Digital transformation involves much more than choosing technology. Creating collaborations and securing internal buy-in are also critical, said panelists at the LeadingAge Annual Meeting + EXPO, held Oct. 16-19, 2022, in Denver.

Two sessions devoted to digital transformation gave important pointers on how to move an organization’s technology to its next phase. HealthTech covered the sessions and shared the following important learnings in “LeadingAge 2022: Best Practices for Digital Transformation in Senior Care” and “LeadingAge 2022: Digital Transformation Is an Ongoing Process in Senior Care.”

Collaboration and Culture Change

Start at the top. Involve your organization’s leadership. Dusanka Delovska-Trajkova, a CAST Commissioner and CIO at Ingleside, a LeadingAge CAST Patron, recommended getting buy-in from the CEO and board because digital transformation is not solely an IT project, said one article.

Jim Michels, vice president of development and strategic operations at The Army Distaff Foundation and Knollwood Military Retirement Community, a LeadingAge member, went a step farther. He led an effort to rewrite part of Knollwood’s charters to embrace innovation, with board approval.

Provide a compelling vision. Make sure that you are speaking the same language as others within your organization. Give people a vision of how digital transformation will work and examples of how it will help them, said Delovska-Trajkova.

Think big. Glen Tibbitts, corporate director of IT, and Michael Hughes, senior executive vice president and chief transformation and innovation officer at LeadingAge member United Church Homes gave these tips in a session moderated by Liz Cramer, chief post-acute-care strategist at CDW Healthcare.

The return on investment from technology should be substantial, such as a tenfold improvement in time or cost savings or reduced falls. Naming a solution’s intangible benefits, such as the joy or health benefits it brings to residents, is also important.

Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate. Culture change involves everyone: board, residents, and staff, said panelists. Build collaborations so that you can create an overall digital strategy for the entire organization, not department by department. Early in the process, talk to nurses, residents, and staff to surface input that your research and planning may not have considered.

Recognize that some staff may feel threatened that new technology will replace them. Look for people who will champion new technology. Involve the IT department in any pilots or training. Form close partnerships with vendors.

Start small, then build. Whether you’re working to gain buy-in for a new tech initiative from leaders and staff or introducing new technology to residents, take baby steps and benchmark improvements made along the way.

Tie technology to a meaningful outcome and “create a virtuous circle,” Hughes, who is training residents to use Amazon Echo Show, is quoted as saying in one of the articles. “First, we teach everyone to play music, then how to call family. Then staff will use the platform for setting reminders, and we’ll start to build on that.” Doing so means that people will continue to use the technology over time.

Measure. Start with pilots, and measure and monitor them to learn how they are working.

Technology-Related Pointers

Panelists offered the following technology tips to support digital transformation.

Plan for innovation. Elements such as a digital audit and digital roadmap are important, said panelists, as is asking vendors to recommend technology used in other sectors.

Consider how technology could address business challenges like staff shortages. For example, United Church Homes is using artificial intelligence now to identify patients at risk for hospitalization and may tap it for fall reduction in the future, according to Lorelei Heineman, director of clinical services operations.

Check your network infrastructure. Ensure that your infrastructure is robust enough to handle planned technology, now and down the road. Majd Alwan, Ph.D., former CAST executive director and senior vice president of technology and business strategy at LeadingAge, shared that bandwidth could increase as much as 60% per year.

Engage with MACH architecture. Peter Kress, a CAST Commissioner and senior vice president and CIO at Acts Retirement-Life Communities, a LeadingAge CAST Patron, made this recommendation to attendees. “This set of technology principles involves microservices, an API-first approach, cloud-native Software as a Service and ‘headless’ technology,” said the article.

For more pointers and details, read the full articles, “LeadingAge 2022: Best Practices for Digital Transformation in Senior Care” and “LeadingAge 2022: Digital Transformation Is an Ongoing Process in Senior Care.”