SmartLinx Podcast

Today’s guests are Cathy Schweiger and Mario McKenzie of CliftonLarsonAllen, which offers wealth advisory, outsourcing, audit, tax, and consulting services. For the past 12 years, Cathy has assisted aging services and senior living providers to plan for their sustainable and successful future. Her experience spans market research, including survey and focus group facilitation, strategic planning and program development for continuing care retirement communities, continuing care at-home programs, home- and community-based services, and a wide array of senior housing and services. She is dedicated to developing new and impactful ways to serve the rapidly growing number of older adult consumers. Mario has been working professionally assisting senior living providers for over 25 years. He works in strategic planning, feasibility study analyses, executive compensation analysis, as well as in master planning for communities. Today we will focus on CliftonLarsonAllen’s 2018 Senior Living Trends Report, co-authored by Cathy and Mario. The report identifies seven major trends. Let’s take a look at each of these, starting with senior living options.

Today’s guest is Gregory L. Alexander, PhD, RN, FAAN, Interim Associate Dean of Research and Professor at the University of Missouri Sinclair School of Nursing. Dr. Alexander’s nursing specialties include clinical informatics and human computer interaction. His interest areas are Gero-informatics research and national health policy, along with IT effects on quality of care in nursing homes and long-term care. He also focuses on development, organizations, and health policy about nursing practice that impacts geriatric patients. His doctoral studies centered on human factors decision support and long-term care.

Our guests today are from the National Transitions of Care Coalition, or NTOCC. Dr. James Lett II, president of the coalition board of directors, is currently medical director of Avar Consulting Inc., which has a contract with CMS to oversee some aspects of the National Quality Improvement Organizations that oversee the quality and care of Medicare enrollees. He’s an experienced geriatrician in care provided in hospitals, nursing homes, and other sites of care. He most recently served as medical director and vice president of medical affairs for an extensive senior citizen complex, including an assisted living center and a long-term rehabilitation and nursing center. He has worked on three reports for the Office of the Inspector General to identify and quantitate adverse events in post-acute care. His passion is transitions of care, in which he has been involved with multiple entities, including CMS, ORG, and multiple national medical entities. Jackie Vance, also coalition director, who is senior director of clinical innovation and education for Mission Health Communities. Jackie is a registered nurse certified, and holds a bachelor of science degree in nursing. Previously she was director of clinical education at Sava Senior Care. A nurse leader, she has over 20 years of experience and expertise in clinical geriatrics and the long-term care market. She has built a unique set of skills for clinical program development with corresponding education that incorporates Triple Aim, the IMPACT Act, ACO, Managed Care, and Bundled Care components. Her specialty is quality management, including QAPI, PDSA, and Baldrige.

Our guest today is XinQi Dong, director of Rutgers University’s Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research, or IFH. In addition to the institute directorship, he serves as the inaugural Henry Rutgers Professor of Population Health Sciences. He is the lead researcher of the Population Study of Chinese Elderly in Chicago, which examined the health and well being of Chinese older adults and culminated in the publishing of 20 articles, which is the topic of today’s podcast. Most recently, XinQi was a professor of Medicine, Nursing, and Behavioral Sciences at the Rush University Medical Center and the associate director of the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging.

In today’s podcast, we talk with Joanie B. Connell, Ph.D., president and CEO of Flexible Work Solutions. Dr. Connell is an organizational consultant and leadership coach who specializes in maximizing leadership potential. She works with companies to attract, develop, and retain top talent and with individuals to improve their success and happiness in their careers. Her clients range from Fortune 500 companies, not-for-profit and government agencies, as well as high tech, biotech, healthcare, finance, legal, and other industries. As a professor, she teaches and has taught at the Rady School of Management at the University of California San Diego, the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, and in the Master’s in Human Behavior program at National University. She is an author of the book "Flying Without a Helicopter: How to Prepare Young People for Work and Life".

Today’s podcast guest is Brent Weil, vice president of workforce development for Argentum, the national leading association in senior living. Senior Living Works is an initiative led by Argentum to meet the current and future workforce needs of the senior living industry. Brent is focusing his efforts on the challenges and opportunities facing the senior living industry in professional development, as well as recruiting and retaining dedicated workers to care for the growing population of older Americans.

In today’s podcast, we’ll talk with Marcia Hopkins, who serves as the Leader of the Risk Management Division for American Healthcare Management Group, or AHMG. Marcia has delivered risk management services for healthcare clients for 12 years, including aging services for continuing care retirement communities, skilled nursing, and assisted living facilities, as well as home health agencies. Her professional designations include Associate in Risk Management, Florida Department of Financial Services, Independent All Lines Adjusting license, Board Certification in Workers’ Compensation, and Board of Director of Florida Workers’ Compensation Claim Professionals.

Our guests today are from the National Transitions of Care Coalition, or NTOCC. Dr. James Lett II, President of the coalition board of directors, is currently medical director of Avar Consulting Inc., which has a contract with CMS to oversee some aspects of the National Quality Improvement Organizations that oversee the quality and care of Medicare enrollees. He’s an experienced geriatrician in care provided in hospitals, nursing homes, and other sites of care. He most recently served as medical director and vice president of medical affairs for an extensive senior citizen complex, including an assisted living center and a long-term rehabilitation and nursing center. He has worked on three reports for the Office of the Inspector General to identify and quantitate adverse events in post-acute care. His passion is transitions of care, in which he has been involved with multiple entities, including CMS, OIG, and multiple national medical entities.   Jackie Vance, also coalition director, is senior director of clinical innovation and education for Mission Health Communities. Jackie is a registered nurse certified, and holds a bachelor of science degree in nursing. Previously she was director of clinical education at Sava Senior Care. A nurse leader, she has over 20 years of experience and expertise in clinical geriatrics and the long-term care market. She has built a unique set of skills for clinical program development with corresponding education that incorporates Triple Aim, the IMPACT Act, ACO, Managed Care, and Bundled Care components. Her specialty is quality management, including QAPI, PDSA, and Baldrige.

In today’s podcast, we’ll talk about marketing strategies for long-term care. Our guest today is Winston Chenery, manager of Senior Care Growth, a lead gen and web design agency for senior living organizations. Winston is a senior living industry thought leader who produces the Senior Care Growth Show, a podcast specific for senior living sales and marketing professionals. He spoke at SMASH 2017 about sales alignment and authored the 2018 State of Senior Care Sales and Marketing Report.

In today’s podcast, we’ll talk with Dr. Edna Cadmus, clinical professor and specialty director of the graduate nursing leadership tracks at Rutgers University School of Nursing. She is also executive director of the New Jersey Collaborating Center for Nursing. The center works on behalf of nurses to provide evidence-based recommendations to policymakers and leaders of the profession regarding the nursing workforce and its impact on patient care. The center has developed workforce reports for the governor, current workforce trends, and educational capacity reports to assist employers and legislators in decision making. Its current focus is on nursing demand in various healthcare industries. Dr. Cadmus serves as co-lead for the New Jersey Action Coalition, one of 51 groups nationwide focused on implementing recommendations from the Institute of Medicine’s landmark report, The Future of Nursing. She was a co-principal investigator on a funded project by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on developing, implementing, and evaluating long-term care nurse residency programs.

In today's podcast, we'll talk about the concept of servant leadership. Our guest today is Art Barter, founder of the Servant Leadership Institute. So what exactly is servant leadership? It's a set of behaviors and practices that turns a traditional power leadership model upside down. Instead of the people working to serve the leader, the leader actually exists to serve the people. As a result, the practice is centered on a desire to serve and emphasizes collaboration, trust, empathy, and the ethical use of power. Its primary goal is to enhance individual growth, teamwork, and overall employee involvement and satisfaction.

In today’s podcast, we’ll talk with XinQi Dong, Director of Rutgers University’s Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research. In addition to the institute directorship, Dong will serve as the inaugural Henry Rutgers Professor of Population Health Sciences. Most recently, he was a Professor of Medicine, Nursing, and Behavioral Sciences at the Rush University Medical Center and the Associate Director of the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging. His research and advocacy have been recognized by many national and international organizations, including awards by the American Public Health Association, American Geriatric Society, Gerontological Society of America, and International Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics. He was the first geriatrician to receive the National Physician Advocacy Merit Award by the Institute on Medicine as a Profession. This year, he was elected to the prestigious American Society of Clinical Investigation. He has served as a commissioner for the Commission on Law and Aging at the American Bar Association, and he chaired the workshop on elder abuse prevention for the Institute of Medicine’s Global Violence Prevention Forum. A native of China, he completed his geriatric fellowship at Yale University Medical Center.

In today’s podcast, we’ll talk about best practices for engaging different communities or audiences within long-term care organizations — employees, residents, and leadership. Our guest today is Nikki Rineer, President of Holleran, a senior living community engagement research and consulting firm. Holleran’s services include resident and employee engagement and satisfaction, leadership development, organizational engagement, and community engagement and needs assessments.

In today’s podcast, we’ll talk about the human resources challenges and opportunities in today’s manufacturing sector. Our guest today is Bill Looney, principal and co-founder of Signature HR Solutions, which provides human resources solutions for small and mid-sized businesses. Bill has 20 years of human resources management experience. Bill’s partner, personally and professionally, is Carol Looney, who has also shared her long-term HR insights with us on our podcast.

In today’s podcast, we’ll talk about virtual training for healthcare facilities. Our guest today is Kyle Golding, CEO of The Golding Group, an Oklahoma City business development think tank. Kyle and Tadd Weese are co-owners and partners of VORTTX Training, which provides virtual online tabletop exercises for healthcare facilities. Kyle is a born entrepreneur who started his first business as a teenager. With 30 years of experience building, owning, operating multiple businesses, he has positioned, marketed, and managed artists, musicians, startups, corporations, and non-profits to local, national, and worldwide success. He was quoted by Entrepreneur Magazine about “what it takes to be a creative entrepreneur.”

In today’s podcast, we’ll talk about critical thinking in long-term care nursing: How to improve outcomes and reduce errors. Our guest today is Shelley Cohen, RN, MSN, CEN, who has written a book by the same title. Shelly is the founder and president of Health Resources Unlimited, a Tennessee-based healthcare education and consulting company. Her seminars for nursing professionals are designed to engage staff nurses and nurse leaders, assuring the best interests of the patient.

In today's podcast, we'll talk about employee turnover, a huge problem in the long-term care industry. Our guest today is Roy Barker, a business and senior living operations advisor. For the past 19 years, Roy has consulted with senior living communities to improve their resident services, optimize operations, and increase occupancy.

In today’s podcast, we’ll talk about Plante Moran’s skilled nursing facility benchmarking report, “Make the Mark.” Our guest today is Christy Vandewater, CPA, consulting manager of Plante Moran, a certified public accounting and business advisory firm. One of the firm’s areas of specialty is senior care and living, and it serves nearly 1,000 senior care and living providers, including skilled nursing facilities, continuing care retirement communities, independent and assisted living facilities, and home health and hospice agencies.

In today's podcast, we'll talk about how to use behavioral insights to optimize your vetting and hiring process. Our guest today is Leon Morales, chief relationship officer for DNA Behavior International. Leon is a seasoned leader and consultant with experience working in finance, technology, operations, accounting, and organizational change. He's passionate about assisting organizations to unlock the power of behavioral insights to accomplish business goals. He works with leaders to further develop their organizational skills and to build collaborative teams that can execute. DNA Behavior International is an international people insights business. Since 2001, it has helped organizations worldwide by providing a single technology platform, which delivers practical and scalable behavioral intelligence solutions.

In today’s podcast, we’ll talk about how you can leverage kindness to realize powerful results. Our guest today is Lara Heacock, a self-professed “kindness ambassador.” Lara is a certified personal and professional coach who focuses on kindness as a key to success. Before she went into coaching, Lara spent 13 years as a professional recruiter and leader. She holds a psychology degree as well as an MBA. She is the author of Practical Kindness: 52 Ways to Bring More Compassion, Courage, and Kindness into Your World.

In today's podcast, we'll talk about something called The YOLO Principle, and how it can help your hiring process. Our guest today is Rebecca Barnes-Hogg, Founder and CEO of YOLO Insights, helping organizations hire the talented people they need to grow their business. Rebecca is a Society for Human Resources Management Senior Certified Professional. She is the author of The YOLO Principle: The Ultimate Hiring Guide for Small Business.

As our listeners are likely aware, the long-term care industry suffers from a shortage of workers. That’s an understatement. In addition, the turnover rate is extremely high. On top of this, as the Rutgers website states, “the number of Americans 65 and older will double by mid-century, rising from 39 million today to 89 million in 2050.” To meet this demand, Rutgers University offers two programs to meet the educational needs of healthcare professionals so that they can appropriately care for the aging population. The goal of the Rutgers Aging Studies Concentration is to prepare students with training in healthy living and management of disease in older adults, social policies for older adults, and knowledge resources and skills to effectively care for the ever-growing aging population in our communities and beyond. And it’s so needed. In today’s podcast, we’ll talk about the aging track in the Rutgers University School of Health Professions. Our guest is Tracy Davis, Program Coordinator.

In today’s podcast, we’ll discuss crisis management with a focus on long-term care facilities. Our guest expert is Jonathan Bernstein, founder and president of Bernstein Crisis Management. He has more than 30 years of experience in the field, and is the publisher of Crisis Manager, an email newsletter written for “those who are crisis managers, whether they want to be or not.” He’s also the author of Keeping the Wolves at Bay Media Training, a manual focusing on crisis management, and Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management by McGraw Hill. Bernstein is frequently interviewed by national and international media outlets about various crises du jour. A PR Week feature story titled “The Crunch Time Counselors” identified Bernstein as one of 22 people who should be on the speed dial in a crisis. And Businessweek featured his perspectives in an article titled “Masters of Disaster.” He is a frequent contributor to the “Crisis of the Week” column published by The Wall Street Journal.

In today’s podcast, we’ll discuss fall prevention. Our guests are Gloria Bachmann, MD, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Medicine, Associate Dean for Women’s Health, and Director of the Women’s Health Institute at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; and Jacklyn Joki, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, who also works for the JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute. They recently published a study, along with Dr. Sara Cuccurullo and Kavisha Khanuja, titled “Gait and balance in the aging population: Fall prevention using innovation and technology.” The study is featured in a Maturitas special issue of Modern Medicine for Healthy Aging. 

In today's podcast we'll talk about Care2Caregivers, a helpline for caregivers for people with dementia and Alzheimer's disease, operated by Rutgers University Behavioral Healthcare.

In today's podcast, we talk with Dr. Stefanie Corbett, author of The Theft Prevention Guide for Senior Living. For over a decade, Dr. Corbett has served in various senior leadership roles in healthcare organizations. She travels the country teaching HC Pros' post-acute care boot camps. She founded a healthcare consulting firm, Corbett Healthcare Solutions based out of Charlotte North Carolina, in 2014 to assist healthcare organizations with regulatory compliance and clinical and financial operations management.

In today’s podcast, we’ll talk about short-term stays at senior living communities, really short-term stays. Our guest is Ray Costello, founder of boomer bnb. Yes, boomer bnb is sort of an Airbnb for baby boomers.

In today's podcast, we'll discuss the importance of protecting licensure in healthcare. Our guest is Lorie Brown, a registered nurse who also holds a master's degree in nursing and has practiced in a variety of nursing fields, including medical-surgical nursing, management, and administration. 

In today’s podcast, we’ll discuss how technology is used to engage residents, family members, and staff in the senior care industry. Our guest is Jack York, founder of It’s Never 2 Late (IN2L), digital engagement technology for senior living community residents.

The topic of today's podcast is how company culture and happy employees go hand in hand. Our guest today is Kris Boesch, CEO and founder of Choose People, a company that transforms company cultures, increases employee happiness, and boosts the bottom line.

In today's podcast we'll talk with Penny Cook, the new president and CEO of Pioneer Network. This organization is at the forefront of changing the culture of aging, long-term care, and support of elders in America. A growing network of organizations and individuals across the nation and beyond, Pioneer Network is dedicated to making fundamental changes in values and practices to create a culture of aging and long-term care that is life affirming, satisfying, humane and meaningful.

In today's podcast, we'll talk about the power of compassion and how it can prevent burnout among long-term care professionals. My guest today is Virginia Sampson. Virginia is passionate about disseminating the science-based message of the power of compassion to create success.

In today's podcast, we'll talk about Alzheimer's care. My guest today is Kerry Mills, who has earned recognition in the field. In 2011, she founded Engaging Alzheimer's LLC, which trains healthcare professionals, coaches families, and advocates for the cognitive impaired.

In today's podcast, we'll talk about how long-term care facilities should view patient advocates as partners, not adversaries, and how they can work together. My guest today is Teri Dreher, a registered nurse with 36 years of experience and president of NShore Patient Advocates. She is committed to helping patients navigate acute illnesses and reducing the possibility of medical error.

In today's podcast, we'll discuss life settlements and how they not only benefit those who may be in need of long term care, but the long-term care facilities as well. Our expert is Bryan Freeman, president of Habersham Funding LLC, which he founded in 2001. He has been a licensed life insurance agent for 30-plus years.

In today's podcast, we'll discuss not only disaster preparedness but recovering from a disaster as well. Our expert today is Patrick Hardy, President and CEO of Hytropy.com, one of the leading disaster management companies in senior care.

In today’s podcast, we’ll talk about tips on how organizations in states, counties, and cities that have approved a minimum wage increase can manage this going forward. We’ll also discuss the new overtime rule that may be headed our way this October. Our guest today is Ken Bator, owner of Bator Training & Consulting. Ken has 20-plus years of experience in helping organizations reach new levels of effectiveness.

In today’s podcast, we’ll talk about how long-term care facilities can implement proven techniques used successfully for decades by mental health facilities.

In today's podcast, we'll talk about tips for regulatory compliance. Our guest today is Maureen McCarthy, president of Celtic Consulting LLC and the CEO and founder of Care Transitions LLP, a care coordination service provider.

In today's podcast, we'll talk about active shooter training, a topic that, unfortunately, is a reality in our society. Our guest is Lieutenant Joseph A. Hendry Jr., a national trainer with the ALICE Training Institute.

The topic of today's podcast is New Year, New Hires. Our guest is Carol Looney, principal and co-founder of Signature HR Solutions, which provides human resources solutions for small and mid-sized businesses. Carol, before we get started, can you tell us a little bit about your background in long-term care?

In today's podcast we'll talk about the unique perks and gift ideas for employees. Our guest is Carol Looney, principal and co-founder of Signature HR Solutions, which provides human resources solutions for small and mid-sized businesses.

In today's podcast, we'll talk about unique senior housing options. Our guest is Dr. Bill Thomas, an author, entrepreneur, musician, teacher, farmer, and physician ― a geriatrician to be exact ― whose wide-ranging work explores the terrain of human aging. The Wall Street Journal has highlighted Dr. Thomas as one of the nation's top 10 innovators changing the future of retirement in America, and US News and World Report has named him as one of America's best leaders.

In today's podcast, we'll talk about ways to boost employee morale during the holidays. Our guest is Carol Looney, principal and co-founder of Signature HR Solutions, which provides human resources solutions for small and midsize businesses.

In today's podcast, we'll talk about the challenges of staffing during the holidays. Our guest is Carol Looney, principal and co-founder of Signature HR Solutions, which provides human resources solutions for small and midsize businesses.