Skilled nursing and senior living operators looking to ease staffing challenges and streamline operations could benefit from a current environment for startups and potential for new technologies that has perhaps never been better. That was a main message last week at the HIMSS conference, where healthcare leaders also acknowledged that digital health funding has slowed overall in 2023.
They also mentioned that the environment for startups and the potential for new technologies has never been better, however, which potentially is good news for long-term care providers looking to use that technology to ease staffing challenges and streamline operations.
“Valuations have … come down. While it’s good for investors, it’s also good for startups,” said panelist Sonal Panda, principal at Tau Ventures. “We’re seeing companies be a little more cash conscious, capital conscious and allocate capital better, so that it’s not just with one bank.”
And that’s good news for startups and new tech companies, said Ben Wanamaker, vice president of enterprise strategy at Humana.
“When we look at the last two years, it feels a little sadder today than it did two years ago,” Wanamaker said. “When we look at the five-year, 10-year horizon, there has never been a better time to be investing in or building digital health technology and systems.”
New areas of focus for digital health funding include AI offerings and technologies aimed at seniors, as well as workforce improvements, panelists agreed.
Milind Parate, managing director of ventures at Northwell Holdings, the funding arm of New York-based health system Northwell Health, is looking for age technologies and those that address workforce challenges, such as burnout, and labor issues. With 8 in 10 nursing homes experiencing staffing shortages at the beginning of this year, and assisted living counted among the professions with the highest work-related injury and illness, workforce challenges certainly need addressing.
Many of the new AI tools assist with worker scheduling and streamlining operations to help staff do their jobs more efficiently — and improve resident safety with AI in vital areas such as falls prevention.
