“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
This golden nugget from the King James version of the Bible helps bring comfort to these chaotic times.
But for too many people in the senior living field, recent developments hardly seem to be in sync with a master plan. If anything, they appear to be increasingly haphazard and bizarre.
Consider: We are just digging out from the worst recession in nearly a century; it remains uncertain how the field should partner with hospitals; payment sources appear to be shakier than ever; regulators seem to view the field with growing suspicion; and the political landscape could be turned on its head this November.
And by the way, whoever gets elected can quickly try to figure out how to pull us back from a pending economic abyss of historic proportions.
If you feel like you are playing policy dodge ball, you are hardly alone. In uncertain times such as these, it’s easy to conclude that things are slowly but irrevocably going to seed. While such sentiment is understandable, it’s also a bit misguided.
In fact, there are also a lot of things happening that should put a spring in your step.
Come Monday, McKnight’s will unveil two of them.
The first: we will begin announcing the winners of the first McKnight’s Excellence In Technology Awards – Connect Our World. McKnight’s and American HealthTech teamed up to establish this event, which will give industry pros some overdue recognition.
More than 100 providers submitted applications showing how they are successfully harnessing technology to improve the field. Our blue-ribbon panel of judges had their hands full choosing the best of the best. We will announce the Gold, Silver and Bronze award winners in the five contest categories. Here’s the schedule:
Monday – Quality Through Technology
We recognize a facility/community that harnessed technology to improve the level of care its residents receive.
Tuesday – Dignity Through Technology
This celebrates a facility/community that harnessed technology to improve the level of dignity its residents enjoy.
Wednesday – High Tech/High Touch
We celebrate how technology was used to improve staff-resident interaction.
Thursday – Innovator of the Year
This honors a notably innovative use of technology to improve both care and the bottom line.
Friday – Transitions Award
We recognize an organization that harnessed technology to improve and/or reduce transitions between long-term care facilities and other care settings.
We hope that you will be inspired by the great work your colleagues are doing. We also hope to see your submission next year.
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The second proud unveiling: The new McKnights.com website will go live this afternoon, and new looks to the newsletters will debut starting on Monday. My next blog will offer more details about some of the visual and content upgrades our new look offers.
At the risk of sounding less than objective, I think you are going to find that our award-winning website will be even better than ever.
So why are we doing all this now? I guess you could say it’s the right time and the right season.
