Do you ever wonder if the coffee snobs are taking over?
You know the type (and maybe you are one): Their beverage-injection device must be made to exacting and often laughable standards.
A traditional cup of hot coffee with perhaps some cream or sugar? Perish the thought! No, they require something more like a half caramel, half vanilla latte, decaf espresso heated only to 110 degrees with nonfat milk — and caramel drizzle on top. That is, unless they are feeling especially picky.
As a good friend from Mississippi might say, bless their hearts. (Hint to our readers north of the Mason-Dixon Line, “bless their hearts” is a polite way of saying, “They don’t have a clue,” or worse.)
What does any of this have to do with long-term care? At the risk of spilling the proverbial beans, long-term care sports its own version of coffee snobs.
I’m referring to some of the people in this field who have a great capacity for counting money and devising new ways to create more of it. Their problem? They really don’t seem to understand what business they are in.
To them, providing eldercare services is really no different than making widgets. The key issues that keep them up at night?
- What are we going to sell?
- Who is going to buy it?
- How do we convince the market we’re special?
Those are good questions, as far as they go. The problem is that they don’t go far enough. Moreover, they gloss over what this business is really about: delivering care and services to people at a time of great need.
Look, I get it. Facilities must profit or perish. And to be sure, every provider must be a good business person, as well. But things can quickly get out whack when the “as well” part becomes the only thing that seems to matter.
Consider: One would think that all people in the caregiving field would want to learn as much as possible about new caregiving-related developments, right? But you would be surprised how many suits in the C-suite see this as being somehow beneath their station in life.
How do I know? I get to see who is actually reading our Clinical Daily enewsletter. It is full of actionable clinical news that can help organizations deliver better care and perhaps find new service expansions. In other words, it provides another great way to quickly learn about matters that matter.
But to the long-term care snobs among us, such trifling concerns are just not worth the time, or effort.
Bless their hearts.
John O’Connor is Editorial Director for McKnight’s
