The newest improvements in the Yardi Senior Living Suite are here! This release (7.18) includes enhancements in RentCafe Senior CRM, Yardi EHR and eMAR. As always, each enhancement was powered by feedback from our amazing senior living clients.  To learn about what’s new and improved in 7.18, read the highlights below. We’re also sharing links to informative webinars, crafted for clients, which explain the new functionality in detail. For a complete list of new features documentation, clients can also visit the help center in Client Central and select new features. What’s new in RentCafe Senior CRM RentCafe Senior CRM, our mobile-friendly CRM solution, is packed with fresh functionality courtesy of the 7.18 release. From simplified workflows to completely new features, the enhancements equip you to: Track your competitive analysis with new options to create custom configurations that automatically save for future use Store marketing collateral in one centralized location, the document center, allowing staff to quickly grab attachments to email to prospects Enjoy expanded options for automated correspondences including those produced by birthdays, anniversaries, email templates, lead status and prospect status change — plus apply filters to individual rows to ensure you send the prospect’s preferred correspondence type Sync your Outlook calendar with your RentCafe Senior CRM calendar, enabling items to instantly populate in Outlook as they’re updated in RentCafe Senior CRM Build savable templates that automatically generate common tasks, conducted before or after an event, to avoid starting from scratch when creating future events Access a simplified digital signature invitation that enables copying and pasting a verification pin sent via email, or via SMS mobile phone when you have RentCafe Conversations Watch the RentCafe Senior CRM New Features Webinar. Watch the RentCafe Senior CRM Set Up New Features Webinar. What’s new in Yardi EHR and eMAR Now for Yardi EHR and Yardi eMAR, solutions built to help you enhance care at every level, here’s what’s possible thanks to the 7.18 release: Benefit from a redesigned service plan screen that clearly presents every action, making it easier to manage plans and identify what’s missing prior to activation Utilize new order direction templates that allow you to set the direction for an order with the click of a single button Enjoy an updated variable/sliding scale feature that auto-selects the correct quantity based on the vital information entered Save time with new bulk charting options in Care Stream that allow staff to chart multiple medications at one time, and apply specific notes to everything at once Streamline assessments with enhanced dynamic profile sections, which enable staff to update the resident’s profile while performing an assessment Watch the Yardi EHR New Features Webinar. Watch the Yardi EHR Set Up New Features Webinar. Have questions? If you have any questions about what’s offered with the 7.18 release, visit the help center in Client Central. If you’re new to Yardi senior living solutions and want more information on the success they create, get in touch with...

“We use Yardi as our source of truth for everything.” That insight comes from Nick Byrd, chief financial officer at Vitality Living, in a recent interview discussing Vitality’s successes with the Yardi Senior Living Suite. With a focus on Yardi Voyager Senior Housing, the story spotlights the challenges Vitality faced prior to working with Yardi — and shares how they’ve found success since then.   Read the highlight below, then head to the success story to get all the insights: The Challenge: Manual Processes & Disparate Systems Vitality used to rely on manual processes and disparate systems — taking time away from priorities, generating errors and causing confusion among teams. From monthly ACH pulls to building financial reports, key tasks became increasingly arduous. Vitality searched for a dependable, integrated solution to serve as their source of truth and alleviate the challenges they were facing. The Solution: Yardi Voyager Senior Housing Designed for senior living providers of all types and sizes, Yardi Voyager Senior Housing delivers property management and financial accounting on a powerful, cloud-based platform. By adding solutions across the Yardi Senior Living Suite, operators take full control of the senior living spectrum from marketing to operations to care. The Story: Gaining One Source of Truth, Eliminating Errors & Saving Time Prior to implementing Voyager Senior Housing and accompanying tools in the Yardi Senior Living Suite, Vitality used a mix of siloed technology and manual processes. The lack of a single connected solution — built to unite all data and workflows in one place — meant Vitality didn’t have true visibility or a reliable method for retrieving important information. By moving forward with Yardi, Vitality now has a single source of truth — a solution that integrates all aspects of its business into one database. “When you’re running a report in Voyager, you’re getting real time data,” shares Byrd in the success story. “The system is integrated with all of these pieces which allows us to get a true picture.” With Voyager automating tasks Vitality previously did manually, errors have now been eliminated across the board. “When we would run our monthly ACH pulls in the old system, the community’s business director would have to prepare the file, send it to accounting and we would manually enter all the ACH transactions, and update the amounts,” explained Byrd. “You can only imagine what kind of errors that could create, and it created a ton.” Vitaly also said goodbye to time drainers when they partnered with Yardi. Since Voyager acts as their complete general ledger system, Vitality has drastically reduced time spent on key financial accounting tasks, allowing team members to shift and focus on other priorities. “We gained two days back just around the ACH process,” said Byrd. “It was a manual lift before, but now things are getting updated in real time.” Read the full success story Ready to see all the ways Vitality is finding success with Voyager Senior Housing? Read the full success story! If you have any questions for us — or you’d like to book a demo based on what you read — reach out to connect with our senior living...

“Change is always tough, even when it’s good for you.” Those words come from Doris-Ellie Sullivan, a 2023 Changemaker and dedicated Yardi senior living client! As president of Retirement Unlimited, Inc. — a 21-community organization with living options across Virginia and Florida — Sullivan knows a thing or two about skilled, innovative leadership. We’re proud to join Senior Housing News (SHN) in recognizing Sullivan as the Changemaker she is — spotlighting her extraordinary advice and insights (gathered in a detailed interview). It’s an honor to be part of this special series, sharing inspiration from leaders like Sullivan, as sponsor for the fifth year in a row.    Yardi client Doris-Ellie Sullivan named 2023 Changemaker Through her conversation with SHN as part of this year’s Changemakers series, Doris-Ellie Sullivan shares how her background has shaped her leadership style today. Coming to the senior living industry by way of the U.S. Armed Services, where she was a nurse, Sullivan’s career has been guided by a passion for service and a dedication to helping others. Keep reading for a look at her insightful interview: SHN: How have you changed as a leader since starting in this industry? Sullivan: I came into senior living from the military, so that was quite a big difference. Empathy and servant leadership is definitely at the core of my leadership style. The discipline and systems came across from the military, but I think it was more of the residents-centered focus – believing in the mission. Of course, our mission at Retirement Unlimited is to provide a lifestyle that our residents have earned and deserve. I think it’s a different mission. I think that you have to evolve, and that’s what sets me apart is evolving and always being open to learning. SHN: How do you think about timing, so that your company can innovate without getting so far ahead of the market that a new idea doesn’t work? Sullivan: We launched the MyRUI app in 2019 before the pandemic. We also partnered up with a lot of companies to prepare for the pandemic, not knowing that the pandemic was coming. I don’t think you can ever be early. I think innovation equates to adoption: What is the adoption at the community level? What is the adoption at the resident and family level? What is the adoption to the general public? I think that if you can create adoption and not distraction in anything that you’re innovating, whether it’s AI or ChatGPT or some new software product or some hardware or some new system. One of the things that we’ve learned with the MyRUI app — and with any innovation that we’ve put out there — is that it’s not a one-time, “Let’s have this big party and launch it.” It’s every three months, you have to almost do a soft launch to keep the adoption rates going. More showing us as shoulder-to-shoulder versus telling people that it’s going to make your lives easier, that is a big difference that we have at RUI. SHN: Can you talk about how you see the need for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the industry, and what you are doing to drive change in this regard? Sullivan: I am a female of Asian descent and started this business in the 1990s. I and several other women out there had the great opportunity of being on an all-female panel a month ago with some other pioneers like Shelley Edsen from Sonata Senior Living and Sevy Petras from Priority Life Care. It’s just important to find the right candidate for the position. If everybody has that focus and they’re looking for the right candidate with no judgment, I think that that blossoms into opportunity. As I said, we looked for the right candidates and created a very diverse home office, a very diverse community operations side, and a very diverse region. That comes...

The Canadian rental housing market has been growing and shifting rapidly. According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the annual average growth rate of purpose-built rentals has moved closer to 2% over the last decade, reaching almost 2.2 million units in 2020. Unfortunately, the long-term deficit will take years of building to fix, especially with Canada’s population expected to increase by 1 million in 2023. Supply is simply not keeping up with demand. Fortunately, the recent increase in national and regional rental data is helping Canadians gain a better understanding of these developments. This article examines key takeaways from a recent Yardi-sponsored virtual panel discussion, which covered the latest rental data and explored how it’s being used to make sense of the current rental market. Existing Reports One of the longest-established means of benchmarking rental market data, is collected and distributed by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Their process involves conducting annual surveys using telephone calls, site visits and information from owners. The results are shared every year in January and show a snapshot of vacancy, available units, turnover rates and average rents in primary and secondary rental markets. Peter Altobelli, a panelist and vice president of sales and general manager for Yardi Canada, highlighted Yardi’s Canadian National Multifamily Report, which analyzes in-place rents, rent growth, vacancy rates and other fundamentals across 13 Census Metropolitan Areas. The quarterly report aggregates and anonymizes data from Yardi clients and divulges increasingly rich information. The data “enables Yardi to offer more transparency into the rental market and expands the scope and uniqueness of the report,” Altobelli said. He added that the number of units used to compile the report will increase by 60% in the near future. Other panelists favour comparing online rental listings data with CMHC and Yardi reports, to capture a holistic view of the market throughout the year. Rental Challenges Data is more critical than ever, as Canadians face the current housing crisis. The existing rental market reports are intended to equip renters and real estate professionals with data to make informed decisions about rental housing options. Although online rental listing reports are released more frequently, these types of reports incorporate average asking rents rather than in market rents. This information makes for “excellent for shock headlines” but should be regarded cautiously, according to webinar panelist Alexandra Baird Allen, an economic intelligence unit manager for Turner Drake & Partners. The panelists also discussed the most recent Yardi Canadian multifamily report, which documents rising in-place rents, tight vacancy rates and declining turnover rates. “These trends are expected to continue”, said Altobelli and with rent controls in place in most jurisdictions, “owners of older inventory may be well-served to focus on value-add scenarios to provide better homes for renters and drive market rents in those units when opportunity presents” he added. Making Decisions For markets to stay competitive, property owners and managers should leverage these reports to help attract investors that will support redesigning their properties. Changes such as converting office space into residential or coworking spaces are hidden treasures for investors, depending on the market. For more of these experts’ insights into Canadian multifamily housing market data, view the complete...

The ENERGY STAR® initiative, which certifies businesses and consumer products that conform with energy-efficient solutions that protect the climate and public health, launched more than 20 years ago. It remains a key U.S. Environmental Protection Agency initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote carbon pollution-free electricity and achieve net-zero emissions targets. An EPA report in November 2022 noted that energy benchmarking enabled by ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager® has grown from 2,000 office buildings in 1999 to more than 280,000 buildings encompassing over 27 billion square feet of space. ENERGY STAR-certified buildings use an average of 35% less energy and produce 35% fewer carbon dioxide emissions than typical buildings. As part of its focus on commercial buildings, which account for 16% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and $190 billion in annual energy spending, the EPA compiles an annual Top Cities list that measures the achievements of metros’ ENERGY STAR performance. Here are highlights from this year’s list, which encompasses commercial and multifamily properties: Most certified buildings. Los Angeles came in first in this category, as it did the previous three years, with 748, followed by Washington, D.C., with 555, Atlanta (376) and San Francisco (343). New York City, Denver, Riverside, Calif., Chicago, Dallas and Boston rounded out the top 10. Most total floor area. Los Angeles and Washington led in this ranking as well with 162.8 million square feet and 149.1 million square feet, respectively. New York and Chicago each exceeded 100 million square feet, with Atlanta and San Francisco close behind with 93.7 million square feet and 92.7 million square feet, respectively. Most greenhouse gas emissions prevented (measured by metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent). San Francisco was far ahead in this category, with 2,007,000 metric tons. Washington came in second with 517,200 metric tons, followed by Chicago, New York, Houston and Denver. Biggest cost savings. Los Angeles was the champion in this category, saving $226 million through ENERGY STAR-related initiatives. Washington was second with $180.7 million, with New York ($170.3 million) and San Francisco ($141.5 million) the other metros to achieve nine-digit savings. Mid-size and small cities. EPA also ranked smaller metros’ ENERGY STAR performance. In the mid-size category, Milwaukee was the leader in the total floor area, emissions prevented and cost savings categories, while Raleigh, N.C., was the building count leader. Among small cities, Punta Gorda, Fla., led in total floor space and cost savings, while Jackson, Mich., topped the building count and Sioux City, Iowa, set the pace for emissions prevention. “I applaud this year’s top cities, as well as the owners and managers of each ENERGY STAR-certified building in them, for taking real action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help America address the climate crisis,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a news release. See the complete 2023 ENERGY STAR Top Cities report. Yardi recently received the 2023 ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year Sustained Excellence Award from the EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy after being named Partner of the Year for five consecutive years. Read the...

Like pest control, waste management is an unglamourous yet essential aspect of property management that, applied properly, can benefit owners of office properties, stores, hotels, restaurants and other commercial properties. In 2018, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, municipal solid waste in the country totaled 292.4 million tons, or 4.9 pounds per person per day. Of this total, about 69 million tons were recycled and 25 million tons were composted, a 32.1% recycling and composting rate. Effective waste management, including proper disposal and recycling, gives commercial property owners opportunities to create sustainable practices, improve health and safety, and reduce pollution. Understanding the amount and types of wastes generated on the premises can also help a property management company negotiate for favorable terms for waste and recycling services. Improving the organization’s sustainability can also boost a company’s image, attract quality tenants and positively engage employees. How can how facility managers, building owners, tenants and other stakeholders turn waste – which includes paper, packaging, food wrappers, cans, cardboard and paperboard, and sometimes leftovers from construction and demolition – into opportunities to improve sustainability, prevent greenhouse gas emissions and reduce costs? Here are some tips from experts including the EPA, solid waste and recycling services provider Waste Away Systems of Heath, Ohio, and Atlanta commercial waste disposal specialist Southern Waste and Recycling: Perform an assessment. Tracking the amount of recyclables and wastes hauled from your building gives important data for understanding how a waste management program is performing and identifying areas for improvement. Track your waste with ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager®, a free online tool for tracking waste, energy and water data for one building or an entire portfolio. EPA’s Waste Reduction Model (WARM) helps quantify waste management activities’ impact on greenhouse gas emissions. Create a team responsible for planning, designing and executing waste reduction activities. The team should set waste reduction and management goals and implement a tracking system for the company. A broad-based team is most likely to offer a variety of perspectives, create problem-solving techniques and identify more opportunities for improvement. Adopt a recycling program, the best option when waste can’t be prevented. Recycling saves energy and money, helps keep materials out of landfills and incinerators and provides raw materials for the production of new products. Look for ways to reduce the amount of waste generated in the first place by examining the purchase and use of materials like paper and metal. Prolong the useful life of products and packaging by repairing and reusing them when possible. This applies to appliances, furniture and building materials, among other things. Donate unneeded products or materials to organizations that can use them. Engage a waste analytics service that provides data about waste production patterns, and the type of waste that is disposed of. This can make waste disposal services much more efficient. Such a service can help modify waste disposal practices to reduce waste, reuse salvageable supplies and recycle valuable materials. All these tools can lower waste management costs and produce a positive environmental impact. Enhance your waste management program with prizes such as gift cards for teams that collect the most recyclables or come up with the best ideas. See how Yardi empowers real estate companies to meet energy and sustainability...

The Argentum Senior Living Executive Conference is nearly here — an annual gathering of industry professionals, operators, owners, executives and community leaders! You can find our senior living team in attendance throughout the three-day event, stationed at booth 3100 and ready to share the latest innovations in the Yardi Senior Living Suite.    With this can’t-be-missed opportunity on the horizon, here are the details to know: About the Argentum Senior Living Executive Conference The Argentum Senior Living Executive Conference & Expo, the official meeting of Argentum, is a must-attend event for senior living professionals. It offers the chance to connect with the leaders of today, discuss the challenges facing the industry and help shape what the future looks like. According to Argentum, no matter your role, title or job responsibilities, you will discover relevant sessions and education tracks designed for you at this year’s conference. Event details for Argentum 2023 Ready to see exactly what this year’s event has in store? View the details on Argentum’s site. We’ll share the high-level details here: Dates: May 8-10, 2023 Location: New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana In addition to our booth presence (details below), we’re excited to contribute to Argentum 2023 by sponsoring the registration. Once again, you can find important details and instructions to register on Argentum’s official conference page. Visit Team Yardi We know everyone wants to make the most out of Argentum 2023, and that requires networking and building connections as much as possible. Luckily, you’ll have the chance to meet with us — and thousands of your peers — throughout the three days. By meeting with us, you get a closer look at our evolving technology solutions designed specifically for senior living. You can find us at booth 3100 — we’ll be ready to show you all around the Yardi Senior Living Suite! From business intelligence to electronic health records, our amazing solutions unite on a single platform to help providers build success. You can get something on the books in advance by scheduling time to meet us at the conference, or simply stop by whenever you’d like. We look forward to connecting!  See you in May! We hope to see you at the 2023 Argentum Senior Living Executive Conference. If you have any questions for us prior to the three-day event, or you want to schedule a meeting time, don’t hesitate to reach...

Ready to succeed with an interoperable platform for senior living? Our newest infographic shares how you can optimize connections, streamline workflows and maximize resident safety with Yardi EHR, our interoperable electronic health record solution designed for senior living. With verified interface partners, Yardi EHR securely collects and transfers resident data around the clock. Defining interoperability Interoperability allows information systems to seamlessly exchange data with one another. In senior living, interoperable EHRs help operators: Access real-time health information Save time across teams Eliminate data-entry errors Support resident safety Enhance operations and care Connect the entire care team in and out of the community How do EHRs differ from EMRs? Familiar with EHRs, not EMRs? Or vice versa? Here’s the difference between the two: An EHR (electronic health record) such as Yardi EHR is a digital record of a resident’s chart — plus much more — stored in a dynamic online platform. EHRs connect all aspects of care by allowing multiple providers to access real-time resident data, submit updates and communicate from anywhere. An EMR (electronic medical record), on the other hand, is a digital record of a resident’s chart stored in a computer and accessible by a single provider. Interoperability in action Taking a look at exactly how things work with Yardi EHR, this full-service solution channels interoperability through verified interface partners. Not only does data automatically flow to and from Yardi EHR, support teams actively monitor to ensure the highest level of accuracy — equipping you to deliver the best care. Explore Yardi EHR interface partners You can connect Yardi EHR to all outside providers, HIEs and health systems via Kno2, a health information platform that offers access to unlimited cloud faxing, direct secure messaging and referral networks. Depending on your license, additional features available may include Kno2-to-Kno2 messaging, online identify verification, Kno2 and national provider directories, message handling, unstructured document QC tools, configuration/interoperability settings, third-party and esign connector capabilities, third-party proprietary referral network connections, HIE connector (submission only, or submission & query), Kno2 Conversations, query initiator/respond and 360X. Onto the next interface partner: You can instantly transfer EMR data — captured from supported equipment — to Yardi EHR through DS smart, a simplified connectivity solution built to capture, protect and connect resident information. Learn more about what’s possible with DS smart. Note that Yardi EHR supports a wide variety of additional health interfaces including a nurse call system, dietary management platform, infection control solution and more. Learn more about Yardi EHR We encourage you to learn more by exploring all Yardi EHR interface partners. Want a more detailed tour of Yardi EHR? Head to the infographic and select “get in touch” to schedule a personalized...

Green is always good. Every action taken throughout the day has an impact on the planet. Here are some simple tips to be sustainable in everyday life, which are tremendous ways to become more eco-friendly. Eat more greens. Everyone wants healthy longevity, and eating more plants is how to get there. Going vegan overnight is impossible, but gradually incorporating at least two or three days of meatless meals can make a difference. Half of the world’s habitual land is used for agriculture, which only gives the world 18% of global calories. It releases most land use, cattle methane emissions, manure management, and fertilizer use. Reduce your carbon footprint by eating more plant-based foods like tofu, beans, nuts, and foods with the lowest environmental impact, like whole grains, olive oil, fruits, and vegetables. You can now find more sustainable wine and beer using organic farming and zero-waste commitments. Sustainable foods are local, seasonal foods grown without hazardous pesticides and chemicals and support the local economy, which offers jobs and builds stronger communities. Save water. Agriculture also requires much freshwater, which can cause significant environmental pressures in regions with water restrictions. Saving water is another effective way to reduce electricity use, greenhouse gas emissions, and other energy-intensive operations. For example, try at home to only run the dishwasher with a full load and the same with full loads of clothes in the washer. Reuse water by keeping some buckets outside to catch rainwater and use them to water plants in the coming days. Cold showers use less energy, and thanks to Wim Hof Method, so has cold therapy, which gives the body immense health benefits. Recycle. Depending on where you live, recycling options will vary and programs may be more comprehensive in some states or cities than elsewhere. Try to separate trash and follow the local recycling guidelines. Reuse items as often as possible before throwing them out. Sustainable reusables. 50% of all plastic produced is for single-use purposes. As a result, 10 million tons of plastic are dumped in oceans annually. Using so much single-use plastic is entirely unnecessary when there are many sustainable alternatives. Reduce trash by being more conscious of consumption and waste patterns. For example, consider getting reusable water bottles instead of multiple plastic bottles, reusable utensils, and containers. Always remember to bring your reusable tote bags for groceries. Since the spring holiday, Easter, is coming up, skip the plastic grass for the baskets and opt for some Spanish moss or other biodegradable grass or crinkled paper. Plastic grass lasts forever in the environment, not to mention it’s dangerous for pets that might get ahold of a basket. Eco-friendly cleaning. Let’s face it, home cleaning product chemicals are terrible for the environment and your body. By choosing eco-friendly cleaning products, you will reduce the amount of plastic packaging used and the number of chemicals that flow into the oceans. Vinegar is a pantry cleaning staple known to cut grease and dissolve hard water stains. If the smell is too much for some, add some essential oils, such as lavender, pine, or lemon balm. Pine and lemon oils are great alternatives for floor cleaners which is how Pine Sol was created in the early 1900s. Baking soda is an eco-friendly product with many benefits. Sprinkle it directly on hard surfaces that need extra stain removal.  Baking soda can also absorb odors. Use it in the refrigerator, freshen mattresses, pet beds, and shoes, and it can even be added to the wash and rinse cycle to deodorize clothing. Vinegar and baking soda, together, will go a long way when cleaning bathroom tubs, sinks, kitchen appliances, and faucets. Laundry soaps are terrible for the oceans. Tide now has an eco-friendly laundry detergent that contains 75% plant-based ingredients. In addition, the formula is free of dyes, chlorine, and optical brighteners and is produced at a zero-waste-to-landfill manufacturing site using 100% renewable...