Category: Seniors Housing

In the past year alone, we’ve seen a number of online research portals dedicated to helping find and review senior care options, and an even larger number of apps dedicated to everything from specialized caregiving to therapy plans. Now, one company is combining the best of both platforms.

Dallas-based New LifeStyles recently launched an iPhone app that displays senior living options in a given geographical area. A geo-mapping feature allows users to see nearby resources based on a current location, and tailor their searches to a specific region or even type of care – CCRC, assisted living, skilled nursing or memory care. Communities and services types are identified by a color-coded system, and users can receive directions on a map, visit a Web listing, and can even contact a community by calling or emailing directly from the app.

Doug Fusella, New LifeStyles president and COO, elaborated on the technology in a company press release: “An individual’s search for a qualified senior living community often begins with a sudden loss-of-health event that injects urgency and confusion,” he says, “often resulting in poor and costly choices. Even when there is time for a leisurely review, the attempt to make viable comparisons can seem bewildering. With these new digital channels, users can make fast and well-informed decisions from anywhere.”

User guides are available in printable and digital PDF versions, and for those who (still) have not gone mobile, a free app site is accessible from a standard computer. Users can locate links to other pages and websites, and can email pages from the digital guide to friends and family members.

Necessity was the mother of invention, according to company history. New LifeStyles was founded in 1987 by Les Blaser who, after a frustrating attempt to research care options for his mother in the Dallas area, published one of the first guides on nursing and senior care facilities. Blaser and his wife launched New LifeStyles Online in 1995 as one of the first online resources, and the portal now provides free information on senior communities, home health, hospice, and senior products and services for 39 markets in the U.S. and Canada.

MARKETING INSIGHT: As mobile phones become more common and content becomes more sophisticated, watch for more product and service providers in the senior care space to explore and adopt this technology. As we uncovered in our recent research, the upcoming generations are adopting mobile technology at a fast pace, for a number of daily functions, and note that they are definitely influenced by mobile content. They’re using them to download apps, read QR codes, or even enjoy entertainment – and much of the interest skews toward healthcare.

The impact of mobile internet will be a growing influence and enable marketers to communicate with this new generation of Boomers and seniors efficiently, since many enjoy browsing online in their free time and report being influenced by mobile content. For example, advertising on health or senior-oriented product sites would be one way to reach online seniors who may have a higher level of comfort with technology.

You can read more about the phenomenon in our latest white paper, The Great Disconnect.

Regards,

The Varsity Team

There have been great strides to become more environmentally conscious, as we uncovered in our recent Project Looking Glass II and Next Generation studies.

Based on new product introductions with green claims launched in the last five years alone, the title of “green” as a mainstream product feature appears to be firmly ingrained in both consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers’ offerings as well as in the minds of consumers.

That idea has trickled down into the mind of the mature market consumer as well. Today’s Boomers and seniors are much more environmentally conscious than their predecessors, thanks in part to education and intense messaging on the state, local and national levels, and to the social consciousness common among the Boomers, and starting to appear in the current Transitional Generation.

In the retirement living market, community “Green Teams” and recycling programs are now common. But for the older generations, thinking environmentally is often a learning process, while for the younger set, it has become part of their lifestyle. As we uncovered in our Next Generation research, there was still some amount of skepticism regarding the true impact on the world.

Knowing this mindset, today’s retirement communities are slowly realizing that they cannot simply be “green for green’s sake,” but need to incorporate these initiatives as a means to produce measurable results, as well as shorten the learning curve.

Here’s a great example: Our PLGII subject community, Frasier Meadows, was able to move from a dismal 70% to a 95% energy efficiency by installing compact fluorescent light bulbs, high-efficiency boilers, occupancy sensors and 500 new windows. Residents and management alike saw the health benefits and long-term ROI.

MARKETING INSIGHT: In short, go ahead and be green, as long as it’s done in a practical, fiscally responsible manner and shows real results that benefit everyone.

Some communities have made efforts to overcome the notion that one person can’t make a difference by quantifying the environmental savings based on using their green initiatives, and differentiating their community to the environmentally-conscious.

From a marketing standpoint, a slightly different approach than the current crop of messaging (which centers on the cumulative savings based on “if everyone made these changes”) may need to be considered. Instead, providers may want to show how one single person’s annual – or lifetime – green habits can add up to savings on such things as plastic waste, pollution, and even money.

Sustainability and being “green” should be a collaborative effort. For residents, it should be promoted as paving the way for coming generations. For management, it should demonstrate corporate social responsibility, good stewardship of resources, and become a true point of differentiation.

The Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA) has some great tips and tools for making your community green without breaking the bank, and proving benefit to all.

Regards,

The Varsity Team

The first impressions of health information technology (HIT) – including electronic health records (EHR) and electronic medical records (EMR) – was that it held great promise for improving healthcare quality and safety, along with reducing the costs of providing care in the post-acute or long-term care setting.

The last time we covered HIT, and specifically EHR in the senior living industry, several multi-campus communities had already made the switch into the paperless realm.

Some preliminary data from LeadingAge and Ziegler‘s jointly commissioned LZ 100 survey shows that 79% of the largest LeadingAge members currently have an EHR system in place and plan to increase their investment over the next 12 months.

Note that we said largest.

Despite the advantages of EHR adoption for the long term care facilities using them and payers, the systems don’t come cheap, and costs vary depending on the type of system being deployed.

The study noted that, under a Software as a Service (SaaS), where a provider contracts directly with an EHR/EMR vendor for an annual service charge, implementing the technology could cost nearly $260,000 for a 25-bed facility over a period of five years. A third party-hosted solution would cost the same facility $254,279, while an in-house solution would ring in at more than $355,000 for the same five-year period.

Add to this the fact that EMR and point of care solutions can place a strain on a community’s current IT infrastructure, and require new measures to be put in place for security and access.

The benefits of going “paperless” are well-documented. EMR systems have a direct effect on positive outcomes, staff efficiency, the virtual elimination of medication errors, increased face time with residents and family members, and yes, cost savings.

As assisted living and skilled providers begin partnering with hospitals and other care providers in Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), it will become more important to be able to move data seamlessly between those organizations, as well as provide hard data showing that they’re providing quality care.

MARKETING INSIGHT: For smaller facilities, adopting an EHR system remains cost prohibitive, and the likelihood of widespread adoption in the next three to five years remains low. Clearly, policy initiatives, programs and financing options must be put into place.

Those who are on the fence about such systems should consider the following:

• Being seen as thought leaders with state-of-the-art technology;
• The federal mandate requiring all healthcare facilities to have electronic health records;
• The ability to align with an ACO or become a preferred destination for post-acute therapy;
• Marked improvements in quality, efficiency and effectiveness of care;
• Improvements to the quality of documentation; and
• Reduced the paperwork for employees.