How Harnessing Technology Solutions Can Help You Build a Thriving Senior Living Community

With each year that passes, the senior population in the US is rapidly growing and diversifying. It’s estimated that by 2030, 1 out of every 5 US citizens will be of retirement age. 

This presents countless new business opportunities for senior living communities (SLCs) to expand their service offerings and grow revenue, as the demand for healthcare and home care to support independent living for these seniors is naturally growing, too. 

One area that shows huge potential – and provides significant health and wellness benefits for senior residents living in these communities – is the provision of non-medical home care services.

Running home- and community-based services themselves, rather than outsourcing to third-party vendors, SLCs can not only diversify their revenue stream to boost profits and thrive, but also:

• Provide greater safety and security to their residents.
• Offer residents a more affordable care option.
• Improve residents’ care outcomes (through greater social engagement, support in physical, mental, and emotional well-being, and more).
• Improve quality and continuity of care.
• Increase resident and family engagement and satisfaction.
• Significantly lower rehospitalization and emergency room visits.
• Deliver greater service flexibility.
• Ensure seniors can remain living safely and independently in their communities for much longer.

However, to insource these services successfully, technology will need to play a significant role.

Harnessing technology to successfully expand home care services in SLCs

Technological innovations have the potential to address and resolve some of the most pressing issues within the senior living sector, creating significant opportunities for business growth.

Optimum senior healthcare doesn’t just rely on medical interventions and services. It also includes proactive social services like transportation, personal care, homemaker services, and companionship – which all directly impact senior health. 

In this article, we look at five ways technology can play a pivotal role in supporting the successful expansion of these home care services in your senior living community. 

1. Enhanced senior resident experience

Delivering high-quality care is, of course, a significant part of the consumer experience for your senior residents. However, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, many aspects of the overall experience have been overshadowed by concerns about resident health and safety.

Now is the time to correct that. Baby boomers are tech-savvy and accustomed to convenience, which means senior living providers that effectively use technology to improve their residents’ experience are the most likely to succeed and grow.

Maintaining and enhancing client and family engagement is a crucial part of this. 

Technological solutions, like Smartcare’s integrated Client and Family Portal – accessible via computer, tablet, or mobile app – can facilitate real-time, secure communication to boost engagement, improve care coordination, and increase overall satisfaction for all parties involved.

This person-centered approach, supported by technology, not only creates healthier and more appealing senior communities to live in but also helps to attract and retain health-conscious seniors while keeping their families connected, involved, and happy too.

2. Smoother staffing management and care coordination

As the demand for home- and community-based care services increases, you will need to expand the workforce required to deliver these services – if you opt to insource rather than use third-party vendors. When scaling your senior living community service offerings, managing an increased roster can pose many challenges if you don’t have the right tech tools in place.

Transparent communication channels are crucial in maintaining smooth operations, particularly regarding scheduling, care coordination, and reporting. Without these, caregiver teams may find their ability to focus on residents’ care and well-being hindered by other distractions, such as time-consuming admin tasks. 

Not only do advanced management systems like Smartcare promote effective communication between teams but they also help to streamline caregiver management and boost engagement.

Comprehensive scheduling tools can match caregivers with specific resident needs, manage last-minute shift changes, and ensure consistency in the services you deliver, ultimately contributing to higher caregiver satisfaction and retention rates.

In addition, using a complete software platform like Smartcare means you have access to first-class recruitment and hiring tools to help you effectively grow your talent pool when needed.

3. Improved staff hiring and retention

As mentioned, the caregiving industry faces a dual challenge: a rising demand for senior support services and a shortage of qualified personnel to meet this demand. High turnover rates, especially among personal care aides, mean that it takes more work to maintain a caregiver team that is both skilled for the job and committed to your company for the long term.

Technology can be a highly effective solution here. 

For instance, Smartcare offers the ENGAGE Hiring Hub – a sophisticated applicant tracking system (ATS) to ensure you attract and hire high-quality, best-fit talent to serve your residents. 

These tech tools ensure you provide a fast and efficient hiring process, keeping applicants engaged throughout the process, tracking and managing their progress, and simplifying onboarding. Smartcare’s Recruitment and Hiring Tools provide an all-in-one solution, significantly improving staffing efficiency.

Furthermore, the Smartcare platform offers advanced retention tools to help you retain the talent you’ve worked so hard to attract. These tools enhance the caregiver experience through improved client-caregiver matching, transparent communication, flexible scheduling, integrated training content, and more.

Perhaps the most exciting of the tech tools available to reduce your staff turnover is Smartcare’s Caregiver Rewards system. This uses gamification principles to keep your growing team of caregivers connected, engaged, and motivated, ultimately boosting your retention rates to over 3x the industry average.

4. Streamlined administrative tasks

As you look to grow your senior living business, you’ll likely encounter greater financial responsibilities, including planning, payroll management, billing processes, and regulatory compliance. With a growing client and caregiver base, administrative workloads will inevitably increase too.

Automation will play a significant role in streamlining these operations and making your life much easier. Automation tools for tasks such as billing and payroll, like those offered by Smartcare, will dramatically simplify your financial management and reduce administrative burdens while ensuring efficiency, accuracy, and compliance – all without the need to source any additional staff.

5. Data-driven decision making

As you look to build your senior living business and incorporate more on-demand services for your residents to access, you will inevitably have more decisions to make that will directly impact your business’s operations, goals, and growth opportunities. 

This will be impossible to achieve without access to the right data at the right time.

Smartcare’s insights and business intelligence tools provide a comprehensive overview of your operation, including real-time data collection and analysis, enabling you to make data-driven decisions, track trends, and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) across multiple sites, if applicable.

These tools support data-driven decision-making, strategic planning, operational improvements, financial management, and effective business monitoring, offering invaluable assistance as your senior living business expands.

Smartcare, the all-round tech solution to build a thriving senior living community

With growing demand for senior living services now is the time to make an investment in the appropriate technologies to grow your business. 

Your senior living business can seize the opportunities available and beat the competition to deliver a superior service to your staff and residents.

While some systems can help companies optimize certain aspects of their expansion, Smartcare Software really is the all-round tech solution to successfully grow your senior living business. It consolidates recruitment, staff management, communication, administration, business intelligence tools, and more into a unified platform – as well as integrating with many senior living EMRs, like PointClickCare, to make it easy to share existing data and simplify invoicing.

This advanced software not only aids with managing sustainable business growth but also positions you to excel in a highly competitive market. Whether you aim to reduce administrative burdens, streamline operations, increase retention, or elevate the quality of care, Smartcare empowers you to focus on what truly matters – delivering exceptional care to your residents.

If you’re interested in experiencing firsthand how our software tools can efficiently streamline your operations and help you build a thriving senior living community, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our experienced team today or request a free demo.