A data base sampling of 5 Boise Assisted Living (AL) communities indicates that of all the prescribed medicines that residents take, those for pain, depression, and anxiety are associated with the highest risk for failing health.  Residents taking any of these medications would benefit from a PRO-active approach of increased observation and supervision by all AL employees.

Here’s a 4 question test:  In YOUR Assisted Living Community…

1. How many different prescribed medicines are taken by the average resident?
2. What are the most common prescribed medicines taken by YOUR residents?
3. What is the percentage of YOUR residents who take HIGH RISK medicines?
4. If an employee suspects a resident as having an adverse reaction to a medication, what system do you have in place that will cause immediate intervention and prevent potential loss of that resident to an ER or hospital?

Let’s pretend we gave this test anonymously to the owner, administrator, marketer, nurse, and to 2 aides of YOUR AL.  I think you might agree that most of these 6 individuals would probably have to take their best guess for their answers.  And as a result, out of the 6 people who took the test, we would probably get 6 different guesses as answers for each question.

Here’s the problem with this very realistic scenario:  Guessing Costs Money.

Unfamiliarity with important healthcare facts about YOUR AL residents, and a passive approach to addressing their healthcare needs, leads to unnecessary resident turnover.  The ER, hospital, and nursing home are NOT acceptable answers to preventable and potentially treatable healthcare problems discovered in an AL.

Every AL has a large storehouse of healthcare and demographic information.  But this data base is so large and often so disorganized that a substantial amount of crucial and extremely useful knowledge remains hidden, never used.  This is knowledge that could help AL owners, administrators, and employees to improve resident health management , reduce resident turnover, and save thousands of dollars every month.

Data base analytics are an integral part of most successful industries.  This approach has not been widely adopted by ALs but has now become available.  Questions such as those above and many more are easily answered in real time. Sophisticated software allows important and actionable knowledge about each AL to be retrieved that will lead to improvements in residents’ healthcare and an AL’s bottom line.