Data Governance
How should a senior living operator establish data governance?
Last reviewed
Direct answer
Start with one number that is already disputed, usually census or occupancy. Write down its definitions, name the owner, assign source authority, reconcile it daily, and record each determination. Once that works, apply the same pattern to the next measure. Governance grows from real disagreements, not from a policy binder written before any decision depends on it.
Why this happens
Programs that try to govern everything at once stall in definition workshops that never touch operations.
Starting with a disputed number creates a visible win: one fewer argument in the leadership meeting, and a template for the next measure.
Example: one metric, three definitions
Operations
Occupancy 92%
Residents divided by licensed beds.
Finance
Occupancy 90%
Billable resident days divided by available unit days.
Ownership report
Occupancy 91%
Occupied units divided by units in service.
- Which number governs?
- Operator Authority
- Governing Record
- SeniorCRE Intelligence
- Execution
Illustrative figures. Governance first. Intelligence second. Execution last.
Integration can move all three numbers into one place. Only governance decides which definition is approved for which purpose.
The governance question
Governance answers four questions for every important measure: what it means (definition), which system is authoritative for it (authority), how disagreements are resolved (reconciliation), and how anyone can trace the result back (lineage).
Evidence → Disagreement → Authority → Governing Record
What good operating infrastructure should do
- A register of approved definitions, owned by named people.
- Explicit source-authority rules per measure and per decision.
- A reconciliation process that records outcomes, not just corrections.
- Lineage from every reported number back to its sources.
- Change control when a definition or authority rule changes.
SeniorCRE perspective
SeniorCRE treats governance as the operator’s function, not the software’s. Its architecture encodes Definition, Authority, Reconciliation and Lineage as first-class records, so integration supplies evidence and the operator decides what governs. Unified data is not the same as governed truth. Status: the Governed Operating Record is designed and not yet implemented in any community. What has been built, validated and deployed is published on the evidence page, and nothing here should be read as a production result.