Gearing Up for a Productive 2017

 As 2017 kicks off, LeadingAge and CAST are gearing up for a productive year in technology and aging services. Of course, your opinion, contributions, case studies, and are vital to CAST. That is why I am grateful to those who provided feedback on our Shared Care Planning and Coordination Tool, and your votes are in! 

Next CAST Technology Tool

100% of respondents agree that CAST should focus on Social Connectivity and Engagement Technologies in 2017. As with previous initiatives, we will be forming a workgroup to help us with the new initiative. If you are interested in joining the social connectivity and engagement workgroup or any of the the other CAST workgroups, please contact Scott Code.

In This Message

In this month’s message, I’d like to draw to your attention a few important news items, including our new website, the latest CAST Case Study from CAST Partner ABILITY Network, and Technology Trends highlighted by CAST Partner PointClickCare, News from CAST and LeadingAge & CAST Members, and an opportunity to submit proposals to the LTPAC Health IT Summit. Finally, I will also highlight new research showing how technology embracement among staff is tied to their age, and the importance of engaging staff in technology planning, selection and implementation using hands-on tools, similar to the ones CAST has developed for you!

New LeadingAge and CAST Websites

We, at LeadingAge, are excited to start 2017 with a new website, designed to present the information you need in a more user-friendly, streamlined fashion. Did you miss my message last month? You can find all of Majd’s Messages in the CAST section of the new site, plus these CAST valuable tools:

New CAST Case Study on MDS Management Tool

A new CAST case study highlights Ohio Living’s long-term success with LeadingAge Silver Partner with CAST Focus ABILITY / CAREWATCH, which has helped the facility to reduce patients’ pain, lower hospital readmission rates, and reduce the use of antipsychotics.

News from CAST

J. Benjamin Unkle, Jr., CEO of CAST Patron Westminster Canterbury at the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and I were quoted in a recent Senior Housing News article on the benefits of hiring a Chief Information Officer (CIO). We discussed the implications of the recent LeadingAge Ziegler 150 survey, which found that among nonprofit senior living organizations, the second most commonly added position in 2015 was that of CIO, as well as the importance of having a CIO.

I also was honored to share my thoughts for a recent McKnight’s Senior Living feature article entitled “EHR usage still too slow,” which explored the challenges and successes of electronic health records (EHRs). The article mentioned a recent study by CAST and PointClickCare, which found that when Avanté Group implemented EHRs in its 20 skilled nursing communities, use of EHR increased 80%, duplication ceased, medication errors dropped, the data collected at the point of care tripled, and occupancy rates rose.

News from LeadingAge and CAST Partners and Members

  • Note the 7 tech trends to watch in senior living for 2017 published in Senior Living by Travis Palmquist of PointClickCare, a LeadingAge Silver Partner with CAST Focus.
  • Learn how be.group, a LeadingAge member headquartered in Glendale, CA, has used technology that engages employees and communities to reduce its employee turnover and improve its residents’ experience.
  • Please join us in congratulating CAST Business Associate Systems Engineering (SE), based in Portland, ME, for being honored with the 2016 Governor’s Award for Business Excellence.
  • See how CAST Business Member and long-term post-acute care (LTPAC) technology provider MatrixCare, based in Bloomington, MN, will deploy its CareCommunity LTPAC Population Care Management and Care Coordination platform on Microsoft Azure, one of the first hyper-scale cloud computing platforms to achieve the HITRUST CSF certification.
  • LeadingAge and CAST member Ohio Living Westminster-Thurber, in Columbus, OH, is piloting an app called Cubigo to increase its residents’ comfort level with smart technology. Cubigo is designed to enhance independent living, putting control in the consumer’s hands and lowering costs.

Prepare for the year ahead by learning about your colleagues’ initiatives and news. 

Present at the LTPAC Health IT Summit

Do you have research, innovative ideas, or business case studies involving Health Information Technology (IT) to present at the 2017 Long-Term and Post-Acute (LTPAC) Health IT Summit? If so, submit your session abstracts by Friday, Feb. 3, 2017. The 13th annual summit takes place June 25-27, 2017, in Baltimore, MD.

Tech Selection Tools Aid in Implementing HIT

In other news, recent research suggests that a best practice for implementing Health Information Technology (HIT) systems is to create a process guide such as the five CAST Technology Selection Tools.

Feel Free to Contact Me

I hope you find these articles to be valuable to your work. If you have questions or suggestions for Tech Time, please contact me.