A Culture of Innovation
Innovation means embracing a changing world. That’s not a new idea for Lutheran Senior Services. Inspired by those we serve, our staff members seek continual improvement in the programs and services we deliver. Advancing positive change for the people we serve is the LSS way — making the best better.
Forging a new model for care
Lutheran Senior Services was among the first in the country to participate in the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) initiative led by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. This aligns hospitals, doctors, and other providers to give higher-quality, more coordinated care. This coordinated care is not just for a day, but for an entire episode of care. BPCI creates a smoother transition from the hospital to a REACH Short Stay Rehabilitation site to back home. Lutheran Senior Services is focused on driving performance improvement every day through a broad range of therapy and nursing interventions.
The results are in, and they’re good:
- Less than 10% of our REACH Short Stay Rehabilitation guests are readmitted to the hospital during their stay, which is lower than the national average of 21%.
- An average of 18 days is needed to reach individualized therapy goals, an improvement of 7 or more days from the national average of rehab to home.
- 96% of REACH Short Stay Rehabilitation guests would recommend Lutheran Senior Services.
On track with today’s technology
From touch screens across our LSS locations to advanced electronic health records and systems, Lutheran Senior Services continually invests in technology to positively affect residents, health partners, and staff members.
Empowering team members
Big and small innovations, created organically by front-line staff and others closest to our residents and REACH Short Stay guests, can make dramatic differences in how improvement happens. We evaluate clinical and operational outcomes and statistical measurements through our Quality Assurance Performance Improvement (QAPI) program.
This focused methodology is based on a centralized approach and decentralized execution. The rationale is simple — provide leadership, responsibility, and accountability at every level by including staff members from different disciplines in a QAPI huddle. Together, they tackle issues and make improvement suggestions. It helps everyone understand the decision-making process and why their decisions have a profound effect on how LSS delivers service excellence. It broadens and builds our teams, raising the bar for the service and care we provide.
Creative funding strategies for senior support
People are living longer. At the same time, the cost of providing quality care continues to rise. More and more, we see older adults deplete their financial resources before their care needs end. That’s where the LSS Benevolent Care Endowment Fund becomes an essential part of living our mission. Administered through the LSS Living Foundation, the LSS Benevolent Care Endowment Fund exists to serve Lutheran Senior Services residents who, through no fault of their own, outlive their financial ability to pay. You have an opportunity to give a life-supporting gift that will bring comfort and hope to those in need during a vulnerable time in their lives. We thank you in advance for helping a Lutheran Senior Services resident have a home for life.
An innovative gift option
The Lutheran Senior Services Home Conversion program offers a positive alternative to selling your home. By gifting your house based upon its fully appraised value to Lutheran Senior Services, you’ll receive fixed payments each year for the rest of your life through a Charitable Gift Annuity. You’ll also receive lifetime payments for one or two individuals — with a portion income tax free. Payments can begin now or be deferred until a future date. At the end of the annuitant’s life, any remaining annuity funds benefit other seniors we serve who’ve outlived their resources. Your generosity directly impacts our Christian mission of Older Adults Living Life to the Fullest (John 10:10).
Resourceful initiatives in affordable housing
As the need for affordable senior housing continues to grow, Lutheran Senior Services continues to build and expand income-based senior living communities. But the need is great. With potential reductions in the housing assistance provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), we are proactively working with new funding sources. Today, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) is the most important resource for creating affordable housing in the United States. Through public and private partnerships, LIHTC provides essential capital and key financing for construction and renovation. It fosters opportunity. Neighborhoods are improved. To date, Lutheran Senior Services offers LIHTC apartments at Dunn Road Manor in Florissant, MO, and The Village at Mackenzie Place in Afton, MO.
Residents of our affordable senior housing communities in the Greater St. Louis area are empowered to take control of their health through Project Wellness. This free service offering provides immediate blood pressure, weight, blood glucose levels, and other biometric readings at on-site Telehealth wellness kiosks. That up-to-the-minute information, in combination with wellness and exercise programs and an on-site registered parish nurse, encourages residents to stay informed and make choices that can improve health and quality of life.