You may have a bit in common with Dennis McCarthy, chief information officer at SRI Management of Tallahassee, Florida. Like Dennis, your organization may be facing growth. And like Dennis, you may be searching for a solution to help you manage that growth and prepare for future success. McCarthy’s senior living management company is expected to double in size in the next two years. He and his team searched the globe to find software that would ease growing pains. SRI Management found success using Yardi EHR and Yardi eMAR. We sat down with McCarthy to learn how EHR and eMAR have made it easier to do business while quickly growing. Q: How did Yardi’s technology help you accomplish growth? A: Yardi’s technology has been phenomenal. It’s an integrated piece of software that anybody can see anywhere. As we’ve spread out, as SRI management has spread from one location to another, as we’ve had to add people to help us run all of these properties, it’s easy for people to see everything that’s going on because they can log in anywhere and see it anywhere. So, the standardization that we get from the software helps us grow easily and confidently. Q: How has technology impacted your world? A: Interestingly, our world is not a technology world. SRI is a management company that runs properties for owners, so we don’t really focus on the technology as much as we focus on the people. What the technology does is make it much easier for us to focus on taking care of people. It just makes SRI Management a much more efficient company because we have the background of the technology behind us to do our jobs as easily as possible. Q: What is the value that Yardi...

During the recent Yardi Forum for senior living and affordable housing, we sat down with Brandon Carter, director of information technology at Wallick Communities. Brandon has a wealth of knowledge about products from the Yardi Senior Living and Yardi Voyager Affordable Housing suites, and we were thrilled to speak with him in person. Wallick owns and manages affordable housing and senior living properties across the Midwest. More than 20,000 residents live in Wallick units. There are always more units on the way, as Wallick has experienced an average 23 percent growth annually. Wallick has worked with HUD tax credit programs for more than four decades, and has even been ranked first in the nation in affordable housing preservation. To put it plainly, Wallick is a big deal. Read on to learn how Yardi software helps Wallick achieve its mission. Q: Describe the value that Yardi products bring to your company? BC: Yardi has been a great partner for Wallick. Whatever the need, we can almost always find a Yardi product to help us fulfil it. We trust that Yardi is continuously working to develop new and exciting products to help us fulfil our responsibilities towards owners, staff and residents. Q: How does Yardi help to position your company for growth? BC: Having only Yardi software to manage makes Wallick extremely nimble and quickly scalable with growth. The Yardi platform allows us to focus on our associates and residents as we grow, instead of worrying about bringing on new technology. Q: What software challenges did Wallick face before adopting Yardi? BC: Before moving to Yardi, we used multiple pieces of software for our different business needs. That required us to spend additional time and resources bridging data gaps. It also created confusion for new associates...

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure,” says Gino Gentile, VP of sales and customer service for senior living provider Providence Place of Pennsylvania. Providence Place needed integrated software to handle lead management at its five senior living properties. It became clear to Gentile that streamlining Providence Place’s operations on a centralized platform would help the company further enhance its marketing and sales performance. The solution was Yardi Senior CRM, part of the Yardi Senior Living Suite. Yardi Senior CRM enables senior living providers to increase occupancy and boost resident retention with mobile-friendly sales and marketing tools specially designed for senior living. With Yardi Senior CRM, senior living providers can enhance lead management and improve the marketing and sales process with customized dashboards and comprehensive reporting. Integration with the entire Yardi Senior Living Suite ensures data accuracy and lead tracking from initial point of contact through resident activity. According to Gentile, Providence Place has achieved substantial occupancy gains while using Yardi Senior CRM at all five of its senior living communities. Gentile elaborated that the addition of Yardi Senior CRM to the company’s Yardi Voyager platform has been a breakthrough, helping to increase sales. In addition to higher tour to close ratios and faster lead conversion, Gentile points to the software’s reminder features, customized dashboards and comprehensive reporting as essential to the company’s invigorated performance. Gentile said Yardi Senior CRM has helped the company achieve impressive occupancy gains — that have exceeded its goals — along with phenomenal sales growth. “Occupancy is up at all our communities.” Gentile added that the company’s improved resident retention is supported by the tools and solutions provided by its entire Yardi platform. Providence Place also received great implementation support from Yardi and was up and running quickly which...

With 30 senior living communities across six states, Merrill Gardens provides a lifestyle approach to senior housing that’s unique to each locale they inhabit. By designing each community with characteristics unique the area in which they reside, Merrill Gardens creates a comfortable and welcoming environment for residents so they can relax and feel at home. “We take great pride in the fact that we spend a lot of time making sure that our communities, especially the senior side have a place to live that is like a home,” says David Wiedeman, Business Systems Analyst for Merrill Gardens. “It’s a place you want to be. With activities integrated into the community, our residents aren’t living on an isolated island but are going to events and participating in clubs and other activities. This keeps everyone active and connected.” Making the switch to an integrated platform allows Merrill Gardens to avoid missed billing opportunities and increase revenue. Previious a CFO for a property management company, David was once a third party consultant for Yardi. When Merrill Gardens began implementing the Yardi platform, David and his team worked side-by-side with Yardi to ensure the switchover went smoothly. “If you have the vision of what you want, Yardi can build it,” says David.  “Yardi has a good knack of hiring people who are really good in their fields, they are specialized but can also be creative and help us meet our needs across different channels, including the residential and senior sides of our portfolio.” As part of his role as Business Systems Analyst, David spearheads software infrastructure and administration for Merrill Gardens, overseeing all Yardi modules as well as software implementations throughout the company. A big supporter of the single stack solution, David feels Yardi provides an unmatchable combination...

With the help of virtual reality, aging veterans unable to travel can get up close and personal with far-flung war memorials. As the clock strikes 11:11am on Veterans Day, the sun aligns perfectly with the Anthem Veterans Memorial in Anthem Arizona. At the appointed hour, beams of light are funneled through the monument, casting a solar spotlight over The Great Seal of the United States. Surrounded by bricks inscribed with the names of over 750 servicemen, for that one moment the seal glows on the ground, gleaming up from the shadows cast by the shrine’s five marble pillars. While thousands of visitors make the trek each year to watch the transformation live, for many aging veterans the trip is not an option. Failing health and lack of finances make travel prohibitive for many seniors. Thankfully, advances in virtual reality can now help housebound adults explore the world from the comfort of their armchair. “They can be feet away from them again, in full glory, and feel like they’re there with them,” says Sarah Hill, the co-founder of Honor Everywhere, a nonprofit organization to helping veterans see the memorials erected in their honor – either in person or via virtual reality. Losing History The average age of US soldiers during the Vietnam War was 22, and so many of that war’s former combatants are currently nearing retirement age. In addition, in the last 14 years, Vietnam veterans are dying at a rate of 390 per year. For World War II era veterans the numbers are even more staggering: 500 deaths a day and with the US Department of Veterans Affairs estimating that only 620,000 of the 16 million servicemen and women were still alive in 2016.  With an average age of 92, most of the...

As the senior living industry continues searching for solutions to ongoing workforce shortages and rampant burnout, software solutions like Yardi Voyager can simplify tasks and increase employee satisfaction. Finding and keeping the right employees remains an ongoing challenge for senior living providers. In fact, according to research firm Holleran, after a fairly short “honeymoon period” of one year, worker engagement begins to decline, leading employees to seek out new opportunities and resulting in a 42% average turnover rate for life plan communities. These losses translate into real money: The average cost of turnover per employee can be up to 50% of that employee’s salary, with true turnover costs for registered nursing hovering above $65,000 per employee. “Turnover in our industry’s been pretty high,” admits Angela Kennedy, Senior Accountant for Commonwealth Assisted Living. “Just being able to recruit and retain top talent is challenging.” “Our People Set Us Apart” With a set of core values focused on helping seniors “age with dignity,” Commonwealth Assisted Living operates 23 communities throughout Virginia. Founded in 2002 by Richard J. Brewer, the company values leadership from within and strives to create an atmosphere of teamwork and transparency. As one of the largest providers of independent living, assisted living and memory care in the state, Commonwealth cares for over 1,500 residents. “Our people set us apart from other providers,” says Brewer, “We work hard, and are not afraid to do things differently.” The centralized recordkeeping, customized menus and easy to relevant records available through Yardi Voyager® Senior Housing allows Commonwealth staffers to do their jobs much for effectively, but that’s not the only benefit. According to Angela, the simplified data entry system and streamlined record keeping also help employees feel more engaged by freeing them from mundane, repetitive tasks so they...

Sitting silently in the corner, Amazon’s Alexa awaits the next command, ready to place online orders, adjust indoor temperatures or even provide a weather update. For senior citizens, the ability to manage a variety of tasks through voice command can help bolster independent living and provide caregivers with the ability to remotely monitor the health and safety of older patients. Whether used in the home or at a senior living facility, voice technology has the potential to modernize and personalize senior healthcare. Specialized Software As part of the Internet of Things (IoT), voice recognition technology has entered the mainstream, with more and more households are adding computerized personal assistants. As the hardware becomes ubiquitous, opportunities to add software specialized for seniors abound. For companies keeping an eye on their bottom line, the ability to add voice-command technology software to existing hardware allows a senior living facility to upgrade services without needing to upgrade current infrastructure. Even multiple operating systems can be navigated with ease, with most emerging software applications designed to be compatible with everything from Apple’s Siri to Amazon and Google home. “I believe the future of senior-related technology is customizing existing products through software,” says Laurie Orlov, the founder of Aging in Place Technology Watch, a market research firm that provides thought leadership and analysis on senior care technology. “We aren’t going to see senior living products that have their own hardware succeed [because] they can’t scale. Without the product being able to scale, you can’t make it work.” Virtual Caregivers For older adults, maintaining routines is essential, especially when it comes to medication management and other health-related tasks. While the plastic pill containers labeled with the days of the week can help keep seniors on track, the ability to preprogram voice-enabled...

On March 29-30, Yardi hosted the second Yardi Senior Living Forum, focused specifically on the needs of our senior living clients,  in Santa Barbara, Calif. The two-day featured speakers, classes, roundtable discussions, computer lab time and more. In advance of that event, Ray Elliot, vice president of senior living, joined us to share insight on the Yardi Senior Living Suite. An end-to-end solution that tracks senior living residents throughout their housing journey, the suite includes Yardi EHR for health care records, numerous offerings from Yardi’s ancillary product line, and continues to expand. Senior living is a rapidly growing segment of the multifamily housing market, and Yardi is developing new and improved technology offerings that cater specifically to this client base. Read on for insight on the Yardi Senior Living Suite. What is your mission on the senior living team? Elliot: Our mission is to help senior living providers provide better care to their residents through software and technology. We aim to streamline both the property management and care services on a platform that is efficient, mobile and adaptable. What does the Yardi Senior Living Suite look like? Elliot: Our greatest strength s our single solution stack. I do not believe any other vendor can take you from the initial contact that starts the resident relationship, all the way through the resident lifecycle. RENTCafe Senior Living can be used to market the communities. Prospect and mass marketing is done in CRM. From there, our clients manage their communities, health care records, medical care and other resident services from a single database. RentCafe Senior Living augments the resident relationship by allowing the resident and family to make payments online and view care related information. Added together, this level of functionality is unique in the market space. Many other technology providers address just one segment of...

Food trucks provide the perfect vehicle for senior living communities looking to increase brand awareness and improve the resident experience. With a sense of celebration and a tang of the exotic, food trucks do more than sling tacos – they bring people together. Over the last few years, these compact purveyors of tasty treats have taken over parking lots and commandeered fairgrounds. Now senior living providers are getting in on the fun. For communities looking to attract new prospects and enhance the resident experience, food trucks are an easy way to update dining options and lure prospects. That’s because dining rates high when it comes to assessing the resident experience. As the introduction to the latest report from Senior Housing News on senior living dining trends explains, “Dining drives senior living businesses – there’s no question about it.” Connecting the Community For many senior living residents meals provide a critical link. In the dining hall, seniors interact with each other, staving off isolation and providing an antidote to loneliness. Holidays, special events – even just Sunday breakfast – all offer the opportunity to foster a sense of community. As a  2010 report from Unidine reiterates, “Senior dining programs facilitate social interaction, support medical care as well as health and wellness objectives and provide a critical link to the lives and communities of residents.” Expanding Experiences Because of senior’s unique nutritional needs, meal planning at most communities is complex. Everything from ingredients to taste to medication side effects must be taken into consideration. Dietary restrictions and weight management are equally important. With so much micromanagement, there’s little room for spontaneity. Adding food trucks to the rotation allows communities to provide a little variety while still keeping a close eye on the menu. “I see no...

Forget sitting on a bench feeding pigeons; these days older adults are ditching the breadcrumbs for senior-friendly playgrounds. We all know bodies at rest tend to stay at rest, and for older adults, physical activity can be particularly challenging. Fitness experts often counsel that the exercise is whatever is comfortable and convenient. And what could be easier than a spending some time on the playground? That’s certainly the notion behind senior citizen playgrounds. By putting the “fun” back in fitness, these next-generation playgrounds are designed to appeal to all ages. “These playgrounds allow us to promote healthy living in cities across the country,” Humana President and CEO Bruce Broussard recently explained. “It’s important to us to make it easy for people to achieve their best health – kids and adults alike.” Play Time They’re calling it the “playability” movement: communities working to create safe spaces for families to have fun and stay active. In support of the cause, KaBOOM! has created the Playful City USA initiative with help from the Humana foundation. “We are proud to partner with Humana to help give all children the childhood they deserve. We are confident that, together, we can help families make healthy, playful choices that build a new generation of ‘Healthy People,’” said Darell Hammond, CEO and Founder of KaBOOM! “Play matters – not just as an activity for children, but as a foundation for lifelong well-being and strong communities.” Let’s Get Physical In Europe and Asia, playgrounds for senior citizens provide low-impact exercise equipment to help older adults safely raise their heart rate. These parks often include elliptical machines, static bikes and other body flexor equipment for enhanced balance and flexibility. “We wanted to break the myth of the old person coming to the park and...