(Alexandria, Va.) — The Argentum Senior Living Leadership Summit has come and gone, leaving C-Suite executives who took part in the annual gathering in Las Vegas to strategize on what they learned and shared with their peers concerning the senior living profession’s present and future.
Part of the assessment of where things stand – with the industry having shown remarkable resiliency during the worst of the pandemic – centers on what lies ahead for a new strategic vision of what owners and operators must offer consumers to build sustainable and successful communities.
This vision offered by Argentum and with the invaluable input of its members and partner THRUUE, is built on three “big ideas”: People, Trust, and Choice.
Argentum President and CEO James Balda reviewed the strategic vision at the summit, stressing how leaders must never forget the business of senior living is to help people, which is the first pillar. The third pillar, choice, involves protecting consumer options in the long-term care space with as many types and levels of senior living as possible.
The second of these pillars, trust, was the focal point of a summit session called Moving Forward: Measuring What Matters, which examined how data, data sharing, openness, and transparency can be utilized to assess the quality of care provided to residents and then shared with all stakeholders.
Moderated by Daniel P. Forrester, founder and board chair, THRUUE, the speakers included Karen Sheean, chief human resources officer, Atria Senior Living; Kai Hsiao, CEO, Healthcare, Keppel Capital; and Arick Morton, CEO, NIC MAP Vision.
While the Argentum vision on trust is to create and maintain a bond with residents and their families ensuring them peace of mind that our communities will provide the best care possible, it is this data element that will be the information all interested parties can use to determine how care is being delivered.
In a world where information is consumed and available in more volume and forms than ever, it is vital that the senior living profession improve its ability to produce standardized measurements for people to have and hold, and then act on when it comes to making communities their new home.
“We are in a people business. To continue a dynamic, forward-thinking culture built on trust, leaders need to know where to maximize their time and effort. Data is important, but seeing beyond the data to engagement, experience, and perception is crucial,” Sheean said.
The main takeaways from the session, included the following:
- Every company needs a data strategy. Data is now ubiquitous across the senior living industry. The next frontier is to effectively refine, analyze, and leverage data to make smart business decisions.
- Next-level data transparency is the new normal. Ready or not, leaders are under growing pressure from customers, investors, and policymakers to be more transparent about their data. Leaders must proactively build data acumen and a culture of transparency at all levels of their organization to prepare for this new normal.
- … but industry standardization is required. Operators are limited by a lack of clear, industry-wide standards for data capture, analysis, and reporting around clinical outcomes, financial and operational metrics, and workforce performance. Without consistent measures, operators risk reporting disparate, incomparable metrics that lack meaning.
- People data matters now more than ever. Beyond recruitment and retention, employee performance, engagement, and culture have a direct and immediate impact on customer experience and the bottom line. Enterprise- and community-level measurement of employee sentiment and perception can help leaders anticipate, prevent, or prepare for turnover and other workforce challenges.
- Community-level insights will have the most impact. Operators and investors recognize that data insights will have the most impact at the community level. Operators must collect and analyze data community-by-community.
Read more about the Argentum Strategic Vision at www.argentum.org/argentum-strategic-vision/.
About Argentum
Since 1990, Argentum has advocated for choice, independence, dignity, and quality of life for all older adults. Argentum’s programs and initiatives are driven by its membership. For more information, please visit www.argentum.org
