New Data: What Analysis Of Top Communities Reveals About Boosting Census And Reducing Staff Turnover

When Sentrics went to work analyzing senior living communities, the results undercut one of the most frustratingly common tropes in the industry: “do more with less.”

The fact is, many operators are actually doing less with more. They have the opportunity to make informed decisions using data they naturally accrue every day. They just need the ability to see it.

Those who have operational blind spots all have stories that are heartbreakingly similar. A resident slowly stops attending activities. Meals go skipped. TV watching increases while social interactions drop. Overwhelmed with daily tasks, staff members don’t see the pattern until a crisis forces their attention.

Every one of these patterns was visible in the data. But no one was equipped to see it, and once they did, intervention was often too late.

“We saw operators struggling to manage their many data vendors and sources, and were hesitant to dive into another technology system that promised data integration and insights without proof,” says Brian McWade, Chief Product & Marketing Officer at Sentrics. “We developed Sentrics360 with a powerful analytics platform, Enrich, to give them both: the ease of use and the proof of success.”

The Sentrics360 suite gives operators a 360-degree view of their residents, and helps caregivers manage the health and wellness needs of residents. Through the platform’s Enrich solution, Sentrics analyzed communities for two years and learned the power of operators accessing these data patterns.

Residents whose alarms were answered quickly in their first 90 days in a community were 14 times more likely to stay in that community past the 90-day mark. Highly engaged IL residents had a 75% chance of staying to the four-year mark, compared to just 35% for those with low engagement.

When operators view typical life safety data alongside TV usage, location data and more, they gain an early warning system.

“Enrich serves insights on a silver platter, helping us take actions,” says one IT executive. A wellness executive added: “These dashboard insights are exactly what leadership needs. Proof to the family that our residents are engaging, not sitting at home.”

Adds another operations executive who uses Enrich: “It’s everything our CEO asks for, in one dashboard designed to take action on.”

Redefining caregiver excellence: the three datapoints that define top care staff

This visibility proves equally transformative for understanding staff performance. With up to 80% caregiver churn annually at an average replacement cost of $8,300¹, identifying top performers is crucial.

To determine top caregivers, Sentrics examines three factors: response times, resident complexity, and workload balance. This comprehensive view gives visibility into what Sentrics affectionately calls “Sarah Moments,” when leadership discovers hidden heroes.

“I knew Sarah was good, but I had no idea she was such an all-star,” one executive director recalls. “She was handling 30% more alarms than other caregivers while working with the most complex residents”

The breakthrough isn’t adding new tasks. It’s surfacing insights from existing activities.

Your caregivers answered 1,847 calls last month. Who answered them fastest? Who handled the complex calls? That data exists. It’s just invisible without the right lens.

While staff serves breakfast, Enrich notices attendance patterns. As caregivers respond to calls, the platform identifies performance trends. When residents go about their routines, it spots warning signs.

Preparing for the surge: three questions operators must answer

As the industry races toward peak demand, communities that thrive will maximize existing resources through better visibility.

Sentrics isn’t asking communities to change how they operate, just offering the ability to finally see the full impact of what they’re already doing.

For operators evaluating readiness, three key questions emerge:

1. Can you identify at-risk residents before a crisis?
2. Do you know which caregivers are your hidden stars? And alternatively, those at risk?
3. Are your decisions based on complete information or fragments?

Communities connecting these dots are discovering something powerful: The data needed for transformational insights isn’t in some future system. It’s happening right now, in every interaction, every response, every moment of care.

They just need to see it.

This Views is sponsored by Sentries. For more information about how Sentrics360 is helping communities gain operational visibility, visit sentrics.com/enrich.

1. LeadingAge Workforce Calculator estimates replacing an employee costs 25% annual salary, with an assumed national average for caregivers of $16 per hour. ︎

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