Following Our Own Advice about Strategic Planning

It’s hard to be successful in the field of aging services without also being attuned to the importance of strategic planning. That’s because our field is always changing — and those changes require a deliberate effort on the part of successful organizations to change along with it.


After all, change is part and parcel of the work you do every day as you serve adults with changing needs, test and adopt new care models, adapt to new payment systems, and anticipate serving a dramatically changing consumer as the baby boomers age.


The most successful organizations have a pretty good idea of how the future is likely to unfold — and how they can prepare for that future. Strategic planning is the key to acquiring that knowledge. That’s true for your organization. It’s true for CAST and LeadingAge as well.


That’s why I’m so pleased to be welcoming LeadingAge’s new President and CEO Katie Sloan to the fall meeting of the CAST Commissioners, which takes place Oct. 29 in Indianapolis.


Katie will be on hand to talk about a major initiative that LeadingAge completed this year — its new Strategic Plan. She’ll be describing what that plan entails. She’ll also be identifying the role that technology will play in LeadingAge’s new strategic direction.


The upcoming discussion is particularly poignant for me because CAST and LeadingAge have long urged members to conduct just this type of strategic planning — and to incorporate technology into that planning process.


It’s a great feeling to know that we are taking our own advice.

 

Who Else is Taking CAST’s Advice?


We had strong indications this month that LeadingAge members — specifically, the larger organizations listed in the LeadingAge Ziegler 150 — are also following our strategic planning advice.


During its Annual Senior Living Finance + Strategy Conference, representatives from Ziegler, a LeadingAge Gold Partner with CAST Focus, shared statistics showing that not-for-profit organizations are building their competitiveness by building the sophistication of their corporate-level employees. And the C-suite increasingly includes a chief information officer (CIO).


Why is this significant? Because a CIO is someone whose job is focused squarely on strategic IT planning. Basically, the CIO is the person that LeadingAge members rely on to help them understand how technology can help their organizations meet their strategic goals.


In other good news this month, we are proud to see that a CAST whitepaper entitled EHRs for LTPAC: A Primer on Planning and Vendor Selection 2016 has been selected to be part of the Health IT Playbook, a comprehensive web-based resource from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).


It’s a great honor to be singled out by ONC as a primary source of information about health information technology for the long-term and post-acute care sector.

 

Shared Care Planning and Coordination Technology


In addition to being part of ONC’s Health IT Playbook, CAST’s EHR whitepaper is an important component of our Electronic Health Record (EHR) Selection Tool, a comprehensive portfolio of hands-on resources designed to help providers understand, plan for, select, implement, and adopt the appropriate EHRs.


As you know, CAST has developed similar technology selection tools for telehealth and remote patient monitoring, medication management, and functional assessment and activity monitoring.


Today, we’re pleased to add one more toolkit to our collection. It’s a new portfolio of tools designed to help long-term and post-acute care (LTPAC) organizations plan for and select shared care planning and coordination technology.


Check out the entire portfolio of tools for selecting shared care planning and coordination technology. Or, review the portfolio’s individual components, which include a whitepaper, interactive guide, Product Selection Matrix, Online Selection Tool, and 5 case studies.

 

Case Studies


We also have three CAST Supporter Case Studies to share with you this month. These case studies will give you valuable information about how to use technology to achieve quality improvement, operational efficiency, or your organization’s strategic vision.


Read these case studies to find out how:

 

  • ABILITY, a LeadingAge Silver Partner with CAST Focus, helped ComuniCare Health Services enhance its quality improvement efforts through technology solutions designed to monitor quality metrics and produce more accurate claims.
  • CAST Supporter ProviNET Solutions gave LeadingAge and CAST Member BHI Senior Living access to a variety of integrated cloud-based technologies designed to improve BHI’s efficiency, ease the process of carrying out administrative tasks, and position the organization for growth.
  • Lutheran Senior Services (LSS), a LeadingAge Member in St. Louis, MO, worked with CAST Supporter HealthMEDX to achieve its vision to modernize operations and transform care delivery through a full-continuum electronic health record (EHR) technology platform.

 

Will We See You in Indianapolis?

 


CAST will be front and center Oct. 30 through Nov. 2 when the LeadingAge Annual Meeting & EXPO brings 16 technology-related sessions to Indianapolis, IN.


CAST Partners, Supporters, Patrons, Associates, and staff members will share their expertise and experiences during Annual Meeting sessions focusing on a wide range of technology topics, from telehealth and data security to resident engagement and dementia care.


I hope you’ll take one last look at the list of our 16 technology-related Annual Meeting sessions — and register today for the Annual Meeting. It’s not too late! 

Join CAST in Supporting “Connect One Million” Seniors Campaign

Before you head to Indy, make sure you download the LeadingAge 2016 Annual Meeting app from the Apple App Store or Google Play. While you’re at it, download the free Connected Living App from the Apple App Store (currently available for iPhones and iPads) to join us in supporting the CAST Business Associate’s Campaign to “Connect One Million” Seniors and their Families.


When you download the app, put in the group code “LeadingAge” at on-boarding, and you will continue to get regular communication from us on this private family and community network, and we will stay connected post-Indianapolis.  

In This Issue


This issue of Tech Time is filled with lots of great news about LeadingAge Partners engaged with CAST, CAST Supporters, and CAST Business Associates. Be sure to read about:

 

  • What Kimberly O’Loughlin, senior vice president and general manager for home monitoring at Philips, a LeadingAge Silver Partner and CAST Supporter, had to say recently about the role of connected care technology in community-based care models. 
  • How 2 new partnerships will help PointClickCare, a LeadingAge Silver Partner with CAST Focus, expand the e-prescribing capacity of its electronic health record (EHR).
  • Why Direct Supply, a LeadingAge Gold Partner with CAST Focus is working so hard to connect university students with company internships.

 

Feel Free to Contact Me

 


I hope you enjoy these and other articles in this issue of Tech Time. Please contact me with any questions for comments.