Empathy and
Innovation at Work:
Vetter Senior Living
Boosts Resident Admissions Efficiency by over 50% with Streamlined Admissions
Vetter Senior Living is an award winning, nonprofit organization that owns and operates 30+ care facilities in the midwest. They provide services that support independent and assisted living, rehab and sub-acute care, long term and home care with specialties in Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Serving residents for close to 50 years, their mission is Dignity in Life and this is at the heart of everything they do.
Managing care across multiple facilities, the Vetter team relied heavily on pen-and-paper to manage their admissions process, a time-consuming practice that often resulted in delays, frustration, increased the risk of errors and didn’t enable their team to exemplify their mission.
The Challenge
With 15 years of experience in senior care, Corie Sass at Vetter Senior Living, had grown accustomed to working around the challenges associated with the traditional resident admissions process.
Ensuring all necessary on-paper signatures were obtained from both residents and their families presented another significant obstacle including time delays as everyone involved had to physically be present in the building to sign admissions contracts.
“Families often found themselves overwhelmed during the resident admissions process, grappling with numerous steps and tasks at a time when they are already emotionally drained. Our primary goal is to focus on extending hospitality, empathy and creating a welcoming atmosphere for them,” explained Corie.
Information gathered during admissions work is crucial to support quality of care for new residents, but this process lacked efficiency and the warmth and empathy that the Vetter team was committed to demonstrating in every other way.
The Solution
Vetter Senior Living worked with Reside Admissions to completely transform and enhance their resident admissions process.
Implementation and Training
The RESIDE team ensured a smooth transition and provided exceptional support in implementing the new admissions platform that was tailored to meet the complex needs of Vetter.
As Corie described, “The team at Reside Admissions guided us through every step and paid special attention to the unique
complexities of our large organization. They accommodated every one of our requests, from initial explanations of Reside’s capabilities to an outstanding implementation, simplifying what was an intricate process and exceeding our high expectations—truly, I cannot commend the team enough for making it all seem effortless.”
Error Reduction and Compliance
With RESIDE, families and staff are guided through each step, eliminating challenges that result from human error. Workflows automatically adapt to accommodate the right payor sources, eliminating the complexity of pausing and shifting workflows to
introduce additional paperwork. This quality control is crucial to maintain compliance with regulatory requirements and helps to prevent rare, but extremely problematic nonpayment circumstances that can create delays.
“Accommodating complex workflows that coordinate different payer sources, such as rehab services, previously led to a large number of errors. Reside has built-in workflows that remove the burden of these critical decisions from our staff and streamlines the process considerably. With the initial setup designed with our input, our Reside solution ensures that our staff no longer need to determine which documents are necessary for each case. Instead, they simply click a button, and Reside handles the rest behind the scenes. This has proven essential for compliance with regulatory standards and safeguards our organization against potential nonpayment issues from entities like Medicare.”
Digitalization of Admissions
Transitioning to an electronic system created a more streamlined and less intimidating process. The use of iPads replaced the overwhelming pen-and-paper stack, making it easier for residents to be guided through completing necessary forms with ease by the click of a button, and without missing anything.
“Handing over piles of paperwork always felt impersonal and outdated, especially during such sensitive interactions with families. Pen and paper not only felt impersonal and outdated but also posed challenges for residents, particularly those who found it physically difficult to write. We wanted to simplify this process, reduce the number of steps and eliminate the coldness of paper transactions. Our transition to Reside was a game-changer in this respect, offering a more friendly, modern, and engaging experience. The integration of Reside and iPads has simplified our resident admissions workflow, allowing a single ‘accept’ action to apply to multiple documents, significantly easing the process for everyone involved,” said Corie.
Efficient Process
RESIDE has reduced the admissions process at Vetter from 45 minutes to 20 or less, enabling staff to focus their time and energy on enhancing resident experiences.
Remote Access to Admission and Information
RESIDE supports remote access so that families can complete admissions paperwork when and where it’s convenient for them. This is particularly beneficial for families who cannot be physically present.
Prior to the implementation of RESIDE, checking the status of resident admissions required that the Vetter team review over 50 pages that had been printed, updated, scanned and faxed – a cumbersome and time-consuming process. With just the click of a button, families and care staff can view each stage, effortlessly and in real time.
“Enabling families to complete the admission process on their own time, in their own space is a huge advantage – especially across our 20 buildings. We have some residents whose families live out of state, or even out of the country. Thanks to RESIDE, these residents are not delayed in being connected with the support they need as families can complete the process from thousands of miles away.”
The Results
The transition that Vetter Senior Living made to implement RESIDE to support their admissions process has helped to improve efficiency, compliance, and overall resident and family experience. The organization has seen measurable improvements in overall satisfaction, operational efficiencies and outcomes.
Enhanced Family Experience and Increased Satisfaction
The admissions process became less daunting and more welcoming, leaving the team with more time to focus their energy on hospitality, empathy and care rather than managing complex paperwork and administrative processes.
Reside enhanced the entry process, significantly improved the experiences of families and reinforced the care-centric ethos of Vetter Senior Living.
Increased Efficiency and Compliance
In addition to being a time-saving solution for the Vetter team, Reside’s tailored solution has helped to reduce errors and ensure compliance in the admissions process to meet regulatory standards, increase operational efficiency and deliver long-term care excellence for residents and families.
Financial Benefits
Vetter experienced increased return on investment through its Reside implementation demonstrated by time that was reallocated to care.
Vetter Senior Living mitigated potential losses of thousands of dollars by significantly reducing documentation errors that are often associated with nonpayment. Reside has also helped to protect their revenue streams by building accuracy and compliance into their solution, ensuring they are always up-to-date with regulatory requirements.
Modern and Engaging Approach
The introduction of technology has completely modernized the admissions process at Vetter Senior Living. Reside Admissions has supported the team’s commitment to innovation and compliance, and has also created an environment that fosters personal, warm and welcoming interactions between staff, residents and families.
Transitioning to RESIDE marked a significant shift and enabled us to concentrate on making families feel valued and supported during what can be a very stressful time in their lives
Corie Sass, LCSW, LMHP, CDP
Vetter Senior Living
