Medical Alert Providers
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one out of every four older adults falls every year. Of those falls, 20 percent are serious, resulting in a broken bone, head trauma, or a similar injury. And, falling once doubles one’s chance of experiencing another fall in the future. There’s no way to completely prevent falls, so it’s crucial to provide immediate help when a fall does happen. This is where home medical alert systems can be invaluable.
Medical alert systems allow seniors to stay independent while making sure help is available when needed. The devices can help prevent further injury or death after a fall or other emergency.
While many companies in the home medical alert industry are trustworthy, there are also those that mislead customers or try to profit from hidden fees. We’ve created this review to shed light on the top home medical alert options to help seniors and their loved ones choose a reputable and affordable home medical alert company.
The 8 Best Medical Alert Systems
- Medical Guardian – Best for Premium Features
- MobileHelp – Best for Those Without a Landline
- LifeFone – Best Standalone Mobile App
- Life Alert – Best for Industry Experience
- Bay Alarm Medical – Best for Low Monitoring Costs
- Medical Care Alert – Best for EMT/EMD Certified Monitoring
- QMedic – Best for Compliance and Activity Monitoring
- BoomerAlert – Best For Advanced Fall Detection
Overview of the Top Recommended Medical Alert Systems
| In-Home Range | Lowest Monthly In-Home Cost | Lowest Monthly Mobile Cost | Initial Fees | Monthly Fall Detection Cost | |
| Medical Guardian | 600/1,300 feet* | $27.45 | $36.62 | $0-$99 | $10 |
| MobileHelp | 600/1,300 feet* | $19.95 | $37.95 | $0-$349.95 | $10 |
| LifeFone | 600/1,300 feet* | $20.79 | $30.79 | $0 | $5-$10 |
| Life Alert | 800-1,000 feet | $49 | $68 | $95-$198 | Not Offered |
| Bay Alarm Medical | 1,000 feet | $19.95 | $39.95 | $0-$9.95 | $10 |
| Medical Care Alert | 600/1,000 feet* | $29.95 | $39.95 | $0-$12 | $10 |
| QMedic | 800-1,000 feet | $25 | $33.33 | $0 | Not Offered |
| BoomerAlert | N/A | N/A | $79.99 CAD | $0 | No Extra Cost |
How To Chose the Best Medical Alert Systems
To choose the best medical alert system, determine if their systems meet 5 important qualifications. If the medical alert system did not meet these standards, they should be eliminated from consideration.
Considered the following qualifications to find the best medical alert systems:
- All companies are the direct providers of their own medical alert systems. No large retailers that sell other companies’ systems were considered.
- All companies must offer systems that work in the home and on-the-go. No companies with in-home devices only were considered.
- All companies must provide live customer service and sales support over the phone to best serve their future and current customers.
- A live agent must respond to all emergency calls at the monitoring center.
- All monitoring centers must be based in North America.
** Care.com provided evaluation process. For additional information go to: www.care.com