COVID-19 is our “chief transformation officer.”

That’s how Susheel Ladwa, CEO of Onyx Health, described the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on providers of aging services. His remarks came during the Collaborative Care HIT Summit, which the LeadingAge Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST) held 2 weeks ago.

The virtual gathering was one of the first opportunities we’ve had to come together and take stock of COVID-19’s impact on the field of aging services. And, despite the dire circumstances in which we find ourselves during this pandemic, the presenters brought a hopeful tone to the online gathering.

Their key message? COVID-19 has changed everything for providers of aging services. But there’s a way to transform many of those changes into opportunities.

One change, and its corresponding opportunity, caught my attention: the pandemic-inspired fear of congregate settings among elders and their families.

This fear extends to all congregate settings, not just nursing homes and assisted living communities. Older consumers and their families also fear apartment buildings, public transit, hospitals, and emergency rooms, according to Bob Kramer, president of Nexus Insights and founder of NIC—the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care.

Bob believes our field can address those fears, but it will entail dramatic changes in how we carry out our missions. For example, we can respond to the fear of hospitals and emergency rooms by taking deliberate steps to actively manage the chronic conditions of residents and clients so they can avoid health emergencies that lead to 911 calls.

LeadingAge members implementing housing plus services strategies know that good partnerships with healthcare providers are essential to carrying out any preventive health strategy. But Bob and Susheel maintain that we also need technology to help us pursue prevention.

We’re already seeing an explosion of technology use within our organizations due to the pandemic. Over the past 6 months, telemedicine has become an essential tool in helping quarantined residents connect with their healthcare providers. Older adults battling social isolation have enthusiastically adopted technologies that foster social connections.

There’s no going back from these technology advances. But we can’t stop there.

Quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things must also become integral parts of every aging services organization. We’ll need these tools to track changing conditions and prevent adverse outcomes, like falls and hospitalizations, among residents and clients in all settings. And we’ll need them fast.

Technology is evolving faster than we can imagine or perceive. Fahad Aziz, co-founder of Caremerge, predicts that the technologies we struggle to wrap our minds around in 2020 will become so prevalent by 2030 that those who fail to adopt them will be left behind.

LeadingAge is committed to leaving no one behind. That’s why LeadingAge CAST sponsored the Collaborative Care Summit, and why it has developed myriad resources to help you learn more about emerging technologies, select technologies that best fit your organization, and use those technologies to improve the lives of residents and clients.

To make the best use of these great resources, LeadingAge members must develop what Fahad calls “Innovation DNA” throughout their organizations.

Organizations with Innovation DNA promote a culture that is open to new ideas. They encourage team members to identify problems and then find solutions. They are determined to take advantage of all the possibilities, technological and otherwise, that have come to light during the pandemic. They resolve to experiment, to take risks, and to always be learning.

I urge you to begin developing your Innovation DNA. Harnessing technology within an innovation culture is one of the best ways I know to move through this pandemic with hope for a brighter future.