"Low-tech" personal emergency response systems reduce costs and improve outcomes.

A relatively inexpensive low-technology solution can be used by managed care organizations (MCOs) to improve outcomes and significantly reduce health care costs among community-residing elderly patients. Clinical studies indicate that usage of monitored Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS) reduce mortality rates by nearly four times, reduce hospital utilization by 59 percent, and yield a positive benefit-to-cost ratio of over seven to one (every dollar spent on PERS results in $7.19 in health care cost savings).