Meeting the Training Challenge:
Enhancing Effectiveness, Better Managing Logistics

Learning is a way of life for professionals in all fields of endeavor – but nowhere is that more evident than in healthcare.  With new technologies, new protocols and new compliance requirements continually being introduced, keeping pace with employee training and education is an ever-present challenge.  Moreover, if your healthcare system is seriously committed to enhancing patient care, quality training and education programs play a strategic role in attracting, developing and retaining the professionals who can help you achieve your mission. 

The Essentials of Training
As an HIS, HIM or clinical director, you have a stake in the success of these training programs.  If you’re not spearheading a new initiative or providing the subject matter expertise, you may, at the very least, be impacted by its effectiveness.  If, for example, new procedures and technology for positive patient identification are not fully understood or implemented properly, your program could be undermined and Joint Commission accreditation put at risk.  

Yet, it’s not easy to deliver effective training and education programs.  If you’re not already involved in training, your hospital’s training professionals will tell you that they rely on:

• The subject matter being clearly articulated.
• Consistency and uniformity of presentations and training materials.
• Effective coursework that engages attendees and aligns with their educational needs 
• Timely execution – with all presentations, learning aids ready to go
• Program measurement and follow-up

Putting Focus Where It Needs to Be
According to the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD), a growing number of organizations are meeting these challenges by engaging third-party partners.  For some, it’s a matter of cost. For many, however; it is a way to augment their capabilities.  They’ve come to recognize their true strengths lie in content development, learning retention and program measurement.  So they’ve decided to focus their energies on core competencies and outsource the rest, looking for that partner to help them manage course content and improve training effectiveness, allowing them to use their time more wisely and effectively.

Eliminate Manually-Intensive Content Management
With a multitude of facilities and educational needs, a hospital’s training and education program can quickly crumble under a manually-intensive process for producing and distributing training.

Staying compliant with HIPAA, Joint Commission, CMS and other regulatory requirements means frequent changes to educational materials.  Likewise as processes are automated and new technologies are employed, old training documentation needs to be updated.  The right partner should provide the tools to simplify updates as well as help the training staff better manage the revision process for both the content creators/owners and the end users. In the same way, the right processes will ensure the most current training materials are readily accessible and that outdated materials are purged from the system.

Increase Training Effectiveness
Whether you’re talking about clinical, IT or administrative staff, you want to make the most of their classroom time.  That means providing them with effective learning aids to engage their interest, as well as consistent, compelling reference materials to reinforce their learning once they are back on the floor or at their desks.

A good training partner can guide you in developing these tools, offering you alternatives for better organizing and presenting documents, so they’re easy to use and durable. At the same time, they can give you the capability to personalize training materials, and add color to presentations and handouts.  ASTD research shows that color can increase learning and retention by up to 78 percent.  And, because color makes documents more attractive, it also increases readership by 40 percent.

By turning the production and distribution of these personalized, color materials to a training and education partner, you and the educator can focus on important issues like content development, learner retention and scheduling.

Time is of the Essence
Time is of the essence in managing training initiatives. For example, you may be balancing deadlines for your upcoming technology implementation with available class space and the schedules of your clinical and non-clinical staff.  Yet, there are so many logistical details that can eat up time in preparing the supporting training materials and meeting special attendee requirements:

• Addressing out-of-stock inventories
• Updating training content
• Managing version control
• Printing documents
• Assembling training components
• Delivering right documents to right place, at right time

The right partner can simplify the process, providing a single platform for ordering and managing printing materials so they’re available on time where you need them — pre-training information, training binders or kits, reference guides, CDs, even name badges, table tent cards and coffee mugs.  Freed from the logistics, you and the training staff can focus on content development and take a more active role in coaching and supporting trainees after training is complete.

Case in Point
With a network of over 1,000 facilities, one large corporation was challenged to manage costs, material obsolescence, and timely distribution of training and operational materials used throughout its organization.

Manuals, binders, quick reference cards, labels and posters were being produced with outdated content and inconsistent formats. To help them organize and facilitate these training materials, the company turned to Standard Register.

Leveraging SR’s SMARTworks® technology with digital repository and supply chain management tools, training personnel and site managers were able to track and manage the print process from creation to material delivery – all from the training site. This helped the company reduce time, improve personal productivity and comply with industry regulations.

Outfitting Healthcare Professionals to Improve Patient Care
A healthcare organization’s approach to employee education and training defines its ability to attract top talent and ultimately deliver quality care.   For more information about the resources Standard Register can provide to optimize your employee learning initiatives as well as your community educational programs, contact us now.