Anyone who has worked in the healthcare industry in recent years knows the immense challenges faced by this crucial sector. At the same time as many populations are ageing and facing increasingly complex health issues, healthcare organizations are also facing budget cuts and are struggling to plug the gap left by healthcare workers leaving the sector, driven out by low wages, long working hours and uncomfortable working conditions.
Giving up on the healthcare sector simply isn’t an option. L&D has a vital role to play in improving the quality and consistency of care globally, whether that’s helping to retain staff, boost learner engagement, improve motivation or raise standards across the board. It’s up to us to play our part in supporting healthcare organizations - so what are the key challenges to bear in mind, and importantly, what can we do to help avoid a global healthcare disaster?
Securing Safe, Fast Access to Life-saving Information
Brandon Hall’s Compliance Training 2017 report states that 44% of organizations in high-consequence industries, like healthcare, do not feel thoroughly prepared for a compliance audit. However, a key issue for healthcare workers is that IT systems in these organizations are often outdated, clunky and slow - far from ideal when you need access to life-saving information in a hurry. Removing barriers to this information should be a key concern for L&D teams without compromising security and patient confidentiality. In the absence of a big, expensive overhaul of the entire IT infrastructure, it is crucial for L&D to work closely with the IT team to identify what’s possible, what isn’t and how to make the systems work with them, not against them.
The L&D approach: It’s up to L&D to find smart ways to connect healthcare workers to the information they need when they need it. The rapid transfer of knowledge is essential in a sector where things can change literally overnight. However, that doesn’t mean cutting corners - it’s important to bear in mind the vital data protection laws in place around patient information and find ways to support both employees and patients alike with the learning technology they choose. Robust reporting should also be in place to ensure that there is clear, easily accessible evidence for all compliance training.
Invest in Efficiency-boosting Medical Technology
Evolving IT infrastructure and medical technology go hand-in-hand, with greater integration between the devices people use to manage their care and the systems used by healthcare providers. For instance, the current trend for self-monitoring and self-managed care means that many patients rely on their medical equipment and devices talking to their healthcare team’s systems to ensure that they remain on track with their health.
The L&D approach: The L&D implications of introducing pioneering new treatments and technologies into the mix for patients include the fact that L&D professionals working in healthcare must be able to equip employees (and often, the patients themselves) with a lot of information very quickly. Creating an extended enterprise LMS to deliver this type of training not only ensures a consistent learning experience, but also means that barriers to this information are lowered for better patient outcomes and patient/healthcare team relationships.
Give Power to the People
The consumerization of healthcare is massively disruptive for a sector focused on the expert/patient relationship. However, access to quality healthcare is only going to increase in the future, the most effective approach could well be to continue down this path. More self-diagnosis, more self-management and less time spent using valuable healthcare resources could help ensure that resources are allocated more efficiently in the long run. For instance, using online symptom checkers could relieve some of the pressure on doctors for minor, routine cases, giving people easier and faster access to treatment if required.
The L&D approach: Giving power to the people is about more than just patients. It’s also about empowering healthcare professionals to stay agile and on top of the latest developments in a fast-moving sector by taking charge of their own learning. This could mean accessing performance support resources on their phones, such as giving US anaesthesiologists offline access to their LMS, receiving push notifications about new courses or having easy access to complex information in the middle of a busy night shift. Empowering healthcare workers to take control of their own learning will improve the care they give to patients, and ensures that training can be accessed whenever and wherever it is needed.
Want to know more about the L&D approach to some of the major challenges facing healthcare organizations today? Download our latest Healthcare Sector Guide, and if you’re coming to ATD 2019 in May, be sure to visit the Totara Village (#1019) to see how Totara can help you.