AgeTech

So I've said it: Technology access for senior housing residents (along with financial counseling on how to sell their homes) should be a differentiator now -- while facility unutilized capacity is so obvious and painful. Swapping out aging infrastructure could even save them money in their operations.

Recently I sat next to a neurologist on a flight who complained to me about a vexing problem. Elderly patients with dementia would arrive at her office to have their medications adjusted, but would bring no documentation of what they were already taking. Often the patient arrived from an Assisted Living or nursing home facility -- their excuse? Carrying the paperwork in the van was a violation of the patient's privacy.

Last week we caught up with CEO of Consumer Cellular, John Marick, who talked about its now-nationwide service offering -- no contract service intended for the low-usage cell phone user. The firm went from being a small Northwest cell phone service reseller in the Northwest to becoming a national provider. Key to their offering:

It's been raining in Philadelphia. A lot, and somewhat metaphorically as well. Inside this convention of management of mostly for-profit Senior Living housing companies (and 300 exhibitors trying to sell to them), the keynote theme was about differentiation. Why it's so important, because filling the buildings of attending companies -- like Brookdale, Sunrise, Emeritus, Bell Senior Living, Country Meadows -- these days is tougher than ever.

In nearly every aspect of service delivery, service providers strive to attain certifications of agreed-upon minimum standards of knowledge and competence -- for example: of course there are technology certifications in technology categories (see Microsoft, Cisco).