Katie Smith Sloan (Continued)
reassess our competitive advantages,
business models and strategies to
compete effectively in the future, while
holding on to what sets us apart:
quality. We must capitalize on the
strength of our brands.
This is a critical issue for LeadingAge
and one that we are actively working
on. Last year, we convened the first
LeadingAge Business Strategy Council,
comprised of our gold level corporate
partners and member leaders who
have come together to share ideas
and learn from each other about the
external forces that we are confronting.
The Council is focusing on 3 issues this
year and one of them is the nonprofit
difference. By the end of the year, the
Council will provide recommendations
and resources that will help
organizations address issues like the
ones I just described.
•
that are
practical tools for improving the skill
sets of employees. Resources like these
can improve recruitment of skilled
workers, focus our training dollars,
and reduce the amount of turnover,
providing continuity for older people
and their families.
Recruiting and retaining a vibrant
workforce. This is already an issue and
is certain to get worse if we don’t work
together to identify solutions to finding
trained, committed staff to care for
seniors. Demographics are working
against us - as is reimbursement
that doesn’t acknowledge the
indisputable connection between
quality and staffing.
Organizations rely on a trained
workforce to deliver the quality care
and services that they are known for.
We need to look at building cultural
competence and job training and
leadership development programs
and, in doing so, shift the paradigm to
human resources as an investment,
rather than an expense.
Last year, the LeadingAge Center
for Applied Research released 2
Competency Development Guides
We are committed to finding and
implementing the right solutions so
our members can continue delivery
the quality care that is the backbone
of our organizations.
•
Learning how to navigate payment
reform. Understanding – and keeping
up with – payment reform changes
can be daunting. We have and will
continue to offer state partners like
New York a comprehensive inventory of
the managed care alternative payment
contracting landscape in their states:
who are the players, where are they
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