Tiffany Robinson (00:01.715)
By 2030, there will be more people over 60 in the United States than under five. By 2050, one in four people on the planet will be over 65. The care system we have today was not built for those numbers. Christopher Cunny is a healthcare technology strategist who works with care organizations on exactly that problem. Christopher, welcome to Come for Connections.

Christopher Kunney (00:25.021)
Thank you, Tiffany. It's a pleasure to be here. I look forward to having this important conversation with you today.

Tiffany Robinson (00:30.449)
What kinds of problems are organizations asking you to solve?

Christopher Kunney (00:34.931)
You know, it's interesting question and it it has evolved over the years. I've been serving as an advisor and you know fractional leader.

For various organizations for almost two decades now. And those questions again have evolved. So, you know, we're moving and shifting away from the questions around how do we digitize records to more really business and clinical questions around how do we keep people safely out of the hospital and use their homes longer using technology.

and that's really the real shift. We're starting to see technology look being considered more like a utility, just like the water and the lights in a building. You know, it's almost impossible to, you know, operate a hospital without, you know, electricity. it's very challenging, I'm sure, to operate one without plumbing and water.

And equally now it's just as difficult, if not impossible, to offer offer ki high quality care without the use of information technology infrastructure.

And so IT has really become the next utility for health systems. And the questions now is how do we extend care beyond the traditional four walls of the hospital into places like homes, into clinics, and into other facilities where individuals are either receiving short-term or long-term care outside of the traditional acute care setting. So I'm starting to see more conversations happen.

Christopher Kunney (02:09.689)
around that, as well as we all are hearing the discussions that are taking place around the use of emerging technologies like AI and machine learning, and how do we apply that to that model of care.

And then as we, I'm sure we'll get into a little bit, you know, the changing demographics of care as we move now into the silver what we call the silver tsunami. And you pointed that out earlier, you know, every day for the next decade or so, 10,000 people are turning 65. And to your point, we're going to have literally a youth crisis that exists in this country, which means a a resource crisis and healthcare in particular.

Well, we're not going to have enough doctors and nurses and healthcare professionals to manage the growing population of people who are moving into their senior years, which will most likely have one or more chronic diseases. And how do we move from a system that's traditionally focused around sick care to one that's truly focused around health care? Are the topics that you know we're constantly debating and providing our perspective and support around for our clients.

Tiffany Robinson (03:22.043)
Those numbers are are truly scary to think about that we don't have the resources, we don't have people ready to go into those roles. Are policymakers and care organizations taking this seriously? Is this something that's top of mind?

Christopher Kunney (03:24.391)
Yes, they are.

Christopher Kunney (03:38.002)
Yeah, it's it's it's interesting you say that. I and I think that's why they use the term silver tsunami. If you think about the t the the definition of a tsunami, it's kind of a a large wave that just kind that comes out of the out of nowhere and people don't realize sometimes the power and impact that it may have until it actually hits you. and I think that's what you're seeing in healthcare today. People are so focused now on, you know, c the

federal cuts and that have been made to healthcare programs, the rising cost of healthcare, challenges again with resources, challenges challenges with trying to recover revenue that sometimes are not sp spending as much time thinking about

What's going to be the real impact as this demographic continues to to change, as we start to have to deal with 40% of most doctors' patients being over 60, 65, you know, and the fact that we don't have enough geriatri people trained in geriatric care in some of those growth areas like cardiology and and physical therapy and and other areas that are going to be impacting people as they age. So

I think people realize that it's happening, but in all honesty, I don't I haven't had any meaningful conversations with many executives about what is your silver tsunami or a silver economy strategy as it as it relates to healthcare. So I think we still have a little bit of ways to go before industries the industry starts to feel the true impact of it.

Tiffany Robinson (05:19.665)
I think when I think about this whole situation, one communities that I think we're starting to see this in is in the more rural communities. why do they seem to be hit hardest and maybe hit first?

Christopher Kunney (05:27.567)
Mm-hmm. Absolutely.

Christopher Kunney (05:32.628)
Well, I think unfortunately rural communities are the first to get impacted by any, you know, cuts or lack of access to health care in general. So whether it's maternal health and the challenges that we have there, or whether it's just acute care services where you've got the hot rural rural hospitals that are closing down and lack of access to care providers.

The silver tsunami or silver economy is not immune to that. And so we're going to see challenges again with our older adults getting access to care. Obviously, as we age, we start to have more health challenges that take place, especially those of us who may not have taken very good care of ourselves. And so you're starting to see these comorbidity issues rise, you know, hypertension, diabetes, COPD, you know, and many other

health issues that might have a direct impact over on on our overall care and the cost of care. And unfortunately within those communities, you typically don't have people who are trained. You don't have, you know, a a number of cardiologists that live in those communities or rheumatologists or radiologists or other specialties that would normally be a part of your care program as you age. They're just not available.

And so lack of access is going to be one of the biggest challenges you see in those communities, not to mention social determinants. Transportation to get to facilities can be difficult for the the elderly as well too. and then lack of access to other services that they might need, like rehab services and physical therapy services or even mental health services could be impacted as well too. So

Tiffany Robinson (07:00.444)
Yes.

Christopher Kunney (07:17.211)
The rural communities, and I grew up in a rural community. I'm a small town board from South Georgia. And I saw it in my own hometown where I grew up. the fact that as people age, they end up having to go to more expensive parts of the care continuum. They usually have to drive, you know, 50 to 100 miles or more to a large city that has a health system that can provide that level of care, and that sometimes can be cost prohibitive for many. And so some opt not to go, which

and pro or delay treatment, which can then lead to more serious issues occurring down the road.

Tiffany Robinson (07:54.855)
The system is under real pressure. Not enough facilities, not enough people, and communities losing access to care they've relied on. That's the reality families are navigating. Technology keeps coming up as part of the answer. What can it actually do?

Christopher Kunney (08:10.417)
Wow, that I mean that's the promise and and and to some degree the reality we're seeing today, you know, as well with the use of technology. and even though people are concerned about whether or not it might take my job in the future or not, we've seen the advancement of technology such that it is having a direct impact on care. For example, you know, you look at AI platforms, which at its scale can address things like rec pattern recognition.

recognition and give care teams the ability to make decisions

and focus on the delivery of care without having to spend time undoing redundant task or identifying potential anomalies in a person's physiology because the AI, for example, may have the a greater efficacy around identifying things like tumors or abnormalities on radiology scans or

Providing proactive information about a person's care before an episodic event happens. For example, early signals around things like blood pressure or medication adherence or predicting crises like falls before they actually happen. d monitoring your diabetes, you know, or other conditions that you might have episodic events of if you're not monitoring them appropriately. And so.

I think that the the the the the opportunity that we have here for AI and and and emerging technologies to be a part of the delivery care is to be able to provide more proactive awareness to the healthcare professional so they can react to that issue be before it becomes more episodic.

Tiffany Robinson (10:01.735)
The technologies that we're hearing about and seeing are are just so exciting. There's so much that we can do if we can be aware of something sooner. How do we help families with the idea of being welcoming to this new technology and not feeling like this is intrusive? I don't want something in my house monitoring me, but saying, Hey, there's benefits to this.

Christopher Kunney (10:07.139)
Mm-hmm.

Absolutely.

Christopher Kunney (10:22.043)
Sure.

Absolutely. It's a it's a it's a good question to ask. you know, we talk about social determinants of health, but there is this concept of digital determinants of health, and to your point, you know, there's a level of trust that has to be established in the use of these technologies. Is Big Brother watching me or is someone monitoring me when I'm, you know, you know, taking a shower, you know, or doing something that's private? when do we allow these technologies to

provide some sort of monitoring, but also protect our privacy and rights of you know anonymity anonymity as well too when necessary. I think it's a a twofold

well, take that back. I think it's a double-edged sword in that the reality of it is you're not gonna have enough people to do that level of work going forward because of the silver tsunami. So if people want to have quality care and want people to the health system to be able respond quickly to their situation, then you're going to have to rely to some degree on technology to be a part of that process. And one of the areas where technology can add the greatest value is the p the passive monitoring component of that.

where you have wearable devices and you have visual devices that are tracking and monitoring your health passively and responding to it if there are anomalies a lot faster than if you had to wait for a healthcare professional to come to your home or come to your room and take measurements of your condition and then react in.

Christopher Kunney (12:01.637)
And so I think by by nature we're going to be forced to some degree because we're just not gonna physically have enough people. But I think it's also important for healthcare organizations to educate and create literacy to those individuals, the care providers, the patients, their family members, as to the value and the efficacy of these technologies being used now today because they have gotten better. there are

guardrails in place to protect your privacy and your anonymity in some cases about your conditions. And it's our job as healthcare leaders and healthcare professionals to make sure we articulate that effectively to our patients and to their caregivers such that they see this as a tool to help them versus cause any extended harm or concern on their part.

Tiffany Robinson (12:56.595)
Yeah, I think technology or education is gonna be key in this, making sure people are aware of what it's doing, why it's doing it. Let's talk a little bit about loneliness and depression. Those can be serious health risks for older adults living alone. How can technology help in this area and maybe not help in this area?

Christopher Kunney (13:04.592)
Absolutely.

Christopher Kunney (13:08.371)
And

Yeah.

Christopher Kunney (13:16.401)
Yeah, I mean again, another great question. And here's again another area where I think technology is going to have a huge impact as this silver tsunami continues to manifest itself. Let's just talk about you know, depression and social isolation. The fact that we've got virtual care technologies and and telemedicine technologies and video conferencing type technologies like the one we're on today. We're doing this interview and not we're not physically together, but yet we're having a meaningful conversation.

without us having it physically present. I think you're going to see that become a value very valuable tool.

To allow older adults to stay connected to not only their clinicians and care providers, but to family and friends as well. One of the largest growing populations on social media are seniors seniors because they're wanting to stay connected to their grandkids, you know, to their loved ones, to their friends and family who may not be close to them, especially those who live in rural communities as well. This becomes a lifeline in many cases for them to have a social life. And especially if I'm

I'm a fortunately a senior senior who might be debilitated because of some sort of chronic disease. I no longer can drive, or I no longer can have the mobility that I used to have. You know, so staying connected through these technologies is absolutely instrumental in them having a higher quality of life as they continue to age. Not to mention, as you

As healthcare organizations continue to find, try to find ways to manage the lack of resources available, especially in some of these underserved communities, having a doctor or a nurse or a healthcare professional who can communicate with you virtually and still track your health and help you maintain and manage your health is absolutely going to be a game changer as well too, as we we continue to age. And I'm and c quite honestly, more cost effective now, because now I can have one nurse or doctor or healthcare professional.

Christopher Kunney (15:18.133)
professional to talk to several people across a a a wider geographic area at you know a fraction of the cost it would take for them to travel there or for that individual to travel to that healthcare provider for for care.

And so you're seeing technologies like that emerge. There's a whole industry that's emerging that's called age tech or silver tech or granny tech. and these are those technologies like that that are doing things like passive monitoring. They're allowing you to have virtual consults and virtual communication, to extend your social

presence. It's allowing you to do things like telebehavioral health. So maybe I am battling depression or some sort of other mental illness. I can still get care from a licensed professional through telemedicine chats and technologies and and and that's amazing. And then with the growth of AI and robotic technology, we're also seeing the ability to have what they call care bots.

And these are devices that will be in the home to help allow a person to continue to live independently. It might be a bot that's helping to get the person out of bed. It might be a bot that's helping to do some basic care around the home, housework. It might be a rem a bot that's providing reminders to take your medication or to be measuring your health. And in some cases, and I've seen this at some conferences I've attended, some health tech conferences I've I've attended, and that is companions.

You got AI robots that look like pets.

Christopher Kunney (16:48.435)
Pets, dogs and cats and and and other pets that can be there as a companion for those individuals as well, too. And it's not also acting in the traditional sense of, you know, being there as a companion, but it's also monitoring your health too. So it can tell if you're not feeling well. Did you get out of bed? You know, it's monitoring doing passive monitoring and can respond appropriately based on the physiology of that it's measuring or even the tone of your voice and determine is this person feeling depressed today?

Or they have a high level of anxiety today and can alert the appropriate people, care providers, and professionals and family members, this person is starting to decline in some form or fashion. So we're going to see more of that take place. We're going to see more technology that allows people to continue to walk. So as I'm again dealing with health issues, robotic technologies are now being leveraged to help people who may have had spinal injuries or other debilitating injuries.

still be able to be mobile by creating by using technologies that allow them to be able to move around effectively even though they may have a limb or part of their body that's been paralyzed. And that's exciting as well too. And the beauty of these technologies too is be the ability for them to operate within the culture that that person's from as well. So speaking their own languages and understanding their culture.

will allow them to feel comfortable and build a level of trust in the use of these technologies as well.

Tiffany Robinson (18:21.565)
This is very exciting to hear about what's to come and what's happening. How do you see these tools working alongside professional caregivers?

Christopher Kunney (18:32.509)
Again, I think that's a that's a great point. You know, we can't you know, as we continue to evolve, because I I I think we're you know we're kind of building the plane and flying it at the same time as it relates to AI and and robotic tech type technologies, we're still in the very infancy stages of this. but what's exciting about it, and I've always said that this as well, too, is

That the technology is a complements the delivery of care. It it's not there to replace individuals in the equation. We still need human beings to be a part of the equation, at least in our lifetime for sure, to deliver care to another human being. the technologies will allow you to reduce some of the cognitive workload on those individuals, address repetitive tasks that don't no no longer need.

to be done by human beings and let the human being, the doctor, the nurse, the physical therapist, the behavioral health professional, the caretaker, focus on what they should be focused on best, which is the the individual themselves, providing love, compassion, care, companionship, support for individuals as they are aging or as they're dealing with some sort of c catastrophic illness that's forced them to rely on other human beings for their care.

And so I I don't think that, at least again in our lifetime, we'll see a wholesale replacement of individuals to to AI and robotics. I do think that you're going to see some jobs that were traditionally, you know, administrative and and manual and manually intensive roles may shift to more

Automated and digitized services. So I do think you'll see some of that, but I don't think you're going to see a wholesale replacement of doctors and nurses and other professionals in the system. You're gonna see them start to rely more on these technologies to make better diagnoses, respond more proactively, and focus on tasks that still require human intervention versus those tasks that can now be automated.

Tiffany Robinson (20:47.923)
What's one piece of technology that you think people aren't paying enough attention to right now?

Christopher Kunney (20:55.217)
Wow, I I I think that's a a another good question. you know, I I think that some of the administrative technologies that you know, when we talk about AI, for example, and and this evolution of healthcare, we typically focus on the clinical side of it versus the administrative side. And I think there's a lot of administrative tasks that can be, you know,

migrated over to things like AI and machine learning that aren't being taken taken advantage of today. And so things like billing, for example, and some of the repetitive tasks associated with processing a claim can be automated. I I think things like bed management, for example, and staffing, you know, and and and and managing staffing can be

Automated through the use of these technologies. The beauty about things like AI and machine learning is that it can digest tons of information, historical information, and help to determine insights from that that individuals can use to make better business decisions. So I think we think again, treating the workforce and managing the workforce more effectively through the use of these technologies, I think is the area of opportunity.

I think there's an area of opportunity around patient engagement. How do we engage the patient more through the use of these technologies? and I do think that

As these technologies continue to have a high level of efficacy too, there will be parts of it where, you know, human beings were leveraged from the clinical side again, some of these passive monitoring tools that are going to be now kind of table stakes for healthcare organizations going forward. We're gonna just have to use them because we don't have a choice. But I think it again, a long-winded answer to probably a shorter question. I think there are those administrative tasks that we normally take for granted that we think people have to use.

Christopher Kunney (23:01.141)
I think we should be asking ourselves, are there opportunities to automate this so that a human doesn't have to be a part of the the the entire process? Is there some things that we can put through AI and machine learning and robotic process automation and free up that person's time to do something more effective?

Tiffany Robinson (23:20.273)
I mean, I think when you talk to probably almost any healthcare worker, their workload is huge. And so if we can take some of these tasks, like you talked about, the tasks that can, you know, redundant tasks, now they have more time to engage with their patients and have more meaningful engagement between one another. That is super exciting for me to think about these healthcare workers. Cause when you do, when we talk to our workers, they've got a lot on their plates. And so this technology.

Christopher Kunney (23:25.383)
Mm-hmm. Yes, it is.

Christopher Kunney (23:40.52)
Yes.

Christopher Kunney (23:46.183)
Yeah. Absolutely.

Tiffany Robinson (23:48.965)
is gonna be something they can stand next to and work with. I think that's that's really exciting.

Christopher Kunney (23:54.14)
Exactly. Exactly. And we're seeing, you know, many of these folks burnt out. They're leaving healthcare earlier in their professions. And a lot of it's because of a lot of those redundant tasks and and things that are creating a a higher cognitive workload on their on themselves. The the pajama time, they the term they use the pajama time where I'm I'm now leaving work, but I still gotta go home and continue complete documentation and other administrative tasks because I don't have the time to do it during the work day.

Tiffany Robinson (24:06.162)
Yes.

Tiffany Robinson (24:20.711)
Yes.

Christopher Kunney (24:23.751)
can be addressed significantly through use of things like ambient voice technologies, AI, and others where the note can be created while the person, the clinician is having the conversation with the patient without them having to sit there and focus on typing on a keyboard or going back later in the day and putting their notes in. A lot of that administrative task can be addressed through the use of automation, which would free up again personal time for them to focus on family and themselves.

Tiffany Robinson (24:53.991)
For a care professional whose clients are asking about technology, what's the most useful thing they can tell them?

Christopher Kunney (25:04.921)
Good question. I think that first and foremost, people should be asking themselves, what's the problem I'm trying to solve? You know, what's the issue at hand? And is there a technology that I can leverage to help us dr address those issues? I think the other thing we need to be careful on is that technology is not a silver bullet either.

It's not going to solve all your problems. There still is kind of the three-legged stool, people, process, and technology. Are we asking ourselves, are the technologies that can help us address some of these issues? Are there processes that we need to change to make us more effective and more efficient? And then what about the people side of it? Are the people effectively trained to do their jobs well? Are we holding them accountable for doing their jobs effectively? Are there things that they can, you know, there there's their continued education that's needed?

are we asking them, you know, what are the challenges that exist in you the del your you you being able to provide better services and how would you suggest we address those things as well too? I think people can solve those problems within you know that three legged stool and understand that AI or, you know, technology is just a tool in that three legged stool to help support a broader delivery process.

that still requires human beings and requires, you know, optimization of those processes to in order to be more effective.

Tiffany Robinson (26:32.125)
Whenever we're bringing in technology, we want it to be successful. We want, you know, ever if we want it to meet everyone's needs right away. I think it's important to kind of learn from the past what are the most common mistakes that you see from care organizations when they bring in new technology?

Christopher Kunney (26:49.995)
I think the literacy part initially, well, two things that stand out most importantly. One, literacy. So if we bring a technology in, are we investing in educating everyone that has to touch that technology, including the patient? Are we investing in the education and literacy of the use of that technology to its greatest potential? Not just training on 15 or 10 percent of the functionality in the tool, but training

on as much of the tool as we can that allows that person to be as effective as they they can in using all the the resources the tool brings to the table. So I think that's first and foremost. I think the second thing a lot that goes along with that and that is change management.

I think people don't always appreciate the human element of change and the impact that it has on them. And so when we roll out something like, say, AI, into an organization, the first and and and understanding how that's gonna affect that human being. Is their thought process, this is gonna somehow replace me? Or am I excited about you know the adoption of it? Or am I going kicking and screaming on it? Or am I afraid of it? Is it gonna point out some weakness that I have and in the use of technology? We need to understand those.

those behavioral factors that imp imp that impact our adoption of these technologies as an institution and are we addressing those things specific to the individuals themselves?

In order to make sure that we fully maximize this use. And then I think finally, that if there's a governance side of this as well, too, making sure that we are measuring the value of the technology that's being used and measuring whether or not it is doing more good than harm. Some of these technologies can, in some cases, perpetuate biases that already exist in our system.

Christopher Kunney (28:46.983)
And are we making sure that it's not those these technologies aren't doing that? And do we have a governance structure in place that's constantly reviewing and evaluating the efficacy of these tools that we're using going forward as well too? We don't want to wait until there's an episodic event or wait till a patient sues us for some sort of mishandling of their care. We should try to be as proactive as we can at the very beginning and asking ourselves, is this technology gonna cause more harm?

harm, where is are the potential harm and are have we put the guardrails in place to ensure that we reduce the likelihood of that happening? And then are we measuring that over time to make sure it there isn't sort of a creep in a bias that is happening in the tool because of

You know, whether it's the data that's now not being validated effectively or processes that need to be adjusted to better align with how the tools are being used. There could be a host of reasons why, but we've got to make sure there's a governance structure in place that reduces the likelihood of the technology creating more problems than not.

Tiffany Robinson (29:55.006)
Christopher, thank you so much for all of your expertise that you've shared with us today. In closing, if a if a family is listening to this and feeling overwhelmed by everything you've described, what do you want them to take away from this conversation?

Christopher Kunney (30:01.266)
Welcome.

Christopher Kunney (30:06.323)
Good one.

Christopher Kunney (30:11.623)
Wow. speaking as someone who myself was diagnosed in twenty sixteen with two brain tumors and and having to make decisions about my own personal care, as well as being a care provider of a mother who was diagnosed with cancer and going through her treatment process and and serving as a care provider, I think one of the single most useful things a family can do is to truly get kind of oriented to the whole system.

before a crisis forces a decision. And what I mean by that is, you know, really finding out what options, you know, that you have available before, you know, a a major crisis has to happen. be open to getting second opinions, you know, be open to challenging your healthcare system about the quality of care that's that's being given. And when I mean challenging, I mean asking questions about the process, you know, of how

Tiffany Robinson (30:45.155)
Yes.

Christopher Kunney (31:11.345)
the care is going to be delivered. What are the options post-discharge that I have available to me? and how can I use technology as a tool to support the delivery of care and the recovery process for myself, for my loved one going forward? I think are really critical factors.

I I think also as we again start to go down this path of the civil tsunami and we're starting to see people age longer, the question is not about how do I age longer, but what's the quality of life I want to have as I age as well too. I and I know me personally, I don't, you know, I wanna have those critical conversations with my loved ones to say, you know, if I

Tiffany Robinson (31:47.495)
Yes.

Christopher Kunney (31:57.522)
you know, have a catastrophic catastrophic event that occurs, don't prolong my life if it's not going to be one of quality. Allow, you know, unfortunately, Mother Nature to happen in because I don't want to want be a burden to my loved ones. I don't want a quality of life that is not one where I can wake up every morning and appreciate it to some degree, but I'm just living but not, you know, I'm so surviving, I'm not living.

I think are important discussions that we have to have that go far beyond technology and and you know kind of the other, you know, policy and political issues that we deal with when it comes to health care. Ultimately it's about what kind of life do I want to have and when do I want to say, Okay, it's my time to transition and I'm gonna allow

Well, the nature to take its course, which is what quite honestly, my mom did when we were when she discovered she had stage four kidney cancer, she sat down with us and said, I've had a nice life and I've you know, I don't want to go through chemotherapy. I'm going to allow, you know, the journey to happen. And she had made peace with that, and we had to make peace with that as well, too. And so we allowed so we focused on more palliative care.

and hospice care as a strategy for her versus you know

Christopher Kunney (33:24.829)
putting her in some sort of clinical trial or going through chemotherapy and all the other issues associated with that. It's the best advice I can I think I can give an individu individuals who are dealing with what ultimately is gonna happen to all of us. We are gonna have to make a decision about, you know, our end of life and how we want that to ideally happen if we can control any of it.

Tiffany Robinson (33:44.754)
I think if anything that I've learned being in this industry is that you have to have those conversations early. You want to know what your loved ones want. You want them to know what you want. And so even though it can feel uncomfortable or even unnecessary to do that, it's important that we do that because that's how we're going to make sure. So we aren't making decisions because we have to. We have a plan of this is how I want it to look.

Christopher Kunney (33:51.175)
Yes.

Christopher Kunney (33:59.164)
Mm-hmm. Right. Right.

Christopher Kunney (34:08.711)
That's right. Exactly. Abs absolutely. And I will give one final story. My my brother-in-law, my sister's husband contracted COVID and unfortunately he didn't do well to the point where he was placed on a ventilator and had a series of other, you know, sentinel events that occurred that forced him to be pretty much in a vegetated state.

and we came together as a family and we said that we knew what his wishes were and we knew he he said said over and over again, if I am on a ventilator or I'm in a condition where I'm no longer have quality of life, do not maintain my life.

you know, allow me to pass, you know, and pass comfortably as comfortably as I can, and allow you guys to move on with your life as well too. So we all came together and had that decision, collective decision, and agreed to have him his his ventilator turned off and allow him to pass peacefully while while we were all around him. and I'm sure that's exactly what he wanted. and I I know we all have to have those c conversations as difficult as they are.

We knew when he was at that point that was a decision we could make as a family that we knew we respected his wishes.

Tiffany Robinson (35:27.643)
Christopher, thank you so much for sharing that story with us and for sharing all of your insights today.

Christopher Kunney (35:29.779)
You're welcome.

Sure, sure. I'm happy to be ha again, thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of this conversation. it's one that again we all are going to have to deal with. The silver tsunami is here, AI is here, you know. the challenges and costs of healthcare still impact everyone in our community, so we have to make difficult decisions around that.

and all I'd suggest people to do is just try to stay as informed as you can. try not to be fearful of innovation. it is, you know, work in progress, but ultimately there are people out there that are trying to develop technologies to help you live a higher better and a longer quality of life. And so be open to the possibilities of that as well.

Tiffany Robinson (36:16.989)
Thank you again.

Christopher Kunney (36:18.195)
You're very welcome. Thank you.