By Kristin Carroll
Increased resident satisfaction is the top benefit that nursing home providers are hoping to achieve by implementing more technology in their dining and environmental services.
That’s according to a survey of nursing home providers conducted by Skilled Nursing News in early summer 2025. The survey focused on strategies for managing environmental, dining, and housekeeping services and collected input from 115 professionals who completed the survey in full.
Most participants represented for-profit organizations, with nearly half (49%) identifying their role as being in corporate or executive leadership.
Respondents came from organizations of varying sizes. About 45% were employed by companies operating between one and five facilities, while just 2% worked for organizations managing 200 or more sites.
Three out of four respondents were not employed by companies that primarily run continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs).
Patient satisfaction, compliance top reasons for new tools
Keeping SNF patients and their families happy is a top priority for survey respondents, with 66% saying this was a top-three reason for implementing technology in environmental and dining operations.
And, given shifts in regulatory policy, it’s not surprising that more than half of decision-makers are looking to technology to improve their compliance scores.
The continued industry-wide staffing shortage for SNFs means 37% of decision-makers are exploring technology that can reduce staff burden.
Another 37% list lowering their operating costs as a top-three reason for increasing their technology use. Along the same lines, 30% of respondents are looking at implementing technology that will improve their overall efficiency, while 13% are looking to improve standardization and consistency across programs or locations.
Infection control remains a top concern for skilled nursing providers, with just under 33% reporting it as a top-three reason for exploring new tech. As noted in previous coverage, 92% of providers do not outsource their infection control services and 83% do not outsource housekeeping.
Changes coming – or not
In terms of what technology tools nursing home providers are leveraging, 22% of respondents are using or exploring digital meal ordering or resident-facing menus in the dining room. Just under 20% are using or exploring food temperature tracking technology to improve and ensure food safety within their facilities.
The use of such technology could be addressing a keen pain point. As noted in a previous article about the survey, 72% of respondents identified the resident dining experience among the top three areas needing improvement at their facility.
Far fewer providers said that they are using or exploring other types of technology, such as smart sensors or environmental monitoring (9%), robotics for cleaning or delivery (9%) and automated cleaning logs and audit tracking (7%).
And about half of survey respondents said that their organization is not using or exploring any of the technology tools listed in the survey.
Similarly, 54% of survey respondents said they aren’t planning any major changes in their environmental or dining service strategy within the next 12 to 24 months.
Among those that are anticipating a change, 18% plan to implement technology.
The most common anticipated changes are improving staff training programs (27%) and upgrading cleaning equipment or supplies (21%).
This story is based on research conducted by Skilled Nursing News in May and June 2025. To request a copy of the research, please reach out to Tim Mullaney at [email protected].
