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Three Top Technologies to Help LTPAC Providers Tackle Workforce Shortages in 2025

Seniors using a resident portal and thinking it is pretty neat
March 1, 2025 | Varsha Chaugai

Chronic understaffing has plagued the long-term and post-acute care (LTPAC) industry for over two decades. While hiring more staff seems like the obvious solution, high turnover rates—pre-pandemic at 128% annually (source: NCBI) and continuing through and after COVID-19—make this a complex challenge.

The key to addressing the staffing crisis lies in rethinking staff retention and respect. This means fostering a positive work culture and implementing efficient processes that empower staff, encourage professional growth, and maximize their time. Ultimately, LTPAC staff want to focus on what matters most: providing direct resident care. They want to offload time-consuming administrative tasks that technology can easily handle.

Here are three key technology trends that can free up time for LTPAC staff, allowing them to prioritize resident care:

1. Medication Management Technologies

  • The Problem: Nurses spend an average of four hours daily on medication management. This includes communicating with pharmacies/prescribers, obtaining consent from residents or their Substitute Decision Makers (SDMs), scheduling, consulting physicians, receiving orders, dispensing, and administration. Many facilities still rely on manual processes, and even electronic systems often operate in silos, adding to the workload and increasing the risk of errors.
  • The Solution: Implementing a health information exchange (HIE) system can automate prescribing/ordering and communication within medication management. For example, electronic health record (EHR) systems with ePrescribing, eMAR, Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE), and a Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) can streamline these processes. Extensive research demonstrates that medication management technologies free up staff time and improve medication safety.

2. Resident/Family/Patient Communication Portals

  • The Problem: Research indicates that nurses spend an average of 1.5 hours per day answering family inquiries and playing phone tag to provide updates. (Source: NCBI) The 21st Century Cures Act: Information Blocking condition in the US mandates that healthcare providers offer electronic access to health information for patients and their SDMs. While primary and acute care has made progress with patient portals, the LTPAC sector lags. In the post-COVID-19 era, families are even more vigilant, increasing inbound inquiries and further diverting staff from direct care.

  • The Solution: An EHR-integrated patient portal that centralizes communication and provides access to health information is crucial. Our research shows that patient portals in LTPAC settings can reduce inbound phone calls, saving nurses over four hours per week previously spent on communication. This improves staff efficiency while enhancing communication and providing families with peace of mind.

3. Staff Scheduling Software

  • The Problem: Staff burnout is a leading cause of turnover in the LTPAC sector. While flexible work arrangements have become more common in other industries, healthcare workers, especially nurses and care aides, often lack such flexibility. They now demand more control over their schedules, reduced mandatory overtime, and fewer last-minute call-offs.
  • The Solution: Advanced analytics powered by data science and artificial intelligence can help LTPAC facilities understand trends in occupancy and resident acuity, enabling more accurate staffing predictions. Scheduling software, increasingly adopted from the acute care sector, empowers facilities and nurses to manage schedules and swap shifts based on individual needs, increasing staff satisfaction.

Technology can never replace the dedicated care provided by LTPAC professionals. However, it can significantly complement care delivery and boost staff efficiency by automating tedious tasks, reducing errors, and freeing up time for what matters most: providing exceptional resident care and improving the patient experience.

We believe 2025 will be a pivotal year for technology adoption in the LTPAC sector. What are your thoughts? We’d love to hear from you.

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