The convenience afforded to families by funeral home-cemetery combo operators is largely predicated on the integrated care they provide. Shared staff and facilities should provide a more seamless experience for families with fewer touchpoints and a simplification of arrangements - but with overlapping roles, as well as multiple teams, locations, systems and processes pulling information from different sources, there are also a number of challenges. You can read more about some of those challenges and how to overcome them in our blog here. So, when considering the number of steps involved - from first call, to pick up and through to interment, it soon becomes clear that without a single repository of information, accessible by all, updated in real time, two key challenges arise: Ensuring an experience for families that is not drawn out Ensuring that work is not duplicated When managing complex, interlinked processes, the importance of just where, when, and how accurately information is gathered can’t be overstated. And of particular importance to combo operators is ensuring that families are not asked for the same information multiple times - for example, a cemetery team asking for the same information provided to the funeral home team - extending the pain and grief they are experiencing, as well as duplicating the amount of work for those who serve them.