September 20, 2026

How to Choose Dementia Care Technology for a Value-Based Program: A Buyer's Checklist

A care navigator speaking on her mobile phone, sitting at her desk

The right dementia care technology for a value-based program is the one your care team will use every week, that supports your program's requirements, connects to your systems, protects patient data and makes only the claims its vendor can back up. This checklist covers eight areas to test before you sign a contract.

It is written for program leads, clinical directors and operations teams in GUIDE, PACE and other value-based programs. It is general information and not legal advice, so involve your compliance and legal advisers on the privacy and regulatory questions.

Start With Your Program, Not the Product

Before you look at any demo, write down what your program has to do. For GUIDE, CMS requires participants to provide care navigation, 24/7 access to a care team member or help line, and caregiver training and support. The interdisciplinary care team must include a care navigator and a clinician with dementia proficiency.

Then mark which of those you need help with. Technology can support these activities. It can't meet a requirement for you, and a tool that claims to "make you GUIDE compliant" deserves a hard look.

CMS's Performance Measurement Manual also includes an appendix linking care delivery to performance measures, which CMS calls a supportive reference and not a formal protocol. Use it to identify where between-visit information could matter, and treat any vendor promise of a measure result with caution.

The Eight-Point Checklist

1. Does It Fit Your Program's Requirements?

Ask: Which specific program requirements does the product support, and which does it not? Can the vendor show this in a workflow, not a slide?

Watch for: Claims that a product guarantees a payment adjustment, a measure result or lower costs. Payment adjustments depend on how care is delivered and how data is collected, and no product controls that alone.

2. Will It Fit the Care Team's Week?

Ask: Who sees what, and when? Does the product help a care navigator decide who to contact first, or does it add another screen to check? Can a navigator try it during the evaluation?

Watch for: Alert volume with no prioritization. A tool that produces more information than a team can act on shifts work instead of reducing it. Ask for a walkthrough with a real navigator, using a realistic panel size for your program.

3. Does It Involve Caregivers and Families?

Ask: Can several family members take part? How do they add observations or receive updates? How does the product handle consent and privacy between family members?

Why it matters: The Alzheimer's Association's 2024 report found that 70 percent of dementia caregivers say coordinating care is stressful. GUIDE also measures caregiver burden through the ZBI-22 survey, so a tool that adds work for caregivers can work against you.

4. How Does It Connect to Your Systems?

Ask: What does integration actually mean here? Does data flow in both directions, or is it an export? Which EHR and portal connections already exist, and which would be built for you?

Why it matters: CMS lets GUIDE participants send assessment data through the HDR application or a FHIR-based API, depending on their EHR. If a tool means your staff type the same information twice, the time cost will show up in your workload.

Watch for: "Integration" that turns out to be a spreadsheet upload.

5. How Is Patient Data Protected?

Ask: Will the vendor sign a HIPAA business associate agreement? Which subcontractors handle patient data? How are security incidents reported, and what happens to your data if you leave?

Why it matters: HHS's guidance on cloud computing, as summarized by Hunton Andrews Kurth, says a covered entity can use a cloud provider for electronic protected health information if the two sign a business associate agreement. That agreement must set out permitted uses and disclosures, require appropriate safeguards under the Security Rule and require the provider to report security incidents. Another summary of the guidance notes that a provider without a decryption key is still a business associate.

Watch for: A vendor who is vague about who else touches the data.

6. Is the AI Transparent, and What Is the Regulatory Status?

Ask: How are summaries or prioritization produced? Can a clinician see the underlying data behind any output? Has the vendor assessed whether any feature falls under FDA's definition of a medical device, and what did it conclude?

Why it matters: FDA issued updated clinical decision support guidance in January 2026. Under it, software can qualify as non-device decision support only if it meets four criteria, including that it enables a health care professional to independently review the basis for its recommendations. FDA recommends that software or labeling identify the intended use, patient population and required inputs, along with a plain-language description of how the algorithm was developed and validated.

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A separate summary says software that gives diagnostic or treatment recommendations directly to patients or caregivers without a clinician, that manages time-critical conditions, or that processes sensor signals to generate a diagnosis is generally treated as a device. A third summary lists patient data reports and summaries as an example of non-device decision support.

Where a feature falls depends on what it does, so ask the vendor to explain each feature that produces a recommendation, works with sensor data or reaches patients and caregivers directly.

Watch for: Vendors who can't explain how their AI arrives at an output.

7. What Evidence Is There, and What Does It Show?

Ask: What was measured? Over what period, in what population, and by whom? Is the result about engagement and activity, or about clinical or financial outcomes? What do you not know yet?

Why it matters: Even CMS is still working this out for its own model. CMS says its evaluation of GUIDE will estimate the model's impact on outcomes, including long-term nursing home use and Medicare and Medicaid spending. A vendor claiming to have proved those effects should be able to show how.

Watch for: Percentages with no denominator, "up to" figures, and results from small early pilots presented as proof.

A fair way to test: Agree on what you'll measure before a trial starts. For example, track time to outreach after a change, whether assessments are completed on schedule, and caregiver-reported experience. Set a baseline and a review date.

8. What Will Implementation, Cost and Exit Look Like?

Ask: Who trains staff, and how long does it take? What support do you get after launch? How is the product priced, and does the price per patient make sense against the payment your program receives? What happens to your data and your patients' data if you end the contract?

Watch for: Pricing that only makes sense at a scale you won't reach, and contracts with no clear data return terms. Confirm your program's payment amounts at CMS before comparing them with any vendor quote.

A Short Scorecard

Score each vendor from 1 to 5 on the eight areas above, and add a note on the evidence behind each score. Ask the same questions of every vendor and have at least one care navigator and one clinician score independently. If two vendors are close, the deciding factor should be the care team's experience in a realistic trial.

Where Elli Cares Fits

Here is how Elli Cares answers the checklist, including what it doesn't do.

Elli gives care teams a clinician dashboard, AI-generated summaries, daily wellbeing check-ins, medication reminders, family observations and an activity log. It connects to Apple HealthKit and Android Health Connect today. Integration with electronic health record systems is still in development. Elli is working on FHIR-based EHR integration and GUIDE workflows, and broader EHR and workflow integrations are on the roadmap. If EHR integration is a requirement for your program, ask us what exists for your system today and what is planned.

Elli doesn't diagnose conditions, doesn't provide emergency monitoring and doesn't replace your 24/7 access line or a clinician's judgment. It doesn't administer the PROMIS-10 or ZBI-22, submit the PAAF or guarantee a measure result or lower costs.

Ask us the same questions you'd ask any vendor, including what integration exists for your systems and what evidence exists for each claim. You can read more on our Value-Based Care page and our GUIDE page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should providers look for in dementia care technology?

Look for fit with your program's requirements, a workflow your care team will use weekly, caregiver and family involvement, real integration with your systems, HIPAA-compliant data protection, transparent AI, honest evidence and clear terms for implementation, cost and exit.

Does GUIDE require a specific technology?

The sources reviewed for this article don't name a required vendor. CMS lets participants submit assessment data through the HDR application or, if they have a FHIR-enabled EHR, a FHIR-based API. Check the GUIDE Participation Agreement for your obligations.

Does dementia care software need a business associate agreement?

If a vendor creates, receives, maintains or transmits protected health information on your behalf, HIPAA requires a business associate agreement. HHS guidance says this applies to cloud providers even if they only store encrypted data.

Is dementia care software regulated by the FDA?

It depends on what the software does. FDA's January 2026 clinical decision support guidance sets four criteria for software that isn't regulated as a device. Features that give recommendations directly to patients or caregivers, or that process sensor signals, may be regulated. Ask the vendor how it has assessed each feature.

How do I evaluate a vendor's evidence?

Ask what was measured, over what period, in what population and by whom. Separate engagement results from clinical or financial outcomes, and be cautious about small early pilots presented as proof.

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