Brookdale (NYSE: BKD) is in the process of rolling out its HealthPlus to more than 80 additional communities throughout this year. The implementation of the program will have an outsized impact on memory care, according to Kim Elliott, senior vice president and chief nursing officer at Brookdale.

Brookdale has deployed HealthPlus in about 50 communities thus far, with plans to expand to 129 in total by the year’s end, she said.

Under HealthPlus, Brookdale nurses help coordinate care for residents, whose conditions are monitored and managed using technology. Residents get personalized health plans based on their needs, and get help from a coordinator who aids them with care transitions, referrals, medication management and follow-up medical visits. Brookdale also negotiated a per-member, per-month plan for residents in qualified health plans.

Though the program is meant to help keep older adults well for longer, it is not aimed at providing “sick care,” according to Elliott. Instead, it’s meant to help residents live their healthiest lives, and by extension stay in their care setting for longer.

That includes in memory care, where residents living with cognitive decline are at risk of suffering worse outcomes when they graduate to a higher level of care or have to go to the hospital.

Oftentimes, caring for residents’ conditions can have an impact elsewhere in their total health. For example, a resident with congestive heart failure might spend months seeking treatment for their condition, or even going to the hospital if they have a flare-up. That is especially important in memory care, a setting where residents can’t always effectively voice their own wants and needs.

“It’s such an important element of taking care of their health care needs, and making sure that that’s convenient and on site,” Elliott told Memory Care Business. “It’s just critical… that you’re taking care of the obvious … and you’re taking care of those underlying concerns that you don’t necessarily see or deal with every day.”

While there is a growing demand for the rollout of HealthPlus, Elliott added that it is important for the company’s teams to do it right, and there is a lot that goes into choosing them.

Brookdale benefits from the program in a few different ways, including longer length of stay and better services that make up a better value proposition for residents. But Elliott said it’s more than just bottom-line benefits – the move deeper into HealthPlus is also about staying on trend with value-based care.

“When you look at value based care, the possibilities are endless,” she said. “If you don’t get that foundation right and you don’t have the true elements of a program that will do it, then you’re just not set up for the future.”

For the average resident and their families, “value-based care is a difference between night and day.”

Brookdale will continue to prioritize its pivot toward value-based care and HealthPlus, which Elliott said has made a difference in the operator’s ability to make residents see the value of senior living.

“We’re prioritizing the markets and the communities where we feel like it can make the most impact,” Elliott said. “Whether it’s this or value based care, we’re going to continue to lean into how we completely embrace and change the way that our residents receive care.”