How Maintenance Software is Revolutionizing Assisted Living

Believe it or not, many assisted living facilities still rely on pen, paper and radio to handle their property upkeep, leading to countless issues and efficiency loss. Digital maintenance management software is quickly disrupting these outdated processes, offering a more comprehensive, trackable solution.

This article looks at how maintenance software is revolutionizing assisted living by helping facilities manage the day-to-day operations and maintenance of their premises. To get a virtual tour of Xenia’s maintenance software for your facility, grab your free demo session here. 

To continue your learning, check out our comprehensive Senior Living Operations Management Guide.

Understanding the complexity of Assisted Living Facilities

The complexity of an assisted living facility increases exponentially as it grows in size and tries to accommodate the dynamic needs of its residents. There are many moving parts, from staffing to compliance, from everyday housekeeping to maintaining various types of equipment. 

Some key aspects that add to the complexity of an assisted living facility are: 

1. Providing care for residents with a wide range of needs. Some residents may need help with basic activities of daily living, while others may require more specialized care. 
2. Managing the roles, tasks and daily schedule of frontline workers along with desk workers to ensure that they are capable of meeting the needs and expectations of the residents. 
3. Ensuring quality checks for routine chores like housekeeping, food preparation and distribution. 
4. Scheduling routine upkeep and repairs for types of equipment and medical gear in the facility to minimize risk for handlers and patients. 
5. Keeping orderliness in residents’ paperwork and financial accounting to meet compliances and regulations.  

One of the biggest challenges is understanding how all these parts fit together and how they impact each other. Not to mention the dynamic shift that has happened in the maintenance and operations of assisted living facilities after COVID. Impeccable attention to detail, immaculate housekeeping and social distancing measures seem to be the norm of the day. To keep up, you’ll need a lot of time or little help from technology. This is where maintenance software comes in handy for assisted living facilities. 

This type of software can help manage all aspects of life at an assisted living facility — from scheduling staff members, managing their schedules and even tracking their performance metrics like time spent on each activity or task. With this kind of information in hand, managers can make informed decisions about how best to allocate resources and staff members to ensure that everyone gets the most out of their time at work.

Why is maintenance crucial for Assisted Living Facilities?

Maintenance is crucial for Assisted Living Facilities. It is a part of the daily life of seniors. It includes maintaining their living spaces, cleaning and organizing their rooms, keeping them safe and providing them with timely medical care. The services that they need are not limited to just these activities. They also need well kept facilities, residences, landscaping and more to feel safe and secure. Some reasons why it is crucial to keep high maintenance standards for an assisted living facility:  

🦽 Helps mitigate the high risk of accidents with the elderly

When a facility is cluttered, it can be difficult for residents to move around without getting hurt. Elders are at a higher risk of accidents and hence the facility maintenance needs to be top-notch to make it enjoyable and safe for them. Some steps you can take to prevent accidents include:  

• Checking the floor level for uneven surfaces,
• Attaching rails to the corridors for walking support 
• Having night lights in the common areas and resident rooms. 
• Cleaning the spillages quickly.
• Placing barricades around freshly mopped zones.
• Providing walking assistance to people who need support. 

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🥰 Helps in aiding reputation management 

A well-maintained facility is not just joyful for the residents but especially inviting for those wanting to get special care for their elderly family members. The facility’s reputation is a reflection of the quality of care that it provides. A good reputation can attract new residents and help to retain existing ones. It also attracts new employees, which is essential in ensuring that the facility has the staff necessary to provide high-quality care.

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💸 Crucial in managing and optimizing costs 

An effective maintenance system leads to more than just a pleasurable living experience for the residents. It helps you stay ahead and preempt expenses that are a result of tardiness and mismanagement. The cost of maintaining an assisted living facility can vary depending on the size and location. Generally, the cost of staff, utilities, and supplies will be the expenses. Operational costs may include property taxes, insurance, repairs and maintenance. 

Without a system, in place, these costs have the tendency to hide and then pile up. But timely, and well laid out maintenance SOPs help in saving costs on unpredicted breakdowns and the overall smooth functioning of the facility. 

⏰ Minimizing equipment downtime

Equipment failures can lead to complications for the residents and delays in their care. By taking preventive measures, such as regular inspections and maintenance, it is possible to minimize the chances of equipment failure and minimize resulting downtime. Our free preventive maintenance calendar can help you get a headstart on this. 

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How can Maintenance Software upgrade your assisted living facility?

In just a few years, the market for mobile work order assignment and tracking has grown exponentially. In fact, it’s estimated that more than 50% of senior care facilities will be using mobile software by 2025. The ability to manage your maintenance schedule, inventory, and labor costs are critical to the success of any assisted living facility. It can also be the difference between profitability and loss. Here’s how it helps your upgrade your facility’s operations and maintenance processes:  

📝 Eliminates outdated paper/radio processes

Digital maintenance software has revolutionized how assisted living facilities operate. By eliminating these paper and radio systems that don’t provide accurate information about what needs fixing on any given day or week, you’ll save on both time and money. Paper records are expensive to maintain and can become outdated quickly if not kept up to date. That’s why most facilities are now using digital record-keeping systems that allow them to store all their data in one place, making it easier for employees to access the information they need when they need it.

🔧 Streamlines your entire maintenance process

Using assisted living maintenance software can help to automate the process of preventive maintenance scheduling and tracking. Streamlining with a preventive maintenance checklist will help ensure that the equipment is in good condition and that any problems are detected and fixed as quickly as possible. 

You can automate the entire process and manage it from a single dashboard that keeps all stakeholders informed of the progress. Right from scheduling each step of the process to paying due invoices to workers and staff, each step can be automated to save you time. 

📲 Mobile work order assignment and tracking

Work order assignment and tracking in senior living facilities are efficient ways to optimize work processes, enhance the quality of care and improve resident satisfaction. The system creates an accurate record of all tasks and deliveries, which helps to ensure that all steps are completed in a timely manner.

The software also provides real-time reporting capabilities so that managers can quickly access information regarding any issues that may arise during the day. This ensures that residents receive prompt attention when they need it the most. 

🧾 Audit trails for compliance

Assisted living facilities are often required to undergo regular audits. By using assisted living maintenance software, it is possible to create an audit trail to ensure compliance with regulations. The audit ensures that the facility is operating safely and lawfully. In any service-based facility, audit trails are essential to track the work that is done and to check how the resources allocated are used at the facility.

📈 Analytics for improving operations

By using assisted living maintenance software, it is possible to gather data about the operations of the facility. The tracking data can help improve the efficiency of the operation and to make improvements to the way the facility is run.

With maintenance software, recording employee and resident information are easy.

This helps contact emergency services, such as the fire department or the police, should an emergency arise. 

Other processes that should be digitized in Assisted Living Facilities

Various processes can be digitized in an assisted living facility. Digitizing the tasks and processes helps the facilities save time, effort, and manpower involved in doing the actual work. The staff handling each part of the activity in the facility can be allocated to other tasks, freeing up their time to do other more important tasks.

📱 Centralizing communication in the assisted living facility

Using a messaging system, it is possible to quickly and easily communicate with the staff and residents of the facility. This system helps send updates about events, changes to the rules, and any emergencies that may have occurred. 

📅 Streamline Scheduling in the assisted living facility 

Using a scheduling system, it is possible to quickly and easily schedule events for the residents of the facility. This system can be used to arrange outings, exercise, and other activities for the residents. 

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🪠 Tracking Frontline Processes in the assisted living facility

In an assisted living facility, many frontline processes need to be tracked, and routine work should be assigned automatically to save time and effort for the staff. 

📒 Checklists, Logs, and SOPs

By using a Standard Operating Procedure system, it is possible to ensure that all of the staff members are following the same procedure when it comes to getting a job done. This also ensures speedy response in case of an emergency in the assisted living facility. A well-documented and automated SOP process makes it easy to explain to new staff members and residents the protocols at the senior living facility. 

Your staff needs to have a checklist that can be used to ensure all the necessary steps have been followed. By using an automated checklist, it is possible to ensure that no step is missed and the worker is not rambling for last-minute information on how to get a job done. 

Activity logs, equipment work history logs, and resident request logs can help you get a bird's eye view of what is happening in the facility at all times of the day. This information can be used to identify any problems and to make changes to the way the facility is run. ‍

Xenia is an all-in-one solution for Assisted Living Facilities

It's time to lose the paper sheets and clipboards. The bottom line is that newer technological solutions have made it far easier for facilities to organize, communicate and schedule maintenance and operations. It has made seniors live out their days with a higher quality of life.

If your business is searching for a software solution to manage its important functions, look no further. Xenia can be the perfect fit for you.

Xenia is an all-in-one solution that can be used to manage the operations and maintenance of an assisted living facility. This system includes features such as messaging, scheduling, and frontline processes. Conduct complex audits and run step-by-step routine processes easily. A tool that is flexible and easy to use, by any staff member. Its simple interface allows staff and management to streamline on-the-job tasks, while its features help ensure the safety of all residents. Assign task checklists, track progress and simplify operations with one flexible, fast checklist tool. 

Ready to learn more? Book a free demo for your assisted living facility today! If not, check out our free resource library!