The medical alert monitoring industry or the personal emergency response system (“PERS”) industry includes organizations focused on providing products and services that allow consumers to age in place. Based on our comprehensive survey of the industry participants, TEG estimates the North American PERS industry to be a $2.1 billion market for 2021, serving 5.1 million subscribers. Services include monitoring devices connected to 24/7 emergency call centers (“monitoring centers”), heath/wellness tracking, care coordination, disease management, telehealth, medication management and concierge services.
PERS Industry Growth drivers include:
- Aging population
- Desire to Age in Place
- Caregiver shortages
- Rising healthcare costs
- Fall epidemic
- Healthcare system moving towards value-based vs. fee-for-service
- Improving technology allows for a broader range of services
The PERS industry has two distinct marketing channels. The Direct to Consumer (DTC) channel acquires customers through a company’s direct marketing efforts. In the Healthcare Channel, companies create partnerships with healthcare companies who originate customers, such as hospitals, insurance companies or MCOs. Each of these marketing channels has different attributes and different key metrics which drive valuations.
Key Metrics in the PERS and how they compare by channel are shown in the following table:
| Metric | DTC Channel | Healthcare Channel |
|---|---|---|
|
Customer Acquisition Costs |
Higher |
Lower |
|
Attrition |
High Impact |
Lower Impact* |
|
Margin |
Higher |
Lower |
|
Growth Rate |
Short Sales Cycle |
Long Sales Cycle |
|
Customer Concentration |
Low |
High |
In partnership with the Medical Alert Monitoring Association (MAMA), The Edmonds Group conducts an annual survey of all PERS industry participants with 1,000 or more customer accounts as well as all third-party monitoring centers. Those aggregate findings are shared with the surveyed organizations and other participants.
