The number one priority for executives and staff at senior living communities is providing high quality care. However, there are many factors that are making that standard increasingly hard to meet. For example, while medical advances are helping seniors live longer, seniors are also living with more chronic health conditions. In fact, according to the National Council on Aging, 92 percent of older adults have at least one chronic condition and 77 percent have at least two.1
Not only do those medical conditions provide challenges of their own, they also increase the likelihood of falls. A study by researchers at Philips analyzed the records of 145,000 seniors and found that people with certain common chronic conditions fell and required transport 54 percent more often than their peers with no chronic conditions.2 This was true even with conditions like COPD and diabetes that are not typically tied to frailty.
Add to this the fact that aging baby boomers are swelling the ranks of senior citizens, and senior living providers today are finding it very challenging to deliver high quality care. Advanced technology that enables better monitoring, streamlined staff communications and comprehensive data collection and reporting can help communities more effectively address these issues.
Why high quality care is imperative
There are several reasons that quality of care is crucial in senior living communities. First and foremost, exceptional care helps provide that seniors are safer and allows them to maintain their independence and dignity.
Second, how a community cares for its residents affects its standing among potential residents and adult children or other caregivers who may assist seniors with their decision to relocate. Providers that maintain a positive reputation are better able to market themselves to seniors and their families and find it much easier to attract new residents.
Finally, high quality care can help prevent hospitalizations. Maintaining high occupancy rates is an important component in a senior living community’s financial success. Excessive “leakage” can make it difficult to meet revenue objectives.
To deliver high quality care you must be able to measure quality
The truism that “you can’t manage what you can’t measure” is certainly accurate when it comes to quality of care. As evidence of the fact that senior living communities are actively looking for ways to measure quality, the Center for Excellence in Assisted Living has released a report recommending 96 different tools that can be used to measure the quality of services that communities provide. And that number is out of an initial 254 tools that were reviewed.
The 96 recommended tools break down into five areas:
- Person-centered care (6 tools)
- Medication management (10 tools)
- Care coordination/transitions (17 tools)
- Resident/patient outcomes (35 tools)
- Workforce (28 tools)
As a first step toward improving the quality of the care they provide, senior living communities should evaluate measurement tools and select those that best meet their needs.
Four key areas of focus for quality of care
In order to improve the services they offer, senior living providers have to choose where they will focus their efforts. To provide guidance, the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) has launched what it calls the Quality Initiative for Assisted Living. NCAL members are encouraged to reach concrete goals by 2018 in four key areas3:
- Antipsychotics — Safely reduce the off-label use of antipsychotic medications by 15% or achieve and maintain a low off-label usage rate of 5% or less by March 2018
- Staff stability — Keep nursing and direct care staff turnover below 40% through March 2018
- Hospital readmissions — Safely reduce hospital readmissions within 30 days of hospital discharges by 15% or achieve and maintain a low readmission rate of 5% by March 2018
- Customer satisfaction — Ensure that at least 90% of residents and/or family members are satisfied with their experience by March 2018
Advanced technology can play an important role in helping senior living communities meet these objectives.
Addressing key quality of care focus areas with advanced senior living solutions
There are many ways to improve quality of care. For example, the adoption of industry best practices, placing a greater emphasis on staff training, and the formation of quality improvement teams or oversight committees can all be beneficial. However, for producing consistent, measurable, and sustainable change, one of the most effective approaches is the implementation of advanced senior living solutions.
This can include a few different types of connected technology, such as the following Philips solutions:
- Medication management devices and services: Philips Medication Management Solutions enable seniors to manage medication regimens better.
- Integrated, easy-to-use resident safety/nurse call and wander management systems: Philips CarePoint 5.0 empowers team members, making it easier to hire and retain skilled and experienced staff and provide staff stability.
- Cutting-edge call button and fall detection devices: If Philips AutoAlert pendants detect a fall, they can provide access to help when a senior is unable to do so due to a fall, resulting in faster response, shorter lie times and reduced
- Predictive analytics tools: Philips CareSage can predict with a high degree of accuracy when a senior is at risk of transport in the next 30 days, allowing staff to provide proactive care that delivers peace of mind and a better resident
Adding to the benefit of these systems is the fact that each helps improve regimen adherence, but in doing so it also plays a role in helping decrease the number of hospital readmissions.
The win-win of improved quality of care
Ultimately everyone wins when a senior living community uses advanced technology to improve the quality of care it provides. Seniors are safer and can lead more independent lives, families have greater peace of mind, staff members are equipped to work more efficiently and effectively, and executives are potentially better able to meet financial objectives.
For more than 40 years, Philips has offered advanced technology solutions that help keep seniors safer. As you review and upgrade your technology platform, we can help.
- “Healthy Aging ” Retrieved from https://www.ncoa.org/news/resources-for-reporters/get-the-facts/healthy-aging-facts/
- “New Philips study reveals seniors with common chronic conditions had an increased fall rate up to 54 percent,” (2015, September 29). Retrieved from http://www.usa.philips.com/a-w/about/news/archive/standard/news/press/2015/20150929-New-Philips-study-reveals-seniors-with-common-chronic-conditions-had-an-increased-fall-rate-up-to-54-percent.html
- “96 Ways to Measure Quality in Assisted Living”. Retrieved from https://www.leadingage.org/96-ways-measure-quality-assisted-living
