Data mining and analysis, once the purview of Fortune 500 companies and broad sectors like healthcare, finance and retail, is now being leveraged in innovative ways by life plan communities (LPCs). Over the past five years, two visionary leaders, Tom Akins, president and CEO of LeadingAge North Carolina and VigR Health CEO Carol Barbour (both pictured at right), have analyzed big batches of data to yield very specific, very tailored applications that benefit LPCs and residents–in very different ways.

A deep dive in 2024 into tax and income filings, financial performance, disclosure statements and workforce demographics of North Carolina’s 66 life plan communities by researchers at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School yielded the Continuing Care Retirement Community Economic Impact Study. This macro-level analysis has determined these organizations’ current and future economic impact on their local communities and, as a group, the state.  

The study yielded simultaneously staggering and gratifying results: the 66 LPCs serve 25,000 residents, provide jobs for 20,000 employees and bring roughly $5 billion in annual revenue to the state. By 2050, they are expected to serve almost double the number of residents (48,000), employ some 35,000 employees, and deliver almost $8 billion in economic impact. 

Impressive numbers, to be sure, but what’s equally noteworthy is how LeadingAge North Carolina members have used this macro-level data in local advocacy. Information contained in the report provides each LPC with individual numbers related to economic impact, staffing numbers, and tax payments—all powerful tools when working with city councils and county commissions. “The best things we can give to our provider members is credible information that will help policymakers do their jobs, whether that’s around additional developments, zoning issues, or research-based future projections,” said Akins. “The study has helped us help members make their case in a trustworthy way, all while moving from anecdotal conjecture to fact-based reality.”

Rather than deploying data to make an economic point, VigR Health, a LeadingAge corporate partner, opted to focus on the use of predictive data analysis to both improve member outcomes and engage with members on care decision-making. 

Launched in 2022 as an affiliate of Friends Life Care, which at the time was led by Carol Barbour, the company leverages an immense volume of longitudinal data gathered over decades from Friends Life Care’s 6000+ members. VigR’s custom-built predictive modeling platform, developed in conjunction with Columbia Point Consulting, analyzes an older adult’s health information to generate a predictive picture that can shape the individual’s aging journey.

Based on the individual’s current health status and information gleaned from a comprehensive assessment, risk factors for loss of independence are identified by the predictive model; a custom-tailored, evidence-based intervention plan is developed to help continuing care at home (CCaH) members age successfully as a result of early interventions. 

Detailed analysis of the Friends Life Care data and experience demonstrates that those members who implement at least one of the recommended interventions can delay care outside the home by as much as three and a half years. Approximately 80% of Friends Life Care members follow through on the recommendations and implement at least one intervention.  

CCaH Care Coordinators use this information, for instance, to coach a CCaH member towards the goal of aging successfully, and longer, at home; LPC interdisciplinary care teams could similarly use such an individualized predictive picture to help independent living residents plan for, or accept, in-home care as an alternative to moving through the continuum.

While different use cases, both demonstrate how progressive mobilization of data can be deployed for positive and powerful business outcomes—even in a relatively small and unique sector.