A simple question: What would you say is senior living’s most notable development in the past half century?
Some might suggest it’s the way senior living communities successfully redirected residents living with dementia away from nursing homes. Others might counter that it’s the introduction of Medicaid as a major financier. Still others might insist it’s the sector’s transition from a mom-and-pop enterprise to a multi-billion dollar business.
Those are all legitimate replies. And there are probably a few more worthy candidates as well.
But I’d like to propose that a massively powerful force has taken hold, largely unnoticed. Its name? In a word, technology.
Think about it. It wasn’t terribly long ago that this sector defined itself as high touch, not high tech. To be sure, the high touch part remains. But from artificial intelligence to wearables (and many points in between) technology has become a ubiquitous presence. And we are just getting started.
To be sure, there can be an overwhelming amount of technology-related stuff to know about. That’s why we have launched the McKnight’s Tech Daily e-newsletter. Each business day, this informative update provides the latest tech-related news, information, analysis and informed perspective.
We’ll do our level best to keep the McKnight’s Tech Daily focused on matters that matter. We’ll also try to keep things as brief as possible. Check out the content we’ve shared to date.
You also can sign up to receive the McKnight’s Tech Daily newsletter by visiting the McKnight’s Senior Living home page and either clicking “Subscribe” at the upper right or entering your email address in the “Have we got news for you” box in the right column.
If you like this new service, we hope you’ll tell your colleagues. If there are things about it you don’t like or think could be better, we hope you’ll tell us. You also can see our additional tech coverage here: https://www.mcknightsseniorliving.com/tag/technology/.
One thing is for sure: technology will be here to stay. Knowing how, where and when to harness it might be the best way to ensure your organization does the same.
John O’Connor is editorial director for McKnight’s Senior Living and its sister media brands, McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, which focuses on skilled nursing, and McKnight’s Home Care. Read more of his columns here.
