The short answer? Update your internet speed and services.

Slow WiFi is the arch enemy of productivity and revenue. It severely impacts the fluidity of facility operations, decreasing the level of performance of SaaS apps, customer relationship management (CRM) programs, and financial processing programs. Facilities lose valuable time waiting for programs to load, money on poor services, and confidence surrounding security breaches.

In the post-Covid era, businesses have come to rely on internet access more than ever, raising the standards for what internet speed and services entails. As companies continue to make the transition to remote work, strong and reliable WiFi has gone from preferable to necessary. Without it, companies are stuck with a bandwidth that’s unable to support high-speed uploading/downloading, video conferencing, VoIP calls, large data transfers, and cloud applications. As a result, facilities not only waste thousands of dollars on traditional landline phones but they end up barring themselves from entering the latest market of cloud applications altogether, as many cloud programs now rely on high-speed WiFi to support its function. Decreased bandwidth is also met with impatience on the client end, causing businesses to lose customers who don’t care to wait for pages to load or cannot trust a business’s ability to operate safely and efficiently due to unreliable performance.

The bottom line is, slow internet is like a big hole in your pocket. High-speed WiFi can patch it.

Top Benefits of High-Speed WiFi:

1. Seamless transitions from task to task allows for effective collaboration despite employees working remotely or those working while traveling. With access to high-speed internet, employees can collaborate through shared platforms, share files, print documents remotely, and perform tasks as if they were in the office.
2. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone service renders landlines obsolete, saving time and money by replacing in-person meetings with video conferencing when possible.
3. With the additions of Ethernet ports, companies enjoy resilient and strong WiFi signal that supports multitasking across internet applications without service arbitrary data cap limitations, ensuring that businesses can operate at consistently high speed.
4. Greater security means that expensive security breaches are preventable thanks to more agile disaster response, which depends on speed. Fast backups ensure that companies can efficiently secure customer information and any other sensitive material at all times.
5. Superior hardware comes with superior service providers, meaning that in the case of bad weather conditions, electrical interference, and physical breakdowns, issues are resolved swiftly, avoiding downtime and lost productivity.
6. Increased efficiencies quickly absorb more direct savings than the initial installation cost.

The state of the economy has hit many industries hard, with the healthcare sector being no exception. With increased labor and direct supply costs, inflation costs, as well as a growing demand for diversified care solutions, the passing of recent federal mandates has left many in the Senior Living & Care industry scrambling to keep up.

Despite the further pressures, there are some positive trends that point to future business opportunities for progressive Senior Care Facilities. Since late 2022, unemployment and inflation rates have decreased across the boards, whereas consumer spending has remained constant. Senior care facilities have also benefitted from the deceleration of new construction sites, causing occupancy rates in current facilities to increase in response to the perpetual demand for senior home and behavioral health care.

Consumer demands and expectations continue to grow and evolve over time, making room for senior care facilities to leverage their businesses in new ways.

Here are three ways to take advantage of the current trends:

1. Pinpoint your facility’s unique selling point. Consumers want to have the best of everything, and usually that means having access to something others don’t. A great way to promote your facility is by demonstrating how you provide an exclusive service or amenity along with everything else that is typically offered. Residents and their families want to feel as though they are in the best of hands, whether it comes down to facility layout, dining options, recreational activities, or social engagements. The demand for more diverse health and wellness solutions means that your facility has the ability to stand out if you keep your residents’ best interests in mind at all times.
2. Stay up-to-date on the latest technological advancements designed to manage facilities of your size and scope. The more accurately you can expedite critical decision-making regarding your facilities, the easier it will be to generate revenue. Invest in an all-in-one online dashboard like primeVIEW, which allows you to track important data relating to your real-time census, as well as your labor, financial and clinical systems. When it comes to post-acute care, having QAPI compliant data like this at your fingertips is invaluable to running a smooth and meticulous operation.
3. Reevaluate your marketing and sales approach. In an era that concentrates on wellness and lifestyle, consider how best to promote the superiority of your facility compared to your peers. Potential consumers want to feel as though their overall health and quality of life is going to be improved by choosing you, and a large portion of that has to do with the coordination of care provided. Create a comprehensive care model with wellness plans that your facility can execute seamlessly every time; Not only will it increase the level of confidence your current residents have in you, but it will demonstrate to potential consumers that your facilities are capable of consistently providing favorable outcomes and solutions for everyone. 

Thanks to the exponential growth of technology in recent years, the answers are always at your fingertips, if you know how to use it. In senior living communities, this presents a significant issue for its aging populations, many of whom missed out on the technology learning curve. As a result, technology not only remains a foreign concept to a majority of residents, but its benefits are often overlooked and underutilized due to lack of education.

As technology continues to advance, the need for increased accessibility in senior living communities grows, making it pertinent that personalized tech support services are provided to all residents. The benefits of these services are two-fold, positively impacting both residents and staff. By having qualified IT professionals on-hand, residents can learn how to make the most of the technologically savvy world we live in, which in turn allows them to regain their sense of independence and feel more connected to loved ones and the greater world around them. Staff, on the other hand, no longer have to tend to the additional responsibility of being tech support proxies and can focus on more pressing responsibilities. Providing services that make integrating technology simple for aging residents and staff alike dramatically increases the overall quality and sophistication of care.

Personalized tech support services cover many areas of senior care; from wearable health monitoring devices to smart home technology. Senior residents and their families deserve the highest level of care, and with the right instruction, technology can get them there.

Five Benefits of Personalized Tech Support Services

1. Residents learn how to independently navigate applications and devices designed to monitor their own health, increasing their sense of autonomy and allowing them to stay up-to-date on their medical records.
2. Hands-on instruction setting up networking tools such as Facetime, Zoom, and social media platforms keeps residents in touch with loved ones and the rest of the world.
3. Tech advisors help residents build a more comfortable living environment by introducing home improvement products such as voice-operated Alexa, which helps alleviate some of their common daily difficulties, such as having to stand up to turn off a light switch, close blinds, or tune into their favorite radio station.
4. Tech advisors provide a far more extensive background in IT solutions than staff, therefore they are better able to address technology issues promptly and effectively. This increases both the efficiency of facility operations and the level of day-to-day communication between residents, their families and staff. 
5. Residents feel more safe and secure in their homes, confident that they can rely on technology to alert necessary parties and assist them in the case of accidents, falls, and other emergencies.

Memorial Day is a special day to honor and remember those who died while serving in the U.S. military. A day dedicated to showing respect and reflecting on the ultimate sacrifice of military personnel to defend our country’s freedoms.

This day can be honored in senior living facilities with a moment of silence for the fallen, a memorial parade in the halls, or the rising of the flag at half-staff.

It’s important to honor our heroes by highlighting the benefits available to them. Did you know the VA offers Aid and Attendance, an additional benefit program for veterans and surviving spouses?

Let’s get into the details. On average in the state of Georgia, the cost of staying at a senior living facility for a month is $3,500. According to the U.S. News, "Veterans and their spouses have multiple financial benefits that can help cover the cost of assisted living," says Rick Wigginton, Chief Sales Officer with Brookdale Senior Living, a Tennessee-based senior living company with 675 senior living communities in 41 states across the country.

These benefits are separate from Medicare or Medicaid benefits, adds Dana Taylor, a social worker and senior regional manager for Veterans Home Care based in St. Louis, Missouri. Medicare is a federal health insurance program for adults 65 and over. Medicaid is a combined state and federal program that provides health coverage to low-income individuals, regardless of age. The VA's Aid & Attendance and Housebound program is part of pension benefits for veterans and surviving spouses. These benefits, the VA reports, "are paid in addition to monthly pension, and they are not paid without eligibility to pension," meaning that you can't access this benefit if you're not a pensioned veteran or a survivor of a pensioned veteran.

To qualify for the program, you must:

• Be a veteran of war-era with an honorable discharge or be the surviving spouse of a veteran of war-era with an honorable discharge.
• Need medical assistance.
• Need financial assistance.

Aid & Attendance is received when you meet one of several potential conditions, including:

• Requiring the aid of another person to perform the activities of daily living. These personal functions include bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, or assistance in staying safe from hazards in your daily environment
• Being disabled to the point of being bedridden, beyond what would be considered normal recovery from a course of treatment like surgery.
• Being a patient in a nursing home because of physical or mental incapacity.
• Having very poor eyesight (5/200 corrected visual acuity or less in both eyes) or a field of vision limited to 5 degrees or less.

This program can make a huge difference for veterans and their families, offering peace of mind and much-needed support.

To find out more information, visit https://www.va.gov/health-care/about-va-health-benefits/long-term-care/

DULUTH, GA. (PRWEB) MAY 01, 2023

ARC is a web-based compliance system that guides clinical and management staff through auditing standards for all federal regulations and facilitates a collaborative review of audit results to quickly correct issues and implement performance improvement plans. ARC satisfies the industry’s critical need for an automated, data-driven compliance and oversight system that minimizes legal and financial penalties from federal regulators and improves quality of care. Created by long-term attorneys, nurses, and executives, ARC is accessible to executives, clinical teams, and facility administrators in real time.

As survey deficiencies and penalties for non-compliance increase with CMS’s commitment to enforcing of all phases of the LTC Mega Rule, those SNFs without a robust QAPI and compliance program will face: (1) more survey deficiencies at higher scope and severity levels; (2) excessive civil monetary penalties based on daily fines for non-compliance; (3) higher likelihood of denial of Medicare/Medicaid payments and new admissions; and (4) increased risk of OIG investigations and other litigation. ARC’s comprehensive monitoring and oversight system provides the maximum legal protection that long-term care facilities need to minimize these serious regulatory enforcement actions.

About Prime Care Technologies
Since 2003, Prime Care Technologies has offered long-term care providers flexible hosting, managed services, and cloud software tailored to their needs. This Atlanta-based company has 150 employees and 200+ healthcare/IT partnerships, and its technology-driven solutions are installed in more than 7,500 facilities. In addition to its multi-vendor interoperability expertise, Prime Care Technologies offers a data warehouse and claims clearinghouse that integrates 70+ healthcare applications and 3,500+ EDI payers. Visit http://www.primecaretech.com for more information.

About LTC Integrity
LTC Integrity LLC is the creator of ARC (Audit-Review-Correct) software, an innovative audit solution for long-term care. LTCI has unparalleled experience in developing and administering on-site and web-based compliance and QAPI programs and has the only software that was designed specifically for the RoPs and PPS. In addition to achieving compliance with all aspects of the new rules, LTCI’s innovative and comprehensive program results in risk reduction, improved clinical outcomes, increased regulatory success, PPS reimbursement optimization, RAC and ZPIC preparedness, PEPPER responsiveness, HIPAA compliance, and heightened peace of mind for nursing facility management. Visit http://www.ltcintegrity.com for more information.