Senior Living Software: Why Industry Experience Matters

While some are used across the world of business with no set industry application, specialized solutions designed and developed for a specific industry exist to facilitate many of the nuanced needs and processes that an outsider simply would not think to address.

So why does the history and intent of software used to manage senior living matter? In simple terms, it all comes down to residents. Of course, operators have properties to manage, but the safety, health and wellbeing of their senior residents is paramount and must be priority #1.

Many of the technology solutions that too many senior living communities rely on were developed for the multifamily industry and adapted for senior living. On some level, that makes sense because both have many of the same property management function requirements.

But consider the unique processes, requirements, regulations and audiences that senior communities must address. In addition to managing a property and its operations, they have the care and safety of their residents and all of the regulations that come with that. Many operators include a mix of property types in their portfolio such as independent living, assisted living, and/or memory care, etc. 

The bottom line is that senior living communities are inherently different from any other kind of residential community, and they require specific tools to manage their unique and complex needs. Senior living software should be intentionally designed to meet the specific requirements of the user and managing all the processes of a senior community. 

Let’s take a look at a few examples of how senior living software should go above and beyond to provide better outcomes for staff, residents, families, and operators.

Supporting the Unique Needs of Senior Living Communities

The most obvious and significant aspects of senior living management that differ from standard multifamily management fall into 3 key areas: resident care, care administration, and family inclusion.

Resident Care: Software should facilitate resident care in a way that makes it easy to create and manage individual care plans, including mobile apps that allows caregivers to document care in real-time at the point of delivery.

With the ability to document care - or any issues with care - in real-time, your software should support your processes to report and react to any safety issues or incidents within your facilities, including an easy-to-use notification system to ensure all relevant staff are alerted to any issues that require their attention.

Further to the reporting needs of any senior living management software, in today’s post-pandemic world, there is also a need for processes and functionality to be in place to help care providers react to and manage the wellness of their community through any potential infection outbreaks.

Care Administration: The ability to access medical information for residents of senior living communities is important, but improperly accessing, storing, or using this information can have serious consequences.

Software solutions specifically designed for the senior living industry need to have the right checks and balances baked in to prevent data breaches and other problems related to private medical information.

Beyond this, some of the more nuanced aspects of care administration include the need for care plans to connect to billing so that every service that’s documented is accurately billed; the need to provide caregivers guidance through proper administration of medicines to ensure residents receive the right medication in the right dosage at the right time; and perhaps most importantly, the need for software to facilitate communication and collaboration among the staff who care for residents.

And this all needs to be done on a platform that is easy to use, streamlines and facilitates workflows for care providers, and provides accurate data and reporting to ensure resident safety and compliance.

Family Inclusion: One of the starkest differences between multifamily communities and senior living communities is the need to include and engage families of residents. Senior CRM tools should facilitate family engagement throughout the sales and leasing process. It should also help sales teams deliver a great experience, by guiding them on how and when follow up, so that they can be more successful moving the process forward and creating relationships with prospective residents.

Social engagement and relationships are  important factors for seniors and their families when choosing a community. Life in a senior living community surrounded by others of a similar age provides a natural support community. This is enhanced when seniors find others with whom they have a lot in common.

Glennis Solutions fosters friendships through its CRM by identifying residents who have similar backgrounds and interests as prospects. This helps the sales team further cultivate the relationship and a connection to the community by introducing prospects to residents with whom they have a lot in common. By offering opportunities to personalize the prospective resident’s experience, you increase their chance of making friends and finding comfort in your community.

The right specialized senior living management solution can also help facilitate family connections and communication once their loved one has moved in. For example, the Glennis Family App allows families to constantly stay informed on the daily care of their loved one, community activities, dining menus, etc. from wherever they may be.

As you may have gathered from the long list of nuanced needs above, complete technology solutions that are designed by experts who truly understand the needs of this vertical - like Glennis Solutions - go a long way in supporting what staff, residents and families want and need.

The Human Factor

In most industries, software is impersonal.

That’s not the case in the senior living industry, where every action, no matter how small, directly affects the quality of life for one of our most vulnerable populations and the staff whose duty it is to care for them.

That’s why Glennis Solutions built our platform with human beings in mind; designed specifically for the needs of our residents and the needs of the staff who care for them and the many specialized workflows and processes they handle on a daily basis.

We spent years carefully designing and enhancing our software to ensure it addresses the unique needs of senior providers. Along the way, we have talked to thousands of care providers, residents, family members and operators to understand more about their needs.

Glennis provides the tools and access to data that operators need to maximize revenue and grow their organization, but beyond that our solutions are intended to enhance resident care and to improve the workday for caregivers by giving them back time to spend with residents.

In many ways, we are a technology company that doesn’t think like a technology company. Ultimately, everything Glennis offers points to better care and experience for seniors and their families, and better outcomes for senior communities.

To learn more about how Glennis Solutions can help your senior living community achieve an even higher level of performance, schedule a demo today.