This could have major relevance to the Senior Living sector.

By Steve Moran

I have so many reasons to love my job. At the very top of that list is learning from readers. A close second or third is getting to interview some of the smartest, most thoughtful people in the world, outside of senior living then writing about those interviews.  

I have had an unusually rich period of doing that, none of which have actually published yet, but will be coming soon, including the first one with Chip Conley, the author of “Wisdom at Work, The Making of A Modern Elder” in the next week to 10 days. This is about another one of those amazing interviews.

Who the Heck is Ian Morrison

“Every system in the world sucks in its own unique way, right? I mean, it’s a, they’re all ungodly compromises.”– Ian Morrison

Ian Morrison will be delivering the noon keynote presentation at the NIC Spring Conference in San Diego, February 20-22, 2019. He is “. . . an internationally known author, consultant, and futurist specializing in long-term forecasting and planning with particular emphasis on health care and the changing business environment.” And, he was fascinating to have a conversation with, looking at the opportunities that exist for our sector.  

The World Is Changing

I recorded the interview via Zoom and it is embedded at the end of the article. It is moderately long (29 or so minutes) and there are spots where the sound is a bit less than perfect, but not horrible. It is a rich conversation. Here are some of the highlights:

  • We are in a very interesting place in the healthcare delivery system in the United States. Today, we are in a situation where we have Obamacare in Republican hands, though less so with the House swinging to the Democrats.

  • Our current healthcare system delivers, but almost certainly delivers the least value for the dollar of any system. But Ian has great faith that we will and are figuring it out.

  • We are already seeing lots of different, new and old proposals being floated by the 2020 Democratic Presidential hopefuls.

  • Largely, to this point, providers have adjusted to the changes that have occurred.

  • There is good news in that we are on a long-term march toward a healthcare system where payment will be based on value not just the delivery of services and, maybe equally important, paying to provide services for populations of people rather than for individuals.

    THIS COULD HAVE MAJOR RELEVANCE TO THE SENIOR LIVING SECTOR.

  • The reason this is so important to our sector is that those organizations that are responsible for providing care are going to get very creative and aggressive about finding ways to get better outcomes at a lower cost.

  • There is a growing interest in the social determinants of health, things like housing, access to food, socialization, and transportation.

  • This is where the rubber really meets the road for senior living’s role in the healthcare ecosystem. We know better how to address those social issues than any other player and at a lower cost than other options. The challenge we are still facing is how to be players in the process.

This is such an important conversation for our whole industry and the spring NIC conference will be mostly about how to become players in a more integrated healthcare system. There is much more to the interview below including a look at technology and artificial intelligence in senior living and low-income senior living opportunities; as well as the impact of demographics on what we do and alternate models of serving seniors that could represent either opportunities or threats.

This will be a great keynote and I look forward to seeing you at the NIC conference in a few weeks.