By Lise Rauzi, CHC, and David Rosenthal
Healthcare is a highly regulated industry, and medical facilities and providers must remain abreast of and compliant with ever-evolving regulatory and compliance mandates, such as HIPAA, ICD-10, and conflicts of interest (COI) disclosure, in order to retain accreditation and funding for their organizations. The Internet has transformed the way in which people access and exchange information, and as a result, a wide range of business sectors, including the healthcare industry, has adopted the e-learning model for educating and training staff. The most effective online training compliance and competency training program will be interactive and customizable, as well as provide the most accurate and current information available.
Meeting the Challenge of Training Large Employee Groups Efficiently
Online training programs can facilitate the delivery of targeted learning to employees without the high cost, inconvenience, and loss of productivity associated with conventional classroom instruction. Since healthcare is delivered around the clock every day of the year, online training can be a flexible and convenient way of getting mission-critical content to clinicians and other staffers without interrupting their workflow.
Given the constant nature of patient care, many employers simply cannot afford to take staff off the floor to participate in training outside their unit. For this reason, it is often difficult to schedule and assemble employees together in a classroom for group training. This is where an online training program provides real value. Employees can attend instructional or curriculum-based training sessions at their own pace from any computer with secure Internet access, often with minimal productivity loss. Topics can be designed with a specific focus on the job functions of the individuals being trained. This approach can help reduce training costs while saving valuable employee time.
Another advantage of online training programs is that employees across the organization can receive consistent messages from executive management and/or departmental heads that have been imbedded throughout the curriculum. The employer can work with internal resources or with a vendor to develop subject matter based on the role of the individual being trained and the type of instruction being given. In this way, customized information can be integrated into the training curriculum without compromising the main purpose of the educational content.
Leveraging Online Training for a Smooth ICD-10 Transition
Healthcare organizations, private practices, and other medical entities must be prepared to implement the ICD-10 coding system by the proposed October 1, 2014 deadline. To stay ahead of the ICD-10 learning curve, healthcare organizations should already be identifying the exact training needs of staff and outlining their overall training strategy. One way they can do this is through online training tools which provide an easy way for organizations to manage and track training at an organizational level to make sure each staff member receives the right level of training for his or her specific role.
To continue being reimbursed for patient services, healthcare organizations and private providers in the U.S. will be required to use the new ICD-10 coding system starting on final deadline. The new coding system will provide a larger number of classifications for coding medical diagnoses. This huge uptick in coding options makes it essential for healthcare organizations and providers to prepare the staff for ICD-10 by launching a comprehensive training program. If pertinent staff members are inadequately trained in the use of this system, it could negatively impact revenues and potentially compromise the quality of patient care.
The number of possible diagnostic codes under ICD-10 will increase substantially from approximately 14,000 to 68,000, and the number of inpatient codes will grow from 4,000 to 87,000. An effective online training program for ICD-10 should enable healthcare employers to add personalized content to core training inserting brand identity and other elements, such as video introductions and access to policies and procedures. Ideally, the ICD-10 training system would include a "preparation analyzer" tool to assist managers in determining what courses are necessary for which individual employees.
Following Best Practices to Implement an Online Training Program
Healthcare employers should consider an online training program that can adapt to meet specific educational criteria based on specialized job functions. This approach, known as "role-based instruction," is a highly effective training strategy that provides information to learners based on how it applies directly to their real-world work responsibilities. The option to tailor training based on the unique personnel requirements of the organization is a must-have feature for any online training program.
The chosen online training program should also support customizable reporting tools that can track employees who need to complete training as well as record their scores on evaluations. At a minimum, the online training program should provide completion and effectiveness reports. Completion reports capture data about employees who have received training, which can be sorted by department. Effectiveness reports analyze how individual learners have performed on quizzes. Utilizing these reports, employees needing additional training can be easily identified.
It is also most beneficial for healthcare organizations to implement a staged roll-out of an online training program. By testing a small training group, organizations will be able to assess the effectiveness of the curriculum based on employee feedback and make adjustments to the material as necessary. Full roll-out of the training program to the entire staff should only occur after the initial evaluation period has confirmed that the instruction being delivered will satisfy the teaching objectives of the organization.
Choosing a Proven Online Training Partner
Since regulations can and do change, a strategy must be in place to ensure that the training content being delivered by the healthcare employer reflects the most recent standards and is relevant to the time-strapped employees receiving it. For this reason, partnering with a training vendor that utilizes an internal content development team to monitor the healthcare industry for changes in regulations, standards, and competencies and to update training curriculums as necessary can help save time. An extensive suite of compliance and competency training courses that include video scenarios and interactive exercises can also help engage learners and increase retention of the material.
Healthcare employers must ensure that their workers have convenient access to the relevant training they need to remain compliant with industry regulations and to be effective in their jobs. In a healthcare setting, the most cost-effective and efficient way to deliver mission-critical content to staff members and to maximize their productivity is by implementing an online training program.
Lise Rauzi, CHC, is vice president of training development, and David Rosenthal is vice president of strategy and marketing for Health Care Compliance Solutions (HCCS), a leading provider of online compliance and competency training courses.
