May 20, 2014 — Mississauga, ON — Recognizing the growing complexity of senior healthcare and demographic shifts in an aging population, PointClickCare joined forces with news magazine McKnight’s Long-Term Care News to explore the key issues assisted living providers are preparing to face in 2014 and beyond. Rising to the top, 87 percent of the respondents stated they are seeing a surge in resident acuity, yet 45 percent said they are not prepared for this rise. As a result, senior care professionals in assisted living are looking for new ways to manage and overcome The Acuity Conundrum.
The Acuity Conundrum is a growing market trend requiring assisted living communities to move toward more clinically-oriented staffing models, sophisticated technology solutions to assist with medication management, and a greater focus on re-aligning business models to support this increase in acuity levels amongst resident populations.
“The reality of rising acuity in assisted living is the result of multiple market factors seen across the country,” said Jayne Warwick, RN, HBScN, director with PointClickCare. “More and more seniors are delaying their entry into retirement settings because of a desire to age in place. As they make the shift to assisted living, it is often at a more advanced age, with more complex health care needs. This leads to what we call The Acuity Conundrum — the challenge facing assisted living providers as they strive to serve higher acuity residents effectively without the proper tools to help them.”
The survey also found that 66 percent of survey respondents recognized a need to prepare for the increase, with 44 percent looking to augment staff and human resources, and 43 percent focused on implementing risk reduction programs that focus on the management of acute change in resident conditions to decrease preventable hospital readmissions.
Recently recognized as the #1 long-term care software vendor by KLAS Research, PointClickCare offers a cloud-based, interoperable electronic health record and revenue cycle management platform with a variety of integrated applications for care delivery services management, financial management, marketing, business intelligence and quality and compliance. This technology allows assisted living facilities to expand care services, strengthen market value and enhance financial and operational performance, while improving resident outcomes.
“The rising resident population and acuity levels in assisted living facilities across North America are creating new challenges this market has never seen before,” said Mike Wessinger, PointClickCare CEO. “PointClickCare’s senior care platform will help our customers address the Acuity Conundrum with technology that empowers them to better manage and optimize their financial and care services performance.”
For more information on the survey results, visit here. To view the infograph for the results, click here.
About PointClickCare
PointClickCare helps healthcare providers meet the challenges of senior care by enabling them to achieve the business results that matter – enriching the lives of their residents, improving financial and operational health, and mitigating risk. Recently recognized as the #1 long-term care software vendor by KLAS Research, PointClickCare’s cloud-based software platform takes a person-centered approach to managing senior care, connecting healthcare providers across the senior care continuum with easy to use, regulatory compliant solutions for improved resident outcomes, enhanced financial performance, and staff optimization. Over 9,000 skilled nursing and senior living facilities use PointClickCare today, making it the North American healthcare IT market leader for the senior care industry. For more information on PointClickCare’s ONC certified software solutions, please visit pointclickcare.com.