Consulting firm Accenture recently released survey results saying 21% of Americans have already tried some form of virtual care and a whopping 78% are willing to try it.

With the proliferation of smartphones and the rising popularity of in-home voice-activated devices, home care providers are beginning the experiment with using these technologies to provide remote monitoring services for their clients.

Libertana Home Health, a Beverly Hills, a California-based company with 3,000 clients in homes and senior living communities throughout the state, is testing Amazon’s Alexa to monitor patient activity.

Using Libertana’s custom Alexa skill, seniors can verbally report medical data such as weight, blood pressure or blood sugar levels, listen to medication and exercise reminders, call for help from a caregiver, coordinate transportation and learn about their scheduled social and recreational activities.

Retail giant Best Buy has also entered into the market

The Richfield, Minnesota-based retailer is now offering technology solutions to senior care, rolling out its Assured Living program.

This is a sensor-based notification service utilizing a slew of devices, such as motion, bed, chair and door sensors; Wi-Fi enabled doorbell cameras, and smart locks and thermostats that can pair up with the senior resident’s smartphone

Some perks to using Alexa and Assured Living can include:

• It’s able to cut down on loneliness, which is a problem for some seniors who age at home.
• Helps to eliminate redundancy for caregivers
• Improves productivity
• Sensors that monitor bed pressure, chair pressure, motion, windows, door locks, lights
• Control panel to communicate data to your dashboard and app