A New Look, Platform and Name for AHIA

By Jim Greatorex, Vice President of VGM Live at Home

Since January, we have been analyzing the AHIA program at VGM. We started by looking at the value we bring to members today and how we can enhance it. We also looked at the industry opportunities and how together as members and vendor partners, we can evolve the industry in a way that meets the increased demand and promotes prosperity.

We decided in order to do that, AHIA needed an updated name and look. A very cool thing happened when we compared notes on the re-brand—we all came to the same conclusion. The new name was already part of the brand. AHIA already had the Live at Home Pro app. Hello! Could there be a better name to describe our primary focus? Thus, in October, we officially became VGM Live at Home.

Several Advantages

There are several advantages to this re-brand.

First, the Live at Home brand is a better fit for the baby boomer image and lower age demographics. Our (I’m a card carrying baby boomer) mindset is that we aren’t old or sick, but we do want to live independently in our homes until the end. Baby boomers think about benefits of products and services, not the disability a service may treat, and the Live at Home concept better conveys that message.

We also wanted to better bring VGM into the brand while simplifying our name and URL. We want our members to be in tune to all that our member services programs can offer. VGM has many divisions that provide services for several different independent business categories. We have restaurant, golf, home health care, out-patient therapy services, and custom wheelchair providers to name some. For these business categories we offer several different services that in the majority of cases provide savings to the member. These services include insurance, digital marketing, off-the-shelf marketing, cybersecurity, and professional finance services, all at discounted member prices and always with people who know your business.

The re-brand also lets us broaden our focus so that we are not just accessibility and home remodeling, although that is our core business focus. We can now help members diversify into all business components that help people live at home safely and independently, regardless of their mobility level. We are currently putting some focus into technology with an automated home package and taking a version of our Live at Home app and making a simple home safety/fall prevention piece that would provide a basic home assessment with some in-home retail products as solutions. This type of service can be a lead generator for the core business.

Our focus at VGM Live at Home is derived from these two brief glaring statistics. First, 10 years from now there will be two times as many people over the age of 80 as there are now. There simply is not nearly enough safe housing for this group to live in independently. Second, 75 percent of all emergency room and quick care visits by people over the age of 65 are due to injury because of a fall. And, injury from falls is the second leading cause of death in seniors, behind only cancer.

VGM Live at Home Mission

Our mission at VGM Live at Home is to help our members make a difference by being a solution to the lack of safe homes for our older generations. We want to help create an option our government can endorse as the way to solve the need for a safer home solution for all. We also want to help bridge the gap between the clinical world and the follow up needed to make sure their patients get the safety home solutions needed.

We want members who will put the consumer first and provide them with solutions that best fit all their needs, including the financial ones. We want to build a network of trusted, professional companies that are leaders in the industry.