Seniors housing company has high hopes for AI
MELBOURNE: A seniors housing management company is placing great store upon AI, data analytics and voice assistants to improve care outcomes.
Brookdale Senior Living Inc., one of the largest operators of senior housing in the U.S., is exploring the use of artificial intelligence, data analytics and voice assistants in improving care and quality of life for its residents.
The Brentwood, Tenn., company recently hired Chris Bayham, a former executive at health-billing software and analytics provider Change Healthcare Inc., as its new chief information officer. He takes over the post from Brookdale Vice President Hank Reimer, who has filled in as the company’s top tech executive following the departure of CIO Andrew Laudato in December.
Mr. Bayham said in addition to overseeing the company’s underlying information-technology systems, he plans to focus on innovations that have the potential to “enrich the lives of our residents and patients,” he said.
That includes smart voice-assistant apps, which Mr. Bayham said can help less tech-savvy residents—or those that are visually impaired—to interact with their cellphones and tablets, while getting useful information about meals or other events relayed by facility managers.
He also sees opportunities to integrate data from Wi-Fi or Bluetooth-enabled medical devices, such as heart-rate or respiratory monitors, with secure electronic health-record systems, he said.
Brookdale said it operates more than 800 facilities in 45 states, serving approximately 80,000 senior residents and patients. The company offers independent living, assisted living, outpatient therapy and hospice care.
Across the health-care industry, the push into digital technology comes as a surge of Americans hit retirement age—what Brookdale President and Chief Executive Lucinda Baier called a “silver wave” during a corporate earnings call this month. Ms. Baier said baby boomers are “aging into senior housing,” a demographic shift that is poised to accelerate, she said.
The number of people 65 and older in the U.S. is expected to reach 55 million in 2020, up from 37 million in 2006, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. By 2050 it will top 88.5 million, accounting for roughly 20% of the population, it said.
Health care’s share of the U.S. economy is expected to climb to 19.4% by 2027 from 17.9% in 2017, according to a report released this year by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
CDW Corp. —a provider of technology to businesses, government and health-care organizations, including senior-care facilities—has identified five key areas where technology is changing the senior-care market, including wearable devices, the Internet of Things, telemedicine, voice activation and data security.
But outside of the senior-care sector, large technology firms are “not paying enough attention to and are underestimating the market shifts caused by rapidly changing demographics,” according to technology research firm Gartner Inc. “While too much attention is being paid to the needs of millennials, too little or no attention is being paid to the needs of the elderly market,” the firm said in a report last year.
The Gartner report said there is a market for customized home-automation and smart-living technologies, mobile devices such as cellphones and tablets with larger buttons and online platforms that match caregivers to those who need care—even companion robots to help older people cope with loneliness.
“As the numbers as a proportion of the population increases, the opportunity to leverage tech for the elderly is phenomenal,” said Anurag Gupta, a doctor and research analyst at Gartner. “It is a still largely untapped market,” he added.
Mr. Bayham said the first step in exploring innovative digital tools will be to lay out a broader technology roadmap to serve as a “North Star” for identifying spending priorities over the next 12 to 36 months.
