What Revenue Diversification Means for Life Plan Communities Today

Life Plan Communities, also known as Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs), are operating in a period of rising care complexity and tighter financial performance. Residents are arriving with higher acuity, while reimbursement pressure and operating costs continue to constrain margins. At the same time, many CCRCs are sustaining occupancy levels above 90%¹, increasing demand for staff, services and infrastructure across the continuum. In this environment, organizations are looking for strategies that strengthen stability without compromising the resident experience.

Revenue diversification helps CCRCs mitigate risk and grow sustainably by unlocking new income streams. As care needs rise and payment models evolve, diversification becomes less about expansion for growth’s sake and more about building financial resilience while maintaining high-quality resident care.

Diversification Strategies

Expand on What You Already Do Well

CCRCs deliver strong clinical care and services for residents. Extending those strengths into home health allows organizations to serve those outside the campus while supporting aging in place. Home health is an opportunity to avoid unnecessary transitions to higher levels of care, stabilize assisted living (AL) and independent living (IL) occupancy and reduce costly turnover. It also creates greater clinical visibility, supporting earlier intervention, smoother transitions when higher care is appropriate and new reimbursement opportunities through Medicare and commercial payers.

Offer Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy on Campus

Providing different forms of therapy on your campus strengthens care delivery and revenue potential. For AL and IL residents, easy access to therapy supports recovery and function without triggering unnecessary moves to higher levels of care, which helps reduce turnover. On the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) side, therapy allows residents to discharge sooner while still getting services on campus, shortening their length of stay while retaining therapy revenue. For non-residents, on-campus therapies introduce your community to new audiences and create a natural pathway to future residency.

Leverage Strategic Partnerships and Value-Based Models

Medicare Advantage plans want provider partners that can deliver high-quality care at a lower total cost. CCRCs are set up to meet that need through their integrated environments. A partnership between the two allows CCRCs to capture reimbursement for care already being delivered, including chronic care management, transitional care management and preventive services. By leveraging on-campus SNFs, therapy programs and nurse-led interventions, CCRCs can help reduce hospitalizations which is a key benchmark for MA plans. MA partnerships also appeal to prospective residents by offering embedded benefits and more predictable healthcare costs, while positioning the CCRC as a trusted care partner.

Value-based care participation also strengthens these partnerships by introducing predictable, performance-based revenue tied to quality and outcomes. It also gives CCRCs stronger negotiating power with payers while demonstrating measurable, organization-wide impact.

Technology’s Role in Enabling Diversification

Unified EHR and Documentation Standardization

A unified EHR gives CCRCs clear visibility across several post-acute organizations, all within a single record. Standardized documentation eliminates duplicate work, saving staff time while reducing the risk of errors. Consistent assessments and care plans support value-based care requirements, while longitudinal data strengthens outcomes reporting for payer contracts and accreditation reviews. Together, this reduces operational friction, improves care reliability, supports stronger survey performance and creates the data foundation needed for revenue diversification and reimbursement innovation.

Referral Management

Effective referral management helps CCRCs capture more inbound referrals from hospitals and community partners while preventing leakage outside the campus ecosystem. By keeping residents connected to on-campus SNF, outpatient therapy, home health and hospice services, organizations maintain continuity and reduce missed revenue opportunities. Strong referral workflows also identify early warning signs, helping care teams escalate services at the right time. Coordinating multidisciplinary teams across settings reduces delays, improves outcomes and boosts resident satisfaction. Every referral represents revenue and managing them well directly supports stronger margins.

Unified Analytics and Outcomes Reporting

Unified analytics allow CCRCs to demonstrate value to payers along with current and prospective partners. By tracking performance across programs, organizations can see what is working, identify gaps and optimize service lines. Analytics also support strategic forecasting for staffing, census, service demand and revenue projections. Turning complex care delivery into measurable results is essential for informed C-suite decision-making and long-term, sustainable growth.

Building Resilience Through Smart Diversification

Revenue diversification is a strategic response to rising acuity, tightening margins and a healthcare landscape that leans into coordination, outcomes and efficiency. By expanding proven services, leveraging on-campus capabilities, forming value-based partnerships and supporting these efforts with the right technology, CCRCs can unlock new revenue while strengthening care continuity and resident experience.

Technology serves as the connection that makes diversification scalable and sustainable. With a thoughtful diversification strategy and the right digital foundation, CCRCs can protect margins, adapt to change and continue delivering care that meets residents’ needs today and in the future.

1. National Investment Center