by: Roy Barker, Director – Special Projects at MDS
As a senior housing operator do you find yourself simply managing the day to day activities in your community and neglecting long term planning? Between the constantly changing resident’s needs, family matters that require immediate attention, dynamic staffing needs, dealing with vendors, and the changing economy, when do you find time to perform real quality strategic planning for your residents, staff, and facility in general? While trying to put out the operating fires of today, can you really afford not to plan for the future? Well the future is upon us!
As you know all too well, resident profiles are constantly changing. But what are you doing to stay on the leading edge of what it takes to attract and retain senior residents today and in the future? While resident entrance ages are going up, today’s seniors are more sophisticated. They also want more services and amenities than those residents in the past. According to some reports, the average entrance age of Assisted Living residents is actually younger than those of Independent living residents. While these shifting resident demographics are an entire set of challenges themselves, they do not even address other changes that operators must now deal with such as Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), declining reimbursement rates, depressed home prices, and a generally stagnate economy.
Let MDS help you navigate the changing landscape by providing you with a structured Strategic Planning Process. We can help you navigate the changing senior living landscape and provide direction for your organization to stay on the leading edge of what senior housing has to offer.