Best Mobile Medical Alert Systems of 2024

What Is a Mobile Medical Alert System?

A mobile medical alert system is a compact medical alert device that connects users to a helpline in case of a medical or other emergency via cellular service. Like a mobile phone, you can take the medical alert system with you wherever you go, so long as you stay in an area with good cell coverage.

Mobile medical alerts are a good choice for seniors who aren’t homebound. They provide an enhanced level of safety while you move around town, walk around the neighborhood, or simplyspend time in your yard. They work anywhere in the United States that has cellular coverage.

Mobile medical alerts are standalone systems designed to work without an existing mobile phone. This makes them different from many of the “no fee” medical alerts on the market. A true mobile medical alert system includes a monthly service fee that pays for both cellular service and 24/7 emergency operators who monitor your device and respond in case of an emergency.

Why Choose a Mobile Medical Alert?

According to a survey by AARP, it is getting harder for families to manage care for aging relatives. Mobile medical alert systems may help. Besides their compact size and mobility, mobile medical alert systems typically include three features that aren’t found in traditional in-home medical alert systems:

1. Automatic Fall Detection
2. GPS Tracking
3. Caregiver Tracking

These features may make it possible for older adults to stay independent longer and help caregivers keep their loved ones safe.

Automatic fall detection is a key feature of a mobile medical alert systems.Traditional medical alert devices require the wearer to push a button in an emergency. But that may not be possible if a fall incapacitates the wearer due to a head injury or other issue. Automatic fall detection is an important safeguard against this. Note the fall detection is typically an optional feature for a small extra monthly fee. We think this feature is well worth it.

GPS tracking allows your medical alert monitoring company to know your location and communicate that to emergency responders. Emergency operators can give your exact address or latitude and longitude coordinates if you are in a park or other location without a street address.

Caregiver tracking allows people you trust to log into an online portal and view your location at any time, whether during an emergency or in daily life.  This can be helpful if the person wearing the medical alert is prone to wandering due to dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

What Should You Expect To Pay? What’s Included?

When buying a medical alert system, you should expect to pay an initial startup cost followed by a monthly monitoring fee.

To accurately compare costs, you need to combine a system’s startup cost with 12 months of monitoring to get the true First Year Cost of Ownership.

Among the systems we review here, that First Year Cost of Ownership ranged from $469.75 to $909.30, with the average being $708.88.

The startup cost – which is sometimes called an activation fee or a programming fee – covers the cost of the medical alert device, plus shipping.

Your monthly monitoring fee covers 24/7 monitoring by the vendor’s emergency operators. While it may be tempting to skip this monthly cost and opt for a no-fee medical alert system, we strongly discourage this, especially for mobile medical alert systems. There is great value in having an emergency operator who knows your exact location and can communicate with emergency responders if you aren’t able to speak.

Your monthly monitoring cost may include additional fees for optional add-ons such as wall buttons, optional spouse monitoring, or extended warranty plans.

Because of different pricing structures, it can be difficult to compare the cost of different medical alert systems. Some companies have low start-up fees, but then charge more for monthly monitoring. As a rule, you should pay more attention to a company’s monthly fee and less to its startup cost.

Startup costs range from $0 to $162, with the average startup price for the systems we tested being $91.42.

Monthly monitoring with optional fall detection included ranges from $34.98 per month to $64.95 per month, with the average being $51.46 per month.

The table below shows what you should expect to pay for each mobile medical alert system we tested.

Price Comparison, First Year Cost of Ownership

Mobile Medical Alerts vs. Medical Alert Watches

Mobile medical alerts are the second generation of medical alert systems.  The first generation of personal emergency response systems (PERS) were in-home medical alerts that worked through your existing telephone line.  Mobile systems break free of the home landline and work anywhere you might go in your daily life.

Today there is a growing trend toward a third generation of medical alert systems: medical alert smartwatches.  If smartwatches are the newest breed of medical alert, why would you want a second-generation mobile medical alert?

The reasons are simple: price and automatic fall detection.

Medical alert watches are generally more expensive than mobile systems.  In addition, mobile medical alerts have a mature implementation of automatic fall detection whereas  medical alert watches still face challenges with fall detection. Indeed, at the time of writing, only Bay Alarm Medical has a smartwatch that is advanced enough to offer automatic fall detection.

We see compelling advantages to mobile medical alerts.  We think this type of system is the best fit for most people seeking a medical alert system.

How We Chose the Best Mobile Medical Alert

To choose the best medical alert systems, our team performed over 350 hours of research and hands-on testing. We purchased all the medical alerts included in this review and evaluated all steps of the experience: from buying the system, to setting it up, and real-life testing, including simulating falls.

We focused not just on the technical aspects of the system, but also the quality of service provided by the vendor.  We called sales teams to ask a standard set of questions, evaluating both the quality of their answers and the level of sales pitch included (pushy, high pressure sales tactics are a no-no).  During our simulated falls, we even evaluated the interaction with those emergency operators who called to check on us.

Finally, we returned all of the systems after testing, asking for a timely refund. That allowed us to evaluate the fairness of each vendor’s return policy. For more information, read our disclosure page.