An important measure of care in the healthcare industry is risk assessment. Facilities and their employees can face several hazards in administering care, and understanding those risks—both to patients and staff—is paramount when developing strategies.

Nursing homes, assisted living, or care home facilities can find their risk exposure higher in some cases compared to hospitals or specialty locations. It’s because of the unique level of care that comes with this area of the healthcare industry. Luckily, there are many ways one can approach risk management.

Surprisingly, resident experience—or, by extension, patient experience—can be used as a tool to assist with risk assessment when used the right way. It’s all about having as much data as possible to inform decisions and strategies as early as possible. As we start a new year, it’s the perfect time to evaluate what you know to predict the future.

How Long-Term Care is Different

First, it’s good to understand the difference between care facilities. Many names get thrown around, so it’s important you know what separates them from hospital care.

In most cases, it’s about the level of care! Long-term care (LTC), in general, refers to when a variety of medical and non-medical services are provided to meet the needs of someone with a chronic illness or disability, or who cannot care for themselves entirely for long periods.

Assisted living and nursing or skilled nursing homes are the most visible examples in this field, but LTC can be provided at home, in the community, or within facilities. Age doesn’t matter here, though LTC is typically offered to the elderly. There are many different kinds:

Long-term services and supports (LTSS) – Community-based services like supported housing, supported living, supported employment, supported parenting, and even supported education. This allows people to still live and work within their community, with assistance provided over a more extended period, as compared to the hospital, which is geared towards more acute issues.

Institutional LTC – More commonly seen with disabilities or chronic illnesses like dementia, psychosis, or other debilitating issues that can put the patient at risk when alone. Many of these facilities have psychiatric capabilities combined with supported living.

Assisted living – Geared more towards helping those who need support feel independent, assisted living is about having physical assistance. This can help prevent isolation or depression by having someone consistently come by to check on daily living skills and provide companionship. In this case, community is also vital, as this is a connected residential community.

Nursing home – Sometimes also called “skilled nursing facility (SNF)” or “rehabilitation centers,” here there is a heavier focus on medical assistance for chronic illnesses or disabilities, or those who need around-the-clock care. It can be a permanent solution, but doesn’t always have to be. The elderly or those with severe injuries can come here to be rehabilitated with the support of physical, social, and speech therapy to get back to their assisted living facility or home if they do not remain at the facility.

Seeing the difference between LTC and acute care settings (such as hospitals), you can begin to understand how risk assessment is so critical.

What is Risk Assessment?

Risk assessment is a systematic process by which potential risks involved with any activity or undertaking can be evaluated. When it comes to healthcare, risk assessment becomes more complex.

For LTC and LTSS, risk assessment takes a collection of different processes and data to calculate and evaluate a person, facility, or staff for risks.

Patient data for health risk assessment can include:

• Age
• Weight
• Height
• Medical history (self and family)

Why is risk assessment so important? Because it can help predict someone is going to get sick or absent from work (health risk assessment), or how likely they’d be hurt within a facility (facility risk assessment). The more data you have, the better a resident or patient’s assessment can be.

But one important aspect of the assessment should also come from the patient. The voice of the patient is the hallmark of patient-centric care, and taking into account their own words, sentiment, and data can also help you with risk assessment for both incoming patients and current residents at a LTC facility.

How Patient Experience Helps with Risk Assessment

There are many different aspects of resident experience or patient experience, but the essential components can be parsed down to the living experience one has in a multifamily building. This is directly linked to facilities where residents can reside for extended periods of time, like LTC facilities.

So, how does resident experience data help with risk assessment, and become a good tool to make assessments and adjustments more complete?

Here’s a look at some of the things that can affect residents’ experience for any LTC or LTSS they frequent:

• Level of care
• Quality of care
• Safety
• Socialization
• Daily living activities
• Care plan
• Family care plan
• Medication
• Staff
• Facility

These aspects of their experiences, positive or negative, can change how they rate their overall happiness with a facility, sure—but they can also reveal so much more when it comes to risk assessment. Let’s look at some in an example to clarify this:

• Level of care – Residents can share how they feel about their level of care, possibly exposing gaps in care, and show a need for risk adjustment or care plan changes.
• Quality of care – Here, something like text analysis with natural language processing can really help bring the voice of the patient into their care. In patient-centric strategies, knowing how the patient perceives their care, facility, and staff can also provide insight into their possible risk factors or needs in their own words.
• Safety – Safety normally is attached to the facility itself, though the responsibility of personal safety—like fall risks—is often shared with the resident. Resident experience can help you assess personal safety concerns or thoughts, while also checking in on the facility itself!

You can begin to see how resident experience data can breathe the voice of the patient into your risk assessment process, using their thoughts and perceptions to help create a more well-rounded view. A powerful healthcare experience management system can help you gather all the data you need to make smart decisions.

Now is the best time to get feedback from your residents with powerful analytics to drive action. Don’t know where to start? Let’s get on a call—we’re here to support your efforts!