Tips for Senior Care Organizations on Navigating Innovation and AI

Imagine waking up and the lighting levels rising automatically in response. Dozens of sensors such as fabric sensors in your bedsheets, sensors in your toothbrush or even toilet sensors send data through the network to a platform that informs you that you’re getting sick. Google then analyzes your schedule and lets you know when and where you may have picked up the virus.

Michael Sanzotti, director of technology solutions at engineering firm Reese Hackman described this hypothetical scenario at the 2024 LeadingAge Annual Meeting as part of a session on how much technology is enough for senior living communities.

“Sanzotti’s scenario isn’t too far off,” said Mark Nunnikhoven, director of client relations at ProviNET Solutions. “We’re all challenged with a lot of the same problems, and there are several things that need to be taken into consideration if you’re exploring that route. Is it too much technology? You need to manage a fine line between needing and wanting to have a solution.”

On the other hand, residents are also becoming much more demanding about their technology needs. Nunnikhoven pointed out that, these days, senior living communities can’t have Wi-Fi just in the lobby; residents expect to be able to use all of their devices — phones, laptops, voice assistants, smart TVs and more — in their rooms.

Many senior living and post-acute care organizations are contending with how they should evolve and innovate amid staff shortages and the influx of aging baby boomers who are more technologically advanced than past generations. Tools such as artificial intelligence are now more accessible, but some organizations aren’t sure where to start in their preparations for AI adoption.

Here are some tips for senior living and post-acute care organizations as they prepare their IT infrastructures, embrace innovation and look toward AI initiatives.

It’s common for organizations to get excited about a new solution but not do the proper preparation to ensure it is implemented successfully. IT leaders need to collaborate and be transparent about technology planning while keeping in mind whether a solution benefits the resident community or the business, according to Nunnikhoven. 

If an organization doesn’t gain end-user buy in or properly train users on the new technology, they could end up using only a small portion of what the platform is capable of. Another common pitfall: The organization implements a solution and later finds out that functionality already existed inside their electronic health record.

Nunnikhoven also recommended that IT teams consider security and networking implications of any new technology. If a new platform puts the organization and patient or resident data at increased risk, then the organization should be aware and consider whether it can take on that risk (and if so, how to mitigate it). If the organization implements a new tool but doesn’t have the network to support it, then that’s money wasted.

Budgets are a key part of IT planning. As technology gaps and innovation opportunities are identified, it’s critical that IT team members help all organizational stakeholders understand the problem and the proposed solution to secure budget for it. Technology plans should be updated every two to three years or even more often if there’s a triggering event such as a merger or acquisition, Nunnikhoven said.

“Don’t just say that you wrote a plan when you initially installed your wireless and that it’s still good,” he said, adding that technology governance should be considered as part of initiative planning.

One thing CFO Deb Shughart has learned is to partner. Her organization, Foxdale Village in State College, Pa., has only two people on its IT team.

“They’re very smart. We couldn’t ask for a better team. But for them, trying to keep up is crazy,” she said. “To bring in some balance, we have gone from boots on the ground to being more strategic. We partner with folks who can come in and do a review of our IT systems and network infrastructure.”

Shughart also suggested partnering with and learning from peers in the senior care space. She can use those conversations those more accurately budget or forecast. While most of Foxdale Village’s capital budget is specific, she also includes a contingency line so the organization has budget available for the unexpected.

“You should have a plan in place to be able to react to changes coming down the road,” added Sanzotti. “You should constantly be evaluating needs and reacting to those through the budget plan.”

“There’s been a tsunami of technological innovation in the past three years with the rise of AI, remote patient monitoring and the Internet of Medical Things,” said Vipin Bhardwaj, CEO of NuAIg. “Those technologies created a big impact and got people thinking about aggregating their data. Then, generative AI came on the scene and really captured the imagination and democratized technology.” 

He said that with so much technology out there, it’s important for senior living and post-acute care organizations to prioritize with a roadmap and an innovation center of excellence that allows them to embrace new solutions strategically.

Peter Kress, senior vice president and CIO of Acts Retirement-Life Communities, pointed out that innovation goes beyond continuous process improvement and can be more disruptive.

“None of us want to do research for 10 years. We want approaches to rapidly integrate and scale,” he said, adding that creating innovation centers of excellence is also a process that often requires partnership.

The first step to building a center of excellence is to establish an innovation committee at the executive level. It should focus on innovation, not just technology, said Kress.

One doesn’t have to be a technologist, no matter the scale of the organization, to become a champion of innovation, according to Travis Gleinig, vice president of innovation and CIO for New Jersey-based United Methodist Communities. He also emphasized the importance of having a meaningful plan and strategy grounded in staff workflows.

Staff members and clinicians need to understand that innovation isn’t a threat to their jobs. Gleinig said that he’s not trying to automate the things they’re passionate about doing. His team explains to the entire organization how they will benefit from new processes or solutions, so they’re prepared for the change.

At Acts Retirement-Life Communities, the goal of its center of excellence is to create an intentional roadmap to redesign how the organization operates, and transform it into an organization focused on well-being, supported by AI-first technology. The innovation lab runs up to 10 innovation initiatives each quarter. At the end of the quarter, the organization decides whether to operationalize each project, evolve it for next quarter, pivot or abandon it.

United Methodist Communities has held workshops in which cross-functional teams work together to solve a problem using Microsoft Copilot or ChatGPT. They explore the problem and share their approaches.

“We start to see all of the connections firing when we use practical applications,” said Gleinig, who explained that teams used generative AI to create preventive maintenance calendars and to find accessible ways for residents with limited mobility to engage in activities.

He also pointed out that using AI not only has the potential to improve resident experiences and create workflow efficiencies for existing staff, but also is a way to show prospective hires how the organization makes life better for its employees.

“We want AI-skilled employees, but we also want to be an AI-ready workplace,” said Gleinig.

Kress ended the session by discussing the importance of centering humans when working with AI.

“There will be entities and organizations that use AI to depersonalize relationships with residents and our workforce. We need to fight that at every step. Focus on pursuing human-centered AI,” he said. “What we want is for AI to act in response to human intent. That’s a simple but complex statement. If we limit who expresses intent, then we won’t be happy with the outcomes of AI.”