Senior Living Providers Reduced Tech Spending in 2016

Last year saw a number of senior housing providers dedicate a lot of cash, and time, to upgrading technology. However, chief financial officers in the industry reported less spending dedicated to technology than in previous years.

In the past 12 months, providers, mostly not-for-profit, have dedicated an average of 11.8% of their total capital budget to technology, but in 2014 they dedicated 12.2%, according to a recent survey by Ziegler.

Similar results were revealed when it came to the percentage of total operating budget devoted to technology, with an average of 2.5% in 2016 and 2.7% in 2014.

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Over 100 CFOs participated in the Ziegler CFO Hotline survey in December 2016. The survey included a mix of executives from single-site organizations as well as multi-site organizations, but there was a larger portion of single-site CFOs included.

When comparing providers of different sizes, CFOs of multi-site organizations budgeted a slightly higher percentage (11.8%) than single-site providers (11.7%) for technologies, the study found.

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One area of technology spending that did increase in 2016 however was the percentage of total capital budget as well as total operating budget dedicated to technologies specifically for home and community-based services (HCBS).

In 2016, the average percent of capital being spent on HCBS was 2.4%, which was an increase from 2014 when 1.6% was set aside for HCBS.

The percentages of organization’s operating budget spent on HCBS was a smaller increase from 2014 from 1.2% to 1.5% in 2016.

“Those who did invest funds in technologies for home and community-based services were more likely to invest in an upgrade for an existing operation or program,” the report said. 

Written by Alana Stramowski

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