Assistive Technology Procurement Checklist for Long-Term Care Providers

A structured, vendor-neutral process for comparing care technology without overlooking rollout costs.

Write the problem in plain language

Before searching suppliers, write a short problem statement describing who is affected, what happens now, and what improvement would be meaningful. Avoid starting with a preferred gadget. In the original TechForLTC project, informing purchasing decisions was central to its mission.

Include frontline personnel and residents whenever practical. A system chosen only by an administrator may fail because the daily workflow was never tested.

Separate necessary from attractive features

Build a comparison sheet with must-have safety and accessibility requirements, implementation constraints, ongoing costs, and vendor evidence. Distinguish demonstrable capabilities from marketing promises.

Ask what the product does not do. For a monitoring device, that may mean areas it cannot detect, conditions causing false notifications, or the absence of a response service.

Check implementation dependencies

Review power, network, integration, staff training, support hours, replacement parts, privacy, and export options. Ask suppliers who owns the data and what happens when the contract ends.

Compare the total cost of ownership over several years rather than only a purchase price. Include licenses, maintenance, downtime, and staff time.

Pilot, decide, and revisit

Define trial success in advance. Record observations from each user group, including failures and workarounds. Approve adoption only when the deployment plan, responsible owner, and follow-up review are clear.

A rejection can be a successful outcome if it prevents an unsuitable investment. The long-term value of technology comes from a better care process, not the number of devices purchased.

Evaluation checklist

• Document the care issue and decision owner.
• Compare accessibility, safety, privacy, support, and lifecycle costs.
• Require an in-setting demonstration and failure-mode testing.
• Record the pilot outcome and review date.

Further reading

Reference: HHS/ASPE: Implementation barriers. This independently written editorial guide is for general education, not individualized medical, legal, or procurement advice.

Related guide: Sensors and Alerts in Long-Term Care: Supporting, Not Replacing, Human Care.