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By: Editorial Team | Posted: June 25, 2016 | Updated: December 20, 2023
In our research on medical alert systems we have looked at over 50 different systems, and tested many of the products that look most useful. In our review database we have reviews of most of the medical alert products we have actually tested, and summaries of the ones we have studied online but not actually tested.
Each medical alert system review explains what we tested, and walks you through the results of our comparison testing.
Each review has a link to the website of the manufacturer where you can learn more, get current pricing information, and purchase the medical alert products if you wish.
Below are the individual medical alert reviews for the products that we thought especially relevant as of Jan 2024.
In the past we have tracked a very wide variety of types of medical alert. As of late 2023, we are focusing our efforts on new products that are at the frontier of innovation in the field: the smartwatches that incorporate medical alert capability.
If you landed on this review page from outside the Tech-enhanced Life website and are interested in learning more about medical alerts, or finding one that best suits you, we recommend you start your journey at: Medical Alert Systems: Selection Guide.
Best of Breed Comparisons
Specific Best of Breed Comparisons
Here are some of the most popular “best of breed” analyses.
Featured Individual Reviews
You can find additional reviews in the drop down menu sub-links from this page.
Additional Reviews
You can find additional older reviews in our review archive.
Conventional, Mobile and At-Home Medical Alerts
We no longer review new products in the traditional medical alert categories (mobile and at-home). The reason is that they are becoming very similar to each other, with very similar feature sets.
If you are looking for one of these types of products (conventional button that you wear around your neck), we usually suggest browsing the websites of one of two vendors, which in our previous evaluations have provided good service and typically carry relatively up-to-date products.
Review Database
Unfortunately, we have retired this tool.
Since 2016 Tech-enhanced Life has been reviewing medical alert systems, and maintaining a database of them, organized by features, for almost all the available medical alert systems. Until early 2023, we made this database available (for free) for the benefit of older adults and their friends, families, and caregivers around the world.
This database takes a significant amount of time and energy and some expense to keep current and updated. Unfortunately the group of philanthropists who have been supporting this initiative is no longer able to provide the level of support required. As a result the database is no longer accessible.
NOTE: If your organization would like to sponsor this resource database going forward, we might be willing to resurrect it. If you are interested feel free to contact us.
*Disclosure: The research and opinions in this article are those of the author, and may or may not reflect the official views of Tech-enhanced Life.
If you use the links on this website when you buy products we write about, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases as an Amazon Associate or other affiliate program participant. This does not affect the price you pay. We use the (modest) income to help fund our research.
In some cases, when we evaluate products and services, we ask the vendor to loan us the products we review (so we don’t need to buy them). Beyond the above, Tech-enhanced Life has no financial interest in any products or services discussed here, and this article is not sponsored by the vendor or any third party. See How we Fund our Work.
Author
Editorial Team
Tech-enhanced Life has a small group of individuals who share the tasks of creating syntheses of our explorations, and other outputs that summarize investigations in which a number of people have participated. This type of work is published under the authorship of “The Tech-enhanced Life Editorial team”. We also publish a variety of content authored by specific individuals, and you can see those individual contributors profiled on our “Collaborators and Contributors” page.
Thank you for your extremely
Thank you for your extremely helpful coverage of medical alert systems. I am unable to clarify from your information or other information available online whether fall detection systems automatically call monitoring companies or personal contacts when a fall is detected. It seems that unless no movement is detected after 60 seconds, the device does not initiate a call for help. My elderly brother-in-law just had a fall in his driveway. He briefly lost consciousness but actively tried to stand up. No emergency call was made and if this is the industry standard, there's no point in my switching companies. Any help you can provide me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.
This is a follow-up to my 3
This is a follow-up to my 3/14/22 comments. It turns out that it's only the Apple Watch that waits 60 seconds after a detected fall and no movement before contacting help. Other all-in-one systems only wait a few seconds if there is no response before they place the call. I am only looking at all-in-one systems because I can't trust my loved ones to remember to carry their portable base units with them when they leave the house.