The 2019 NIC Spring Conference luncheon keynote talk will be delivered by bestselling author, consultant and futurist Ian Morrison. Morrison is an internationally known specialist in long-term forecasting and planning, with an emphasis on the changing business environment in healthcare. Known for his many books and articles on the changing healthcare system – and notorious for his Scottish wit – Morrison is ideally qualified to bring into focus the coming challenges and opportunities facing the seniors housing and care sector. 

With a luncheon audience expected to exceed 1,200 leaders in the space, including a small but growing number of executives from the healthcare sector, Morrison will have the ear of many of America’s seniors housing and care decision makers.  

While most conference attendees are executives in real-estate based businesses, healthcare partnerships are expected to be an essential component to success in coming years. Healthcare stakeholders, who have an active interest in understanding the opportunities in senior care collaboration – but may never have done so before – are investigating potential partnerships as they seek to address the needs of their patients in a value-based world. 

As the healthcare system adjusts to a value-based model, and as fundamental shifts in demographics, consumer demands, payment systems and business models form a new paradigm of healthcare delivery and payment, the seniors housing & care sector will need to adapt. Collaboration with new healthcare partners will not be an option, but a requirement, in a system increasingly focused on achieving better outcomes at lower costs.  

Be prepared for an engaging and convincing account of what lies just ahead for the sector, and even for a touch of wry humor, as Morrison applies his unique experience and perspective to the task of inspiring us to think differently about the role of our sector within a larger system in flux. 

As NIC MAP^® Data Service clients know, NIC regularly adds new features to the client platform, often as a direct response to client requests, or as new data and analytical tools become available. NIC works hard to ensure developers, operators, investors, and other stakeholders, have access to the high-quality data they need from the best available time series market data to the latest market preference indicators.

In the latest upgrade, NIC added Walk Score to NIC MAP, providing a measure of “walkability” for individual properties in the national database. The scores, which range from zero to 100—with higher scores indicating greater walkability—can help users easily compare walkability at different seniors housing properties. The new data can easily be incorporated into analyses, as NIC clients assess the impact of this emerging trend on marketability and financial performance.

Recent research and consumer trends are indicating that the seniors housing of the future will not necessarily be located primarily in suburban and rural areas.  Several studies underscore the emerging consumer desire for walkable living, including a 2017 Welltower survey, which found that 7 out of 10 urbanites still want to live in their city after the age of 80. For Baby Boomers, the share was higher, at 8 out of 10.  And, according to a recent survey conducted by A Place for Mom, between 80 and 90 percent of consumers in independent living properties and senior apartments, and 66 percent of residents in assisted living, prefer walkable neighborhoods.

The integration of Walk Score into NIC MAP provides walkability measures at the property-level to facilitate development and investment decisions that reflect the lifestyle and location preferences of many seniors and their family members.  With a segment of the present and future seniors housing residents preferring walkable neighborhoods, integrating Walk Scores into NIC MAP can help inform development locations and ensure seniors have choice in locations, including those that are highly walkable.

NIC MAP clients can log in and view a video tutorial for more information. To learn more about NIC MAP, and get the latest on what the platform has to offer, prospective clients are encouraged to reach out to Sales at sales@nic.org.

It’s the open secret that leading operators have long known—an engaged workforce leads to success in other parts of operations, including key financial and performance metrics.

In the words of one senior living executive, “Happier employees means happier residents. That’s what we’re all about.”

But can we quantify it? What is the business case for employee engagement that will spur us to action? Now, a study coauthored by Argentum and Great Place to Work Institute’s senior care team reveals some answers.

This study is the first of a two-part white paper series and provides the evidence. The study is based on interviews with hundreds of executives along with more than 10 million data elements gathered from senior living employees themselves.

Highlights from the research include:

• A typical senior living operator with 1,500 employees and 20 communities could potentially save $4.4 million a year by reducing turnover by 10%.
• The Trust Index measuring employee engagement is tied to lower turnover and better resident care.
• More than 65% of senior living communities plan to grow the number of seniors served by at least 5% in the next five years, making it more important than ever to provide caring, professional staff.
• Senior living needs more direct care workers, licensed nurses and support positions such as chefs, drivers, and maintenance managers.

Executives in our industry care about this topic, and we share the findings openly along with best practices. The hope is that our sector will continue to improve by offering a competitive place for individuals across the U.S. to grow their careers.

The white paper can be found here.

The unemployment rate held steady at 3.7% in October, which is the lowest rate since December 1969. The jobless rate remains well below the rate of what is generally believed to be the “natural rate of unemployment” of 4.5%, which suggests that there will be building pressure on wage rate growth.

Evidence is mounting that this is in fact starting to occur.  Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose in October by five cents to $27.30. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 83 cents, or 3.1%.  This was the strongest pace since 2009.  Last year, they rose by 2.6%.  A separate survey, the BLS’s quarterly Employment Cost Index (ECI) also showed acceleration in wage growth, with a year-over-year increase of 3.1% in wages and salaries in September, up from 2.6% a year ago. The 3.1% increase was the fastest pace since the financial crisis.  By industry group, nursing and residential care facilities saw a 3.0% gain in wages and salaries, up from 2.8% a year ago.

A broader measure of unemployment, which includes those who are working part time but would prefer full-time jobs and those that they have given up searching—the U-6 unemployment rate—fell to 7.4% from 7.5% in September.

The Labor Department also reported that there were 250,000 jobs created in the U.S. economy in October, above the consensus expectation of 200,000.  This was the 97th consecutive month of job growth.  However, September was revised down from 134,000 to 118,000 and August was revised up to 286,000 from 270,000.   The September figure may have been negatively affected by Hurricane Florence. Payrolls have averaged 218,000 per month for the last three months and 213,000 for the past ten months, up from 182,000 last year.  It is important to note that he jobless rate is calculated from a different survey than the survey used to calculate the number of new jobs (the household versus the establishment survey, respectively).

In October, employment in health care rose by 36,000, with 8,000 of these positions occurring in nursing and residential care facilities. In the past year, health care has added 323,000 jobs.

The labor force participation rate, which is a measure of the share of working age people who are employed or looking for work increased to 62.9% in October from 62.7%, still very low and near its cyclical low of 62.3% in 2015.  The low rate at least partially reflecting the effects of an aging population.

The October jobs report and the acceleration in the salary and wage data will provide further support for increases in interest rates through 2018 by the Federal Reserve. As widely expected, the Fed increased the fed funds rate by 25 basis points at its September FOMC meeting, the third increase in 2018.  The Fed has raised rates by a quarter percentage point eight times since late 2015, and most recently to a range between 2.00% and 2.25% after keeping them near zero for seven years.  It is widely expected that the Fed will raise rates at the next FOMC meeting to be held in December, with another three rate hikes anticipated in 2019, pushing rates toward 3.4% by 2020.

For consumers who save, higher rates are good news as their returns on CDs and money market accounts will grow at a faster pace.  But for borrowers—both consumers and businesses–higher rates are not good news as their borrowing costs will be higher.

Helping the seniors housing and care industry provide America’s elders with a variety of appropriate options is part of NIC’s mission. In this era of innovation, in which technology is quickly advancing, payment models are shifting, and a new generation of consumers is driving change, NIC encourages industry decision-makers to stay aware of what’s new and upcoming as they develop plans for the future. As millions of baby boomers approach, they will demand options and will present a range of challenges, many of which should be anticipated today. To that end, we’d like to encourage you to consider attending Aging2.0’s OPTIMIZE Conference.

The event will be held November 14-15, 2018 in San Francisco. It is designed to bring together industry innovators for networking, learning, and building partnerships in the “longevity economy.” Investors, owners, operators, and other stakeholders will hear from industry leaders embracing new models of care. Aging2.0 promises to highlight proven solutions to the biggest challenges and opportunities unfolding in post-acute and senior care. Attendees should expect a fast-paced whirlwind of opportunities to learn about the needs and complexities of the enormous (and growing) older consumer market.

Aging2.0 has historically favored technological innovators, which we at NIC believe hold some of the keys to success in this era of innovative disruption. The conference will feature start up pitch sessions, an investor session, in which startups actively seek to connect with investors, and other tech-related networking opportunities with seed- to pre-IPO companies raising capital. For anyone interested in what is currently emerging in aging-related tech, the conference should offer real value.

Aging2.0 is offering NIC Insider readers a savings of 20% off conference registration with Promotional Code MVP18-NIC.