On September 17, OneStep proudly sponsored a powerful panel discussion during the McKnights Virtual Tech Summit, focused on a timely and transformative topic: how AI is reshaping the work of care teams across senior living and post-acute care.

Moderated by McKnight’s Executive Editor Jim Berklan, the session brought together a multidisciplinary lineup of leaders across operations, nursing, therapy, and medicine — including OneStep’s Chief Commercial Officer, Pat Tarnowski. The theme? AI isn’t here to replace the human touch. It’s here to give it more time, focus, and power.

For senior living leaders, the message was clear: AI isn’t a futuristic concept. It’s a practical tool that’s already improving care, streamlining operations, and supporting better outcomes today.
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‍Read the blog recap below, or see how OneStep is helping senior living communities reduce falls, improve care, and drive revenue — with zero disruption.
‍👉 Visit onestep.co/solutions/senior-living

AI + Human Judgment: The New Leadership Toolkit

Lori Strubbe, Founding partner and Chief Executive Officer of Focused Post Acute Care Partners, set the tone: “AI is a powerful tool [...] but true judgment, values, empathy, and courage to weigh what is right, especially in the direct care space - it's not doing that yet.” Her facilities are already using AI to:

• Analyze phone calls between staff and families for coaching and quality.
• Optimize staffing based on acuity levels — not just cost.
• Summarize policies and generate plans of correction faster.
• Identify early signs of readmission risk.

But she emphasized the need to “trust, verify, and still lead.” AI supports leaders; it doesn’t make ethical or clinical decisions for them.

Nursing Efficiency, Empowered by Data

Amy Stewart, Chief Nursing Officer at the American Association of Post-Acute Care Nursing, echoed those sentiments. “I see this for nursing as a great way to give me time back at the bedside to have that meaningful relationship,” she said.

Stewart highlighted how AI tools can:

• Surface subtle declines in cognition or mood before a crisis hits.
• Support clinical judgment, not replace it, by making sense of overwhelming data.
• Automate documentation with ambient clinical intelligence, freeing nurses to focus on residents.

Physical Therapy + Predictive Insights = Better Outcomes

OneStep’s own Pat Tarnowski brought a practical lens to how AI can quietly and powerfully support care.

Rather than “disrupting,” he argued, AI should enhance and enable. For example, OneStep’s platform uses just a smartphone to passively analyze resident gait in real-life conditions — identifying subtle changes in mobility before they lead to falls or functional decline.

The result? Across hundreds of senior care communities:

• Falls are down 23–30%.
• Providers are using gait data to justify longer stays or additional therapy with Medicare Advantage plans.
• Staff can proactively adjust care plans, assistive devices, or therapy before a crisis hits.

This is not abstract AI. It’s actionable data, embedded in daily workflows, delivered through a device staff and residents already use.

Therapists and Physicians: Using AI to Practice at the Top of Their License

Renee Kinder, EVP of Clinical Services at Broad River Rehab, and Dr. Sabina von Preyss-Friedman, Chief Medical Director, Avalon, Caldera Care expanded the lens further.

Kinder described how therapists are embracing AI to code and document more efficiently, guide clinical decision-making, and even passively generate compliance-ready documentation during therapy sessions.

Dr. von Preyss-Friedman detailed how physicians are using AI to:

• Rapidly access up-to-date treatment protocols.
• Support diagnosis in complex cases.
• Automate encounter notes through ambient AI.
• Spot outliers in prescribing or treatment patterns that might otherwise go unnoticed.

‍“AI always requires a human interface and oversight. It is a robot and a robot can  only be a helpful tool when it's used in conjunction with the expertise of a qualified and experienced medical provider.” - Dr. von Preyss-Friedman

What Senior Living Leaders Should Take Away

The big takeaway? AI isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing better with less friction and more foresight.

• Better care: Early warning signs for falls, depression, and mobility decline — identified before they become emergencies.
• Happier teams: Fewer documentation burdens. More time with residents. More meaningful work.
• Smarter operations: Objective data that supports referrals, care extensions, and audits without the guesswork.
• Stronger business results: Communities using OneStep have seen up to 11x ROI from referrals, faster reimbursements, and more defensible documentation.

“When you fit technology into the real world of care, not just the software world, that’s when it works.” - Pat Tarnowski, OneStep

Final Thought: The Tools That Win Are the Ones That Fit

The panel closed with a powerful reminder from Dr. von Preyss-Friedman:

“AI will not replace you. But someone who uses AI well might.”

In senior living, where time is tight, acuity is rising, and outcomes matter more than ever — it’s clear that the communities who embrace smart, supportive tools today will be the ones that thrive tomorrow.

‍Want to hear directly from the panelists how AI tools and processes are reshaping the work of nurses & aides, administrators, therapists (PT, OT, SLP), and physicians? Watch the full panel recording now. 👉 Watch here

Because every step tells a story. Let’s make sure we’re watching.