David Shepard knows why you need an intelligent EHR

Whether you’re a coder, a clinician, or a support services expert, many MatrixCare employees have shared your path, serving residents in post-acute care. Our Senior Vice President of Sales, David Shepard, is a prime example of someone who has been in your shoes.

With David’s background as a licensed nursing home administrator and chief operating officer of a regional senior housing group, he knows first-hand the importance of having the right technology to run your business efficiently – so you can deliver the best possible outcomes.

This perspective guides the way David and his team work with you. Their job is to fully understand your challenges – then find the intelligent software solutions that will best work for your particular needs.

Q:  How does your first-hand experience help your customers?  

A:  I can easily take off my MatrixCare hat, put on my operator hat, look at the issue and ask two key questions: what’s most important to our customer base and how is this situation going to impact them? I don’t know everything there is to know, but my extensive background and knowledge gives me the insight to ask the right questions. When we establish what the customer needs, it’s easier to provide the solution. It’s very satisfying to see how accumulated expertise can lead to customer success in today’s highly competitive world.

Q: What made you choose to join MatrixCare?

A:  MatrixCare has a longstanding reputation of being a leading solution provider that touches all aspects of the out-of-hospital market. Their attention to each care setting and the unique needs that each one has, along with their advanced solutions and the customer support components of the offering, make them very attractive to partner with. But it’s also been a lot of fun to be here. It’s a great company. Once I started the interview process and learned about the progressive vision and the direction the company was going to move in, I was all in. Then, seeing all the resources allocated to ensure it’s absolutely the best solution a provider can use – has made it very exciting to be a part of.

Q: What are the top challenges you see long-term care providers facing right now?

A: There are a multitude of challenges. It was hard to run skilled nursing operations before COVID, but after COVID it’s become even more difficult.  One of the biggest challenges that we hear about is the staffing issues. While things may be slightly improving, they’re still challenged by the ability to get staff to care for the residents. And without adequate staff,  they can’t admit residents. It’s a big problem.

 Q: What are the ripple effects of staffing shortages?

A: There are residents out there that need to be admitted, but when providers can’t meet staffing requirements to take care of those residents, it results in decreased revenue. Now, that’s not the case for all, but we still hear it over and over.

Q: How do you see technology helping our providers in this economy?

A:  When you have fewer employees than you want, you need smarter technology to help you get things done faster and more accurately. That’s where my experience, combined with

MatrixCare’s solution-oriented software, can be a huge help to providers.

Q: How so?

A:  The way that we help solve those problems is by providing solutions that allow their existing teams to work in a more efficient manner. MatrixCare has all the products in place; the software is easy to use, and it’s set up in a way that follows the required workflows. We’ll do anything we can do to help operators work smarter. Our solutions not only address the problems that need to be solved, but they are also simpler to implement and easier to understand. So, in the end, we’re making our customers’ lives a whole lot easier.

 Q: Why do you do what you do?

Over the years, I have developed a lot of expertise: a nursing home administrator in one career and a software solutions provider in my current career. I really enjoy the unique perspective it gives me – and it makes me want to stay involved. The more you can ultimately help more residents, the more it gets in your blood.

But the thing that excites me now is that we get to take part in providing solutions that help operators give the best care possible. Take our predictive analytics software. It integrates data from across the various financial, operational, and clinical modules to provide our customers with meaningful insights. Knowing that you can supply this kind of data in real-time is a game changer. It’s pretty cool that you get to do stuff like that.

MatrixCare has the real-world experience to help you meet today’s challenges, from staffing to reimbursement to coordinating care. Find out how we can help you effectively run your organization while delivering high quality resident care. Request a consultation.