

case study

Arcadia Retirement Residence
Improved patient care through effective collaboration
Industry

Eldercare
Geography
USA

Consulting

SharePoint Consulting

Training Services
technologies

SharePoint

Windows Server Hyper-V
Challenges/
Goals
Arcadia Retirement Residence, a local, not-for-profit holding company, is comprised of seven not-for-profit operating companies, each operating from its own location on the island of Oahu.
With nearly 400 employees spread across seven locations, most of whom require access to similar information, a central repository to store and organize information related to client-care was critical. Furthermore, occupants of ACS’s two residential facilities desired a way to find other residents with similar likes and interests.
Arcadia invited Synergy to assist them in improving collaboration among staff, as well as to help provide an interactive means to communicate effectively with and among residents.
Solution/
Approach
During the Discovery process, Synergy worked closely with ACS staff to understand the needs of both employees and the residents at Arcadia. This revealed the necessity for two key portals: a secure intranet for staff collaboration and a client-facing portal for residents to access activity information and connect with fellow residents. To meet these needs, Synergy implemented a SharePoint environment using Hyper-V servers, creating multiple web applications for Central Administration, My Sites, an Employee Portal, and a Resident Portal. The Employee Portal was designed with a clear taxonomy to help staff across various locations and departments easily access relevant information.
Following the successful rollout of the Employee Portal, focus shifted to the Resident Portal, where features like Announcements and Publishing provided useful information. One major request was enabling residents to locate each other without burdening staff with manual updates. Synergy integrated SharePoint’s Business Connectivity Services (BCS) with an existing medical records system to automatically update Active Directory, allowing residents to use People Search to find one another. A custom Search Page was also developed to simplify the process for the elderly population.

Arcadia needed a robust, future-ready IT environment, and we were thrilled to create one that fostered innovation and growth. Helping their team leverage technology more effectively remains one of our proudest achievements."
Results
With the SharePoint portal in place, ACS staff now work in a collaborative environment which means less time is spent duplicating information. Additionally, they can more easily find the information that matters to them. These improvements have resulted in significant time savings on a day-to-day basis.
Residents now have easy access to current information regarding social events and other items of interest happening at the Residence. They also have a means to locate fellow-residents through a simple search interface that allows them to search on a variety of familiar parameters such as name, facility or apartment number.
Results

Improved collaboration among staff
Ability to locate and view information in meaningful ways
Improved quality of life for residents who are better informed


Overview
Arcadia has been Hawaii’s premier retirement residence and one of the finest in the nation since 1967. Residents enjoy panoramic mountain, ocean and Diamond Head views, plus unparalleled access to all of Honolulu's social, cultural, educational and entertainment facilities. Arcadia offers a gracious, compassionate and dynamic environment, with a continuum of assured lifetime care with a staff that works diligently to satisfy the physical, social and spiritual needs of every resident.
Challenges/Goals
7 geographic locations
Need to organize information per locations and functional area
Need to surface resident data securely
Solution/Approach
Complete discovery to understand unique requirements
Develop dynamic Employee Portal taxonomy to manage information
Use BCS to surface only non-sensitive resident profile information
Summary Data
Arcadia has been Hawaii's premier retirement residence since 1967.