Yesterday’s Results, Tomorrow’s Outcomes
By Dennis Murphy, Chief Investment Officer, Priority Life Care
Though our industry tracks occupancy and expenses well, it misses predictive key performance indicators that could transform performance. Imagine knowing a resident’s lifetime return on investment and care progression — marketing budgets could then be tied to real value, not guesses. Also, communities capturing real-time associate feedback could prevent turnover before it happens. Even labor scheduling is too often reactive; we wait for payroll to close before spotting overtime or agency use. With forward-looking labor and resident data, we could shift from managing yesterday’s results to shaping tomorrow’s outcomes, benefiting both residents and the bottom line.
Median Length of Stay Data Would be Insightful
By Gary Jones, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, ALIS
I’d like to see data on the median length of stay and percentage of move-outs within 90 days. Why? Because median LOS offers a more accurate view of resident experience than the average LOS, which can be distorted by outlying, longer stays. A quarter of residents leave within 90 days — a critical indicator of retention and onboarding effectiveness.
Tracking these metrics consistently would allow operators to identify early risk factors, tailor interventions and ultimately extend LOS. This leads to improved resident satisfaction, stronger community stability and better long-term financial performance across the sector.
Informing Investments
By Philip Kroskin, Head of Real Estate, Senior Vice President of Investments, Sunrise Senior Living
I would like to see the industry track more detailed financial and operational data that directly supports investment decisions. For example, consistent statistics on rental rates by product type and care level, combined with data on utilization of care levels, would offer clearer insight into revenue drivers and margin sustainability. In addition, tracking unit type, size and occupancy trends would reveal which configurations deliver the strongest absorption and retention. When layered with staffing costs and pricing power, this data would sharpen underwriting models, de-risk new developments and guide capital allocation.
Tracking Acuity
By Jerry Fromm, Vice Chairman, Senior Lifestyle
The senior living industry would benefit from a standardized format to collect quantitative data points tracking resident healthcare and engagement metrics. As resident acuity and the provision of care in our communities have increased, the uniform tracking of events such as falls, falls with injury, hospitalizations and rehospitalizations, and levels resident engagement and participation in community life will provide valuable information about the benefits and challenges of serving our residents’ needs. The goal of collecting this data is to positively impact the industry’s ability to improve the resident experience and to illustrate the value of senior living to the overall healthcare system.
From All-Inclusive to A La Carte
By Bob Karn, Executive Vice President and CFO, Allegro Living
While the industry has made progress around rent transparency, prospective residents still experience stress trying to understand and compare care fees across communities. This also makes it difficult for owners, operators and capital to benchmark communities accurately and allocate resources and capital efficiently.
As increasing scrutiny (and potentially oversight) continue to threaten our industry, data collection and analysis that leads to a more standardized and transparent approach to measuring acuity and billing for care services should be embraced. Ideally, this would shorten the decision timeline for prospects and increase conversion rates and occupancy as well.
Health, Home Care Utilization
By Amy LaCroix, COO, Lutheran Life Communities
Rates of health and home care service utilization, within the walls of independent and assisted living, is a data point that could prove valuable. This would give our sector more insight into consumption trends and service uses. This data not only highlights the potential value of provider-added services, it also has the power to inform and influence legislation on more progressive and flexible licensure options.
Real-Time Resident Data
By Adam Benton, Co-Founder, Stellar Senior Living
I’d love to see the industry track real-time resident well-being metrics more consistently. This would include things like social engagement, nutrition, sleep quality and even early cognitive or mobility changes. Right now, we tend to measure health outcomes reactively — after someone has declined or had an incident. But with today’s technology, we could flip that paradigm. Wearable devices already track sleep patterns, heart rate variability and activity levels. When paired with platforms like Lifeloop or Accushield, operators could capture a more complete picture of resident well-being. T
Proactive monitoring, would allow operators to intervene earlier, personalize care and reduce costly hospitalizations, while also improving overall quality of life. Owners would benefit too, since communities that foster healthier, happier residents see stronger retention and more word-of-mouth referrals.
Residential Real Estate Data Helps Set Pricing Strategy
By Gale Morgan, Vice President of Sales, Mather
I would like to see the industry focus on tracking detailed residential real estate data such as home values, time on the market and depreciation and appreciation by neighborhood. This is critical to pricing strategy. It could also be beneficial to track home-turnover costs. This information could help owners and operators make informed decisions about repricing and support realistic move-in goals.
Continuum of Care Coordination
By Justin Dickinson, Co-Founder and Partner, Evolve Senior Living
I’d like to see our industry’s electronic medical record and electronic health record (EMR and EHR) systems integrate more effectively with the broader healthcare platforms used by residents’ other providers. Stronger connectivity would enhance care coordination, make information sharing more efficient and eliminate unnecessary duplication across the continuum of care.
Standardized Reporting Can Yield Results
By Joe Jedlowski, Chairman and CEO, Distinctive Living
The industry would benefit from consistently tracking real-time level-of-care changes, the impact of concessions on net revenue and labor productivity. Today, this data is often fragmented or lagging, limiting proactive decision making. By integrating these metrics into standardized reporting, owners and operators could identify revenue leakage, optimize staffing-to-resident-needs and adjust pricing strategies with precision. This transparency would improve NOI forecasting, support targeted sales efforts and strengthen investor confidence through more accurate, forward-looking performance insights.
Emphasis on Integration
By Curtis King, Executive Vice President, HJ Sims
Many providers do already capture valuable data through various systems. The real opportunity lies in integrating information from multiple sources to generate actionable insights that can be easily implemented at the community level. By combining this data, operators can make more informed decisions that improve efficiency and ensure rental rates accurately reflect the value of care provided. For example, linking data used to develop care plans with staffing information can optimize resident care while maximizing financial performance. Some organizations have begun this work, but continued focus on improving these processes may generate more value than collecting new data.
Strategic Redirection
By Suzanne Koenig, Founder and CEO, SAK Healthcare
I see a common thread of three issues when I walk into facilities that need strategic redirection or are in distress and need to be restructured or turned around — staffing, census and quality of care.
Regarding staffing, it would be beneficial to track call-offs and the surrounding circumstances in order to prevent unstable staffing. This could help facilities understand the types of benefits to offer staff based on demographic and geography to perhaps achieve a more stable work force, instead of having to resort to the expense of agency use, overtime pay and excessive paid time off.
On the topic of “census,” it would also be beneficial to monitor paid referral sources versus placements from non-paid sources.
For quality of care, tracking “senior orphans” within communities could lead to earlier intervention and minimize liability in the event of safety, medical or financial crises. A community that proactively assesses, plans and intervenes can also reduce staff burden and minimize the cost of staff involvement.