Unlocking opportunities in social care with big data

At this recent Laing Buisson hosted event it was clear from the wise words of Daya Thayan, CEO at Kingsley Healthcare, that data is now critical to almost every aspect of running a successful social care business.

Daya eloquently and passionately outlined how, despite the challenges of this year, Kingsley are investing in their five-year vision to substantially expand their care home network.  Kingsley, along with many of our clients, are seeing that new, higher quality, purpose-built homes are increasingly attractive in the current market, and offering an opportunity for growth.

Tom Hall, Chief Economist at Barbour ABI mirrored Daya’s view of the market.   He clearly demonstrated how, despite inevitable drops in the planning pipeline for Care Homes at the height of lockdown, the sector is proving more robust than many sectors, and back on an encouraging upward trajectory.

Tom’s evidence was based on big data, sourced from Barbour ABI’s rigorous monitoring of planning applications.   Similarly, Daya’s search for his new sites is underpinned by data.  To give him confidence in the potential of the local markets for the long-term of his investments.

Recently at CACI we’ve also been using seriously big data sets, derived from Mobile Apps, to understand how different Acorn demographic groups have responded to the various stages of the pandemic.  Actual and potential applications of this data in the care sector include:

• Demonstrating how care workers were more vulnerable to the virus when it was at its height
• Prioritising the opening-up of care homes to visitors based on weekly movement levels in the local community
• Planning local healthcare responses based on understanding current and potential future movement behaviours
• Understanding the true catchment of care homes to support local marketing and communications.

Mobile App data is a recent addition to our existing big data sets that describe the lifestyles, attitudes and behaviours of the UK population.

Daya, Tom, Laing Buisson and I all have access to different datasets.  They are all part of a jigsaw.  And when they all come together they have the potential to form a wonderful picture that helps to meet the needs and wants of customers and, in turn maximise, business returns.

Daya and Kingsley may be more data-savvy than some providers in the sector, but most organisations are also gaining bigger data sets on their customers and enquiries.
Through your customer databases and CRM systems you know who your customer are, where they live and what products and services they need.  Also, by tracking this data over the Covid period, you can understand how customers and their needs are changing.

By linking this wealth of information with big market datasets you can really understand the nuances in the individuals behind this data. When harnessed successfully these data driven insights can help you to:

• Open profitable sites – where your key targets want to live
• Align products and services to meet their wants and needs
• Increase your occupancy with cost-effective targeting using the right message and media.

All combining to improve your performance and customer satisfaction.

Are you, like many in the sector, looking to new properties, products, services or operating models to reflect the current market?  If so, you would be wise to start to put the jigsaw together for your business – and make the most of the data you hold and the powerful big datasets that complete the rest of the picture.