it’s too late.”

The app in motion

The app is at the moment out there by way of a waitlist, with greater than 100 monetary advisers already utilizing Waterlily to construct long-term care plans with their shoppers.

John Sieb, the COO of long-term care at Prudential Financial in Satellite Beach, Florida, used Waterlily as a buyer in March 2024. The firm is piloting it as an answer for its prospects in 2024. 

Waterlily additionally calculates the estimated prices of long-term care for an getting older senior. (Waterlily)

“The Waterlily care planning capability is a digital solution that looks at care planning in a holistic and informative manner that uses data and AI, while including family, friends and trusted advisers in the decision-making process,” Sieb mentioned in a press release to Fox News Digital.  

“The tool was easy to navigate, presents different scenarios and quickly determines critical next steps,” he went on. “It could be used in multiple life phases — pre-retirement, retirement and receiving care.”

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Dustin Eldridge, founder and managing associate at TEAM Private Wealth Management in Dallas, Texas, mentioned he is discovered Waterlily to be various to utilizing insurance coverage suppliers to run projections for shoppers’ potential care wants, which may very well be time-consuming.

“This required multiple phone calls or emails, from starting the process to obtaining the results,” he mentioned in a press release to Fox News Digital.  

The app is at the moment out there by way of a waitlist, with over 100 monetary advisers already utilizing Waterlily to construct long-term care plans with their shoppers. (Waterlily)

“With Waterlily, I can jump on the tool and obtain a projection in less than 10 minutes. As an adviser, this allows me to reduce the time I spend on these tasks, but more importantly, allows me to deliver real-time feedback for my clients.”

Families who’re fascinated by utilizing Waterlily can ask their monetary adviser to hitch the waitlist, or they will be part of it personally later this 12 months when the corporate launches direct-to-consumer entry.

Benefits vs. dangers

While Waterlily presents vital potential advantages, there are some challenges to contemplate, based on Dr. Harvey Castro, a Dallas, Texas-based board-certified emergency drugs doctor and nationwide speaker on AI in well being care.

“The handling of personal health data raises significant privacy and security concerns that must be addressed carefully.”

Data and safety are an vital issue, famous Castro, who was not concerned with the platform’s growth.

“The handling of personal health data raises significant privacy and security concerns that must be addressed carefully,” he advised Fox News Digital.

An AI knowledgeable acknowledged that instruments like Waterlily are wanted amid an getting older workforce. By 2050, most Americans can be over 60 years outdated.  (iStock)

The accuracy of the AI predictions additionally hinges on the standard of the info the mannequin gathers, Castro famous, as any potential biases could pose dangers to the standard of the planning.

“It’s also crucial to balance technological predictions with human judgment, ensuring that AI complements rather than replaces human expertise,” the knowledgeable added.

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Despite the potential dangers, Castro acknowledged that instruments like Waterlily are wanted amid an getting older workforce — by 2050, most Americans can be over 60 years outdated. 

“With the current pace, we are facing a significant shortfall in health care providers to meet the needs of this getting older inhabitants,” Castro mentioned. 

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“AI stands out as a vital solution to these challenges, promising to support a sustainable health care system through more precise care planning and potential automation of care aspects.”

For extra Health articles, go to www.foxnews.com/well being.

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