Robust data drives good business decision-making in competitive industries, and senior living is no exception. Modern approaches to data have unlocked unprecedented insights into factors such as consumer purchasing patterns and preferences, employee performance and labor needs, supply chain bottlenecks, and best uses of marketing and advertising dollars. Instead of resorting to error-prone gut instinct or labor-intensive manual checking and analysis, businesses can harness the abilities of new-age data approaches to improve services and bolster their competitiveness.
Nowhere is this change more pronounced than in senior living, where adopting data-driven strategies revolutionizes resident care. By meticulously analyzing resident data, senior living providers craft more effective care plans and deliver better care. This evolution marks a pivotal transition in the sector, offering unprecedented opportunities for improved patient outcomes and personalized care.
At the forefront of this revolution is ExaCare, an all-in-one platform for senior living operators that has become synonymous with innovation in the space. Collaborating closely with senior care communities and industry veterans nationwide, ExaCare has harnessed the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics to help care providers identify, understand, and address seniors' unique needs.
ExaCare's strategic focus on enabling data-supported decision-making is spearheaded by Braedan "Laird" Russell (CEO) and Ben Willox (CTO). Under Russell & Willox's leadership, ExaCare has solved many challenges for operators and helped them elevate the quality of delivered care. With this, they are introducing a new era in senior healthcare services.
The Need for a More Advanced Approach from the Founder's POV
Braedan "Laird" Russell's path to founding ExaCare was profoundly influenced by his experiences and deep empathy for those grappling with physical health challenges and chronic conditions. As a former ice hockey player attending Brown University, he showed great promise as an athlete. However, his career took an unexpected turn due to a series of traumatic brain injuries that led to a prolonged struggle with severe post-concussion symptoms. This challenging phase significantly shaped his understanding of effective healthcare delivery, particularly the critical need for tailored technology systems that help care providers perform their best.
Russell initially co-founded Galea Health to materialize this vision, focusing on proactive mental health support for athletes. This venture, combined with his personal recovery journey, broadened his understanding of the intricate needs of those suffering from physical impairments and chronic conditions. He further recognized a major need for more advanced systems to support care delivery to senior citizens. This insight laid the foundation for ExaCare.
Determined to revolutionize care for older people, Russell & Willox have raised $6.5M from top venture capital firms such as Foundation Capital, 1984 Ventures & Bienville Capital to build ExaCare, a cutting-edge platform to meet seniors' complex and often neglected needs. Drawing from their unique experiences and insights, Russell & Willox are establishing a new paradigm in senior care that emphasizes empathy and a deeper, more nuanced understanding of care recipients.
Reimagining Resident Care in Communities
ExaCare is at the forefront of today's data-driven approach to senior care by offering senior living operators actionable real-time insights to improve care delivery. It's not just the dashboards and reports available at their fingertips; it's also the ease of use that is discernible across the ExaCare platform. For instance, Russell highlights the intuitive resident digital move-in process as a critical initial step in their care journey.
"From the moment a senior is onboarded at a community using ExaCare, the difference in care is palpable," Russell emphasizes. "We've streamlined the onboarding process to be as easy as possible, ensuring that seniors and their families experience a smooth transition into a care system." A simple onboarding flow establishes a foundation of trust and comfort for seniors and their caregivers from the outset.
Central to ExaCare's innovative approach is its robust use of AI to analyze resident data and health records. Russell elaborates, "Our platform doesn't just collect data; it interprets it to recommend the most effective care plans for seniors in a remarkably short time." This ongoing analysis and real-time care plan recommendations mean seniors don't have to endure lengthy waits for care plans to reflect actual needs.
According to Russell, this exemplifies ExaCare's commitment to maintaining and enhancing seniors' quality of life and health outcomes through innovative, data-informed care strategies.
Building a Conducive Workplace for Professionals
ExaCare, with a comprehensive set of features, offers benefits to senior living operators beyond care delivery management. It also empowers community staff to handle all their day-to-day workflows. Typically, senior living communities use multiple software systems or 'point solutions' to manage different operations, such as resident care, billing, pharmacy ordering/reordering, staff scheduling, sales (CRM), time clock, and compliance, with each system operating independently.
Russell explains that using several disjointed systems that don't speak to one another can lead to thousands of wasted hours, frustrated staff, and worse resident care outcomes. It forces duplicative efforts across the community, undermining efficient operations.
ExaCare has collapsed multiple-point solutions into a single, integrated platform. Communities gain a single software solution that has consolidated all these functions into one cohesive, user-friendly, and effective platform. This integrated approach streamlines processes, allowing easy navigation to reduce duplication and improve efficiency.
By implementing an intelligent system, staff can easily view future tasks, estimate labor requirements, automate routine work, and benefit from AI-generated smart suggestions for resident care. This translates to more effective use of time, with thousands of hours saved from tedious manual tasks like recording resident information, updating care plans, and general administrative duties, allowing care providers to devote more time to delivering excellent resident care.
Russell mentions, "This is one of the benefits of a data-driven approach. It makes processes much easier, allowing communities to accomplish more with less effort."
On Balancing Human Touch with Data-Driven Approaches
The advent of data-driven technologies in senior care, like ExaCare, has enhanced efficiency and precision in operations and care delivery. However, an essential consideration in senior care settings is ensuring that technological innovation fosters (and does not hinder or lessen) an irreplaceable human touch.
Indeed, while ExaCare's advanced capabilities provide critical insights and streamline operations, healthcare professionals' warmth, empathy, and personal attention are just as indispensable. However, ExaCare lifts the load across care teams, allowing them to focus on residents and their care rather than secondary or administrative work.
With this, senior living care providers can focus on those parts of care delivery that no coding or technology could ever replace. This is the cornerstone of exemplary senior care, where cutting-edge solutions and human empathy merge to enable an unmatched level of care and comfort for the elderly.
