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As the healthcare industry faces increasing clinician burnout, an ongoing nursing staffing crisis, continuing digitization and never-ending EHR updates and enhancements, clinical and IT leadership find themselves looking for opportunities to improve EHR operations to better support frontline clinicians. One solution many health systems are beginning to utilize is the implementation of just-in-time training (also known as JIT training). Just-in-time training methods play a prominent role in the overarching mission to improve clinician efficiency, reduce burnout, improve EHR satisfaction and improve the ROI of training departments for the organization.  

Just-in-time training in healthcare empowers staff to perform at optimal levels by delivering bite-sized learning and ongoing support materials when and where employees need it most – in the workflow. While just-in-time learning in the workplace has many applications, ensuring clinicians are optimized to use technology to deliver life-saving care is arguably the most critical. 

uPerform is a digital learning platform that supports this just-in-time training strategy for your health system. Providing integration points with leading EHR vendors such as Epic and Oracle Cerner, uPerform helps bridge the training gap from struggling to keep up, to leading with an innovative training strategy.

What is just-in-time training?

Just-in-time training allows the end user to access needed materials directly in their workflow. For EHRs, this means the ability to stay inside your Epic or Oracle Cerner documentation while accessing a tip sheet or quick microlearning to better understand a given workflow. Users learn and perfect the required skills on demand, as necessary, instead of trying to rely on their memory of past instructor-led trainings. 

There is no doubt that EHR training is necessary for the proper adoption and utilization of a health system’s largest IT investment. However, formal classroom training takes clinicians away from patient care and costs the organization valuable time and resources. After switching to a just-in-time training strategy supported by uPerform, Baylor Scott & White eliminated 186,000 hours of new hire/new affiliate onboarding time otherwise spent in traditional classroom training. Health systems are looking for training solutions that balance high-value learning opportunities with less time off the floor and reduced demand on resources.  

Just-in-time learning is an effective way to solve these problems. Imagine you hire a new physician. With traditional, instructor-led training, you may have to wait days or weeks to get them into a classroom. With uPerform, you can give them a link that provides remote access to initial onboarding. After completion, they receive their EHR login, allowing them to begin seeing patients in as little as three hours.

Then we have the uPerform self-paced learning [in Epic], which can be up to three hours. At the end of which, here’s your login. Go start taking care of patients. So, in as quick as about two hours, you’ve gone from ‘I need to get trained’ to ‘I can start taking care of patients.’

— Dr. CT Lin, CMIO at UCHealth

Additional training can be accessed directly within the EHR at the time of need, minimizing interruptions in daily activities, as learning occurs during work. The ability to begin using the EHR allows clinicians to see where they have the largest knowledge gaps, empowering them to receive the training that is pertinent to them rather than sitting through hours in a classroom going over workflows that may or may not be intended for their role.

The benefits of just-in-time training 

Just-in-time training has many benefits for healthcare. As consumers, we are accustomed to having instant information at our disposal. Just-in-time training with uPerform provides this and more for your clinicians, including better accessibility, tailored learning opportunities, increased productivity and more.  

Better accessibility 

The ability to access learning directly in the flow of work means clinicians no longer need to spend time out of their day finding answers to their questions or traveling for classroom training. Microlearning and mobile access mean that users access an array of learning materials from anywhere, on any device, whenever they need it. 

Increased adoption 

Just-in-time training improves adoption of, and productivity with, technology tools by allowing clinicians to access information when they need it. They no longer need to set aside blocks of time to attend hours-long courses. The ability to quickly train on EHR updates and changes provides for smoother adoption of new functions and features. When M Health Fairview embedded a microlearning video for a new eConsent navigator in the workflow, adoption of the new navigator increased from just 7% to 87%. 

Enhanced knowledge retention 

Research shows that learners begin forgetting what they learned as soon as they leave the classroom. With just-in-time training, EHR users learn within the workflow they use every day. This contextual learning experience enables learners to instantly put newly learned skills to use, helping them retain what they have learned.

Elevated employee engagement and proactivity 

When users know the education they need is available, they can act more confidently and take the initiative, improving their learning experience. According to KLAS Research, the largest single factor in EHR satisfaction comes down to the individual user themselves taking charge of their EHR experience. This proactive framework empowers employees to engage in workplace learning, at a pace that works for them. 

Reduced training costs and improved scalability 

A digital or hybrid learning strategy reduces time and costs associated with classroom training. It can be difficult for both instructors and clinical staff to find time for in-person lessons. When training teams can instead focus on creating content for self-paced learning, they have more time to create tailored content and offer one-on-one coaching as needed.

Improved EHR satisfaction 

With support only a click away, just-in-time training helps clinicians feel more confident and satisfied with the EHR. At Baylor Scott & White Health, users of uPerform rate their EHR satisfaction 12.9 points higher than nonusers. Reducing the amount of time clinicians spend in the classroom and supporting them as they perform their daily tasks drives both satisfaction with their training experience and their EHR experience as a whole.

Smoother go-lives and upgrades 

Technology and processes are in a constant state of change. It is imperative that health professionals have immediate access to up-to-date information throughout the organization, to successfully prepare for and navigate change. With uPerform, learning teams have access to rapid content creation and management tools to quickly create or update learning materials. Authors publish change management documentation and announce workflow changes from a single platform. Information is shared in real-time, so everyone throughout the health system is drawing from the same, up-to-date knowledge base. Aspirus prepared clinicians across seven new hospitals and 21 new clinics for an Epic go-live in six months with just-in-time training in the workflow.

How to successfully implement just-in-time training 

Introducing mission-critical changes is challenging. Consider these standard best practices to seamlessly integrate a new learning strategy. 

Know what learners need 

The first step to a successful learning program is a sound understanding of what learners need. What materials are missing and where are users struggling? Consider encouraging learners to be open about challenging areas through routine surveys and employ analytics to identify areas of opportunity and provide for their needs. 

Create engaging learning materials 

Once you have identified areas of the system users find the most challenging, you can develop content targeting those key areas. Still, creating the information is only half of the process. Pay attention to how you deliver learning — small chunks are best, but it also helps to include multiple formats to support various learner preferences. The uPerform platform allows you to create multiple content types from one recording of a workflow. The rapid recorder can produce tip sheets, simulations, and videos all at once. 

Create a robust learning culture 

Foster a culture of learning throughout your organization by offering employees learning opportunities on-demand instead of passively waiting for information in the next scheduled training session. Encourage employees to take responsibility for their learning outcomes. A just-in-time education strategy is most effective when learners seek new opportunities and provide feedback. 

Encourage social learning 

Some people find assimilating new information is more manageable in the company of others. Providing opportunities for learning collaboration contributes to your overall learning culture and employee confidence and performance. Encourage following and sharing on many platforms, such as instant messaging and online forums. uPerform enhances this strategy by allowing the sharing of content, much like social media.

Provide rapid content delivery 

When your organization is ready to take the just-in-time approach, you must have the capacity to provide the necessary information. Investing in a quality learning content management platform, such as uPerform, to easily catalog and disseminate information will allow your organization the agility to quickly create and manage your learning content. With the additional direct EHR integration, you will be ready to roll out a workable plan for delivering content to learners at their time of need.

Add tangible examples 

People find it easier to learn with relatable content. Help learners by providing real-world examples in training that mirror their systems and processes. Including tangible examples in learning materials adds context to theoretical details, improves knowledge retention and increases engagement with the topic. 

Encourage learner feedback 

In an active learning culture, information is constantly evolving. So are the needs of the learners themselves. Collecting data on whether the format and information meet learners’ needs is vital to improving educational processes. Employee feedback is a keystone to successful educational innovations in the healthcare industry. 

Consider how learner input can assist your program by identifying challenges, standardizing training quality and helping training teams communicate change. Your goal is to make learners confident that your organization is striving to meet their needs and is providing them with the best resources possible. 

uPerform’s just-in-time training platform 

Initial training and ongoing support are the keys to long-term EHR productivity and engagement. When considering the right platform for your organization, content creation, distribution and management must fall under a single solution to streamline processes and create cohesiveness. uPerform just-in-time training provides the following advantages: 

• Relevant, role-based solutions: uPerform creates a personalized in-app training solution by delivering content based on role. Users no longer wade through irrelevant content to find answers to their how-to questions. 
• Leading software integrations: Integrate uPerform with your most critical software applications to provide comprehensive initial and ongoing software training throughout the learner journey. When learners face challenges, uPerform delivers relevant, task-specific assistance to promote user satisfaction and proficiency. uPerform offers integrations for leading EHR, HCM, CRM, ERP, and more applications. See our full list of supported applications. 
• Multiple content formats: Increase learner engagement by appealing to their preferred learning style. With uPerform’s authoring tool, you can create multiple content formats best suited to different learning styles with just the click of a button. 
• Simplified content creation and management: With uPerform, authors create content in half the time. Updating content is faster too. Authors simply edit existing steps and republish documents, rather than recreating them from scratch. 
• Central learning libraries: Host all your content in one central learning library to promote ease of access throughout the organization.

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Choose uPerform for just-in-time support 

Providing continuous education opportunities for your healthcare workforce is a common challenge throughout the industry. Reduce the time and cost burdens posed by ineffective training methods by scaling and streamlining educational processes that are designed to meet learners’ needs. uPerform’s just-in-time training platform offers ongoing software education by delivering role-specific training and support. Enhance overall productivity and increase satisfaction throughout your organization with a just-in-time approach to digital literacy. 

Master your applications while you work with uPerform. Learn how to equip your team to be efficient software users with tip sheets, videos and simulations available at their fingertips. Contact us and request a demo today.