“Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future” – Mark Ambrose
I say show me your power partners and I’ll show you your success.
In this industry it truly takes a village. To positively affect someone’s life you need to have top notch players in every capacity of healthcare working hand in hand.
Everyone, from the resident’s senior living community, to their physician, their pharmacist, their diagnostics team, their therapy team, and their home care team are touching a person’s life. We all have the ability to give that person better care together than we ever could alone. If you surround yourself with a team whose goals are aligned and who share mutual respect for one another you are bound for success.
Working together is not only what’s best for the resident, but also best for everyone’s overall experience. I love nothing more than to lean on rock stars in the industry. We all have different skillsets, and we all share different expertise throughout different facets of healthcare. Why not bring people who are experts in their specific offerings together so we can all offer optimal care? It often amazes me to learn how much someone may know about their role in healthcare that I had no idea about. This is exactly why it pays for us to lean on each other. This allows us to collaborate and mesh years of experience in different fields together for the greater good of the whole. On top of all that, it’s fun! I find when you’re looking for the people that are the best in their health field it usually correlates to how passionate they are as a person. There is nothing more infectious than getting a group of positive, passionate people together who want to be innovative thinkers with the goal of providing optimal care.
Marketing – Two heads (or many) are better than one
Beyond care, collaborating with good health care partners is also a terrific way to help market all services! Coming up with unique marketing events, whether it’s a DIY workshop in a senior living community or a creative way to engage the residents, allows us to work together to increase brand visibility. It also attaches feelings to what people associate with our companies. If you’re the team that comes in with different smiling faces from different companies all to make their day a little better, those residents are going to associate happiness with all of you. People may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel. Collaborating with different people in the industry also allows for more outside of the box thinking. I’ve had many brainstorming sessions with fellow health care providers where the end result is a combination of all our thoughts and something we never would have thought of individually. This allows for creative and memorable touch points for our older adults, senior living communities, and outside community as a whole.
Standardizing Care – Working together to limit variance and offer an excellent health care experience
What’s better than standardizing one vertical of health throughout a senior living community portfolio? Standardizing several best-in-class partnerships who all work together! Senior living operators have a ton on their plates so anything we can do to make their lives easier while also providing the best care for their residents is a win across the board. When health care “vendors” (yes, I use that term lightly) have synergy, the experience to the operator should feel seamless. Open lines of communication and trust in one another allows the operator to feel the inclusive approach. Standardizing care also limits variance, so an operator should expect the same high-class service throughout all their communities. With benchmarks in place, an operator should also be able to see the success of each community compared to one another. This visibility allows for accountability. If the expected caliber is not being delivered in a certain location, there is no hiding it. This oversight sets a standard for excellent health care.
Streamlining process and communications – Making life easier for front line staff
An inclusive approach with best-in-class partners also cuts down on repetitive conversations and relaying of information. When the partners involved have a genuine relationship and trust in one another, the best interests of the resident always shines through. This allows for senior living operators to get time back (an invaluable asset) and accomplish their goals with everyone aligned. When health care partners are seamlessly working together it also prevents resident’s healthcare needs from falling through the cracks.
Proactive approach – Get in front of potential problems before they become real problems
Working together with aligned partners providing health care for residents allows us to be proactive in our approaches. The home care partner may notice the resident has become unsteady and is relying on wall support or rails more often than normal. They can immediately alert the therapy company who can work with the director of nursing and physician to get an evaluation. Working together may have just prevented a fall that may have led to a hospitalization. When care partners are all in sync and constantly communicating, alerts such as this result in immediate action.
Monitoring results – Are our efforts actually making a difference?
Collaborative efforts also allow us to track outcomes in a more wholistic way. It is a beautiful feeling when an older adult starts thriving because of multiple healthcare interventions. You may be catching the UTI a few days earlier because of the outstanding home care aid who informs the director of nursing who immediately lets the physician know. The physician, who has a seamless relationship with the diagnostics company orders the test. Because the physician ordered a molecular test instead of a culture from a diagnostics company with rapid turnaround times, the physician is able to obtain the results within 24 hours. Because of these aligned relationships the resident is now correctly medicated with the best antibiotic therefore eliminating potential unnecessary falls and cognitive deficits. This then puts less strain on the front-line staff, eliminates a potential broken hip or hospitalization, and clears up why cognitive behaviors are occurring before changing levels of care.
Success stories – Shout it from the rooftops!
The absolute best part of working together to offer exceptional care for our older adults is seeing the success that comes out of it. Watching residents whose lives we’ve touched thrive in their environment because of collaborative work should be celebrated! Pictures, videos, and testimonials to spread the good work we’re all achieving together are the best marketing campaigns you can imagine. People who are now living their best life – possibly a life they didn’t think was even possible, is the best success any of us can hope for.
We are all in this together. Better delivery of care for our patients and residents and more success is guaranteed when we’re working with each other, not against. Bring your own unique skillset to the table and embrace what others bring to create your own elite power team health care continuum.
Julie Visone
Julie Visone is a mother, kickboxer, and senior living lover. She grew up in the home health care industry, starting when she was 25 years old. She’s been involved in therapy, technology, and diagnostics. Most importantly, she’s been involved and seen the success of incredible health care collaboration. If there is one thing she’s learned, it’s that working together in a cohesive manner provides the ultimate care for our older adults.