How an Assisted Living Group Connected Three Communities With HIPAA-Compliant Work Chat

Introduction

Brookstone Terrace is a privately owned assisted living operator with three communities in Woodruff, Simpsonville, and Greenville, South Carolina. Sales and Marketing Director Patrick Schultz credits much of the quality of care to the staff, many of whom have worked together for years.

Assisted living runs around the clock, and the people who need an update are rarely in the same room or even the same building. Anything involving resident information has to stay HIPAA compliant, which puts real pressure on how a team talks to each other every day.

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The Challenge: Coordinating Three Communities While Maintaining Compliance

Brookstone Terrace had been using another communication app until the team learned it wasn't HIPAA compliant. For the two weeks between removing the old app and finding Zenzap, they had no central place to talk, which created several challenges.

• A tool that couldn't meet HIPAA. The previous app fell short of the compliance standard assisted living requires, so it had to go before a replacement was in place.
• Scattered communication channels. Texts, emails, and phone calls carried everything during the search, and each one reached only a handful of people at a time.
• Updates that had to cross communities. News about staffing, residents, and visitors needed to land in three communities at once, with the right people seeing it.

"And those two weeks it took us to come across Zenzap, everyone felt lost."

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The Solution: Why Zenzap?

Brookstone Terrace needed a work chat that was HIPAA compliant and backed by a signed BAA, structured for effective communication, and easy enough for staff across three communities to pick up right away.

Zenzap covers the compliance requirement out of the box, with a BAA signed as a standard part of onboarding. Resident information shared in Zenzap stays in the app and off personal devices, chats are organized by building so each community sees what it needs to see, and leadership keeps admin control over who belongs in which chat. Because it works like the messaging apps staff already use on their phones, there's no learning curve to get through first.

"I actually did some research, I found Zenzap. I went through all the reviews and I felt that it was going to meet our needs better than our current app that we were using…"

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Key Features in Action

Share Updates Across Communities in One Place

Information now flows through one work chat, from a change in someone's condition to a visitor arriving on site. Leadership can reach one community or all three in designated chats without repeating the same message down a phone list.

"I actually am relying on the app to really keep an update if someone is sick or if someone has passed away or if there's an insurance broker coming in."

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Communicate About Residents in a HIPAA-Compliant Chat 

Staff use Zenzap to talk about residents compliantly and confidently, because it’s built for how care teams actually communicate. Nothing is saved to personal devices, and the BAA sits alongside HIPAA compliance so the organization has both covered.

"We needed something that was HIPAA compliant…  The BAA was another factor in our decision… it really got us sold."

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Add and Remove Staff as Teams Change

New hires join the chats for their community and start working the same day. When someone leaves, one click removes access across the organization, and the chat history stays with Brookstone Terrace, including anything shared about residents.

"It's easy to add and remove employees. It's easy to use, user-friendly, it's easy to download, it's cost effective..."

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The Impact: One Work Chat Connecting Three Communities

Communication that used to depend on individual calls and texts now runs through one secure work chat all three communities can see.

• Updates about staffing, residents, and visitors reach the right people quickly.
• Resident information stays in a HIPAA-compliant work chat covered by a signed BAA.
• Bringing new staff on and cutting off access when someone leaves both take one click, and sensitive information stays under Brookstone Terrace's control.

"In summary, Zenzap is a reliable app that helps with excellent communication."

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Conclusion

Brookstone Terrace takes care of residents in three communities with staff spread across shifts, buildings, and cities. Good care depends on information reaching the people who need it, fast.

Zenzap gives the organization one work chat that meets the HIPAA standard, keeps resident information off personal devices, and takes no training for staff to start using.

"...any other organizations in healthcare at any level are considering communication tools, Zenzap would be the first choice that I would recommend."

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