The next phase of senior living will be fueled by technological advancements in data-tracking devices and providers’ willingness to adopt these technologies, industry experts agree.
Data plays a “critical role” in healthcare reform conversations as they relate to post-acute, long-term care and senior housing, agreed panelists at the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry (NIC) regional conference in Boca Raton, Florida, as noted in a NIC Insider newsletter.
The NIC Insider highlights various panel discussions that had taken place at the regional conference, with topics ranging from the impact of healthcare reform on senior housing, the importance of new technologies, construction, value drivers for investors, among others.
Though there was a plethora of discussion areas, the importance of data and devices that can track data seemed to be recurring themes for at least two of the main general sessions.
Technology, data and awareness can be an organization’s “best fight,” the NIC newsletter attributes to Peter Martin, managing director and senior analyst with JMP Securities.
In another session, a panel of senior care industry experts weighed in on how new technologies can impact the design and delivery of today’s senior housing and care properties.
Panelists—whose backgrounds included MIT’s AgeLab, Kaiser Permanente Innovation Technology, Aging 2.0 and Benchmark Senior Living—discussed emerging tech for the senior care space, such as virtual robot visits and smart pill bottles.
They also shared insight stressing the importance of infrastructure flexibility when designing a development to incorporate various technologies.
“Do not build a building around technology because it moves way too fast; build flexibility into the complex,” said Joseph Coughlin, director of MIT’s AgeLab, in the NIC Insider.
Written by Jason Oliva
