Cutting Through Complexity:
An AI-Powered Search Tool for Regulatory Compliance

A photo of a woman sitting at a desk looking at a laptop. In the background is a decorative hexagonal pattern.

Elder Research developed a data organization and search solution in partnership with the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL), streamlining access to complex regulatory documents across the United States. Each jurisdiction formats and conveys information in a unique way, making it difficult to discover, understand, and implement related organizational policies. Our solution makes it easy to update documents, engage with a common search index, and return holistic and accurate results, benefiting AHCA/NCAL and its members alike.

The Challenge

AHCA/NCAL partner organizations operate across multiple jurisdictions, requiring them to abide by the specific rules and regulations of each locality. Manually parsing through complex legal documents for specific rules was time-consuming, especially given the varied terminology used across multiple states. A sophisticated search engine capable of turning disparate regulations into neatly organized data was the perfect solution for AHCA/NCAL needs.

The Solution

Elder Research’s team built out a scalable data engineering framework that allows AHCA/NCAL teams to seamlessly access information through an existing tool, LTC Trend TrackerSM. By partnering with Trend Tracker designers, we ensured data access integrated smoothly with user workflows.  AHCA/NCAL personnel can upload policy-related PDF documents which are then organized into an easily searchable database with efficient runtime performance and operation execution. We integrated an OpenAI model, Ada, creating high-quality descriptions (or “embeddings”) that get attached to the data like tags, allowing our team to set up a very accurate and smooth search capability across the database.

A diagram of the AI-powered solution created for AHCA/NCAL. The diagram mentions these steps (with images): 1) Documents uploaded to vector database; 2) AI creates searchable embeddings in the data; 3) Users can easily search across documents.

Through iteration of parsing, storage, and other technical elements, Elder Research developed a way to rank search results so that the user would receive results that most aligned with their search criteria. To measure the accuracy of the results, we verified model output with subject matter experts. Results received high accuracy scores.

Elder Research recognized the experience and expertise of the client would guide us to create the best model for their needs. Trend Tracker designers ensured the model output seamlessly integrated with the existing user experience. Taking a collaborative approach opened the doors to success.

The Results

This project resulted in a significant benefit to attract, retain, and truly help AHCA/NCAL members. Instead of manually researching and parsing through source documents, members can now easily access trusted sources through their typical workflows.

This work drastically reduced the regulatory research time for AHCA/NCAL member organizations, simplified navigation of varying state regulations, and leveraged AI to provide more relevant results than manual methods have done previously. Streamlined document management allows teams to easily ingest new regulatory documents on a regular cadence.

The client is now able to provide its members with smooth and efficient regulatory navigation. With a much easier way to search and monitor regulations, Elder Research has built a powerful tool that significantly enhances AHCA/NCAL’s ability to serve members efficiently and accurately across jurisdictions.