Become a Senior Living Community of Choice

Senior living communities aim to cultivate an engaged community of residents and staff to live meaningful lives together.

Unfortunately, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing staffing shortages, unexpected challenges have arisen that impact these communities.

A recent survey by the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) found that 87% of senior care providers are facing moderate-to-high staffing shortages, with nearly half (48%) struggling with a severe staffing shortage. As a result, communities are forced to cut back on new admissions.

While there are many approaches to solving immediate challenges and becoming a senior living community of choice, a good place to start is by assessing your innovation culture.

Technology may not be a once-size-fits-all solution, but ensuring staff are using the latest tools can improve their day-to-day lives by streamlining workflows and connecting care at the source, in turn giving providers more time to do what they do best: Care for patients.

The Top Challenges to Address

When it comes to creating a senior community where people want to live and work, address the following three challenges:  

• The Resident Experience: Providing residents with a safe community and giving their families peace of mind must be a top priority. Families can often immediately feel the negative effects of poor communication about a loved one in their care as a result of limited staff and processes that are too complex.

To personalize each resident’s care plan and provide the best experience possible, caregivers and staff need consistent, accurate, and real-time information. For this reason, staff need the right tools to communicate efficiently with stakeholders across the organization. 

• Reducing Risk: The senior living landscape is evolving every day, and regulations and liability insurance have increased significantly due to the pandemic. With this in mind, communities must manage the increasing care needs of residents, enable staff to work smarter, and achieve uncompromising safety standards. A key part of this effort is mastering medication management, especially in communities that house residents with increasingly high acuity levels.  

• Maximizing Revenue: It’s critical that senior living communities do not miss out on valuable revenue opportunities; They must optimize workflows to fully meet resident needs, ensure payments for all services are delivered, and prevent possible leakage.

Unfortunately, many communities are still using manual processes for revenue cycle management, leading to undocumented services and missed revenue. This not only impacts a community’s Net Operating Income (NOI), but also the staff and resident experience due to a lack of visibility and inappropriate staffing choices.

Empower Data-Driven Decisions  

Senior living communities need tools to meet the increasing expectations of residents and their families, engage staff in impactful ways, and have the right insights to make the best care decisions for residents.

From billing to occupancy and medication management, technology can empower communities to make data-driven decisions that ultimately improve every aspect of the business.