The explosion of technology and software within long-term care has reached a point where identifying new tools may be less important than knowing how to manage the current ones in play.
Since the pandemic, the increasingly rapid adoption of various tools, such as electronic health records and video communication, has created new demand for services that manage this technology and make it convenient for operators to use and understand, Scott Moody, CEO of software integration firm K4Connect, told the McKnight’s Tech Daily.
K4Connect is one of many emerging software providers that aim to bring a variety of tools under one umbrella.
More and more senior living and care operators are investing either in chief technology officers or services such as K4Connect where an outside partner plays that role, Moody said Monday.
“You need someone [in your organization] to be thinking strategically about technology,” Moody said. “What technologies do you get, and how do you get them to talk to one another? But even just choosing a Wi-Fi system is a complicated process. Most senior living operators don’t have staff to be developing code.”
Other software providers, such as MatrixCare, have stressed a similar ethic of “interoperability” and the potential for streamlined data exchange between all the systems an organization uses.
MatrixCare and PointClickCare earned Best in KLAS awards earlier this year for their software’s ability to manage data and aid long-term care professionals.
This attitude represents a major shift in thinking from approximately a decade ago, Moody noted.
“The only tech you saw in senior living facilities in the old days was something required by law,” Moody said. “Even the idea of community-wide Wi-Fi was something relatively new. But management is changing pretty significantly. It’s not just people and paper anymore.”
Even if there is a need for someone to manage the integration of systems, overall tech literacy is growing among both older adults and their caregivers. Some senior living providers now offer classes and training for residents as well.
K4Connect raised just under $9 million from investors earlier in the summer, the company reported.
The firm’s most recent senior living partner is Cypress Cove in Fort Myers, FL, it announced last week.
