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January 30, 2025: UCHealth transitions to a virtual IT training model, leveraging uPerform’s digital learning platform to enhance EPIC EHR training. This shift enables self-paced, role-specific learning, improving clinician proficiency, onboarding efficiency, and satisfaction.

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 Today in Health UCHealth Shifts to Virtual IT Training, Drive Satisfaction and Efficiency. My name is Sarah Richardson. I'm a former CIO for several healthcare systems, most notably within HCA and Optum, and now president of the This Week Health 229 Executive Development Community, where we host a set of channels and events.

dedicated to transforming healthcare, one connection at a time. Today's episode is brought to you by Chrome OS. Imagine a healthcare system where technology works seamlessly in the background, keeping your data secure, your teams connected, and your patients at the center of care. Visit ThisWeekHealth. com slash Google Chrome OS to learn more.

And I am joined by Kate Gamble, Managing Editor here at This Week Health. Kate, welcome to the show. Thank you, Sarah. Looking forward to it. I am too, because I loved this article. I love the fact that UCHealth is shifting or has shifted to virtual IT training that has driven satisfaction and efficiency. So UCHealth, a Colorado based health system with whom we have several friendlies, partnered with uPerform to enhance its EPIC EHR training program.

And by integrating uPerform's digital learning platform, UCHealth transitioned to a self paced, just in time training model resulting in improved clinician proficiency and satisfaction. Here's why it worked. They created an environment for self paced learning implementation, and it allowed clinicians to access training materials at their convenience, leading to more efficient onboarding and continuous education.

The shift to digital training reduced the time required for new hires to achieve proficiency. Minimizing disruptions to clinical workflows and improving overall productivity. clinician satisfaction improved. Readily available role specific training resources, which I love about role specific training resources, that the clinicians reported higher satisfaction level because they attributed it to the flexibility and relevance.

of the training content. This is also a win because uPerform enabled UCHealth to provide continuous support by embedding the up to date training materials within the EPIC system. So they could ensure clinicians stayed informed or are staying informed about system updates and best practices. So you have one new module change or you have a quick update, boom, it's going to go out there with an alert and let them know, hey, you need to go watch this five minute module because this changed in the system.

And it's scalable. When you consider the efficiency to scale training across multiple facilities, it maintains consistency, it maintains quality in your education, and you don't have people as much bouncing from facility to facility for something like this five minute video that they could watch instead.

So Kate, wearing your CIO hat, why is this such a win for you?

So this particular piece did focus on UC Health experience. UC Health's experience. with computer based training, showing the value of integrating learning platforms to enhance the experience. But a number of organizations are exploring this, and CIOs are finding that self paced in application training can lead to higher clinician proficiency, satisfaction, and operational efficiency.

Those are three very important components. And what's also key, is that these platforms facilitate scalable, as you mentioned, and consistent training across diverse settings, aligning with strategic goals of standardization and quality improvement. But with any type of initiative like this, it's a change that has to be managed carefully, and there's a lot of considerations when you're transitioning to digital training.

One is the possible role of hybrid models, Blending digital and in person training to accommodate different learning styles and organizational needs. And I like how you emphasize role specific training resources. I think that's really important. And you have to have leadership buy in from both executives and clinical leadership.

And there's the technical requirements of implementing a scalable digital training platform, such as EHR integration and secure access, and then in terms of change management, you're managing resistance among staff who may prefer traditional training methods.

And I don't really like the word resistance, but I think that it comes down to people know what they know, they're used to it, and it can be difficult to transition to something different, but as we're seeing, this has some really impressive results. So what have you found to be some of the other key factors?

Here's what I love about you saying very specifically the, hey, is it resistance or is it somebody who may still like the human touch? And this isn't about just ditching a bunch of humans in the loop. This is about, we're going to provide, let's just make up the number, 90 to 95 percent of all of this training.

And there may be the 5 percent follow up component where you may have certain clinicians or certain scenarios where Somebody may need a little bit more hand holding or more in depth training perspectives. I used to have them with certain physicians all the time. I would laugh because we'd have really high functioning physicians who just really struggled with the EHR.

And I remember having a couple of cardiologists who said, Yeah, but I don't want to do that. I'd be like, great. And so back in the day, before there was even like a scribe or an ambient listening perspective, we basically had the scribe environment for certain doctors who just were so good at delivering care and that they didn't necessarily want to become experts in the technology.

And I'm dating myself when I have that conversation, but I would believe that several of our listeners might still have some of those people in their ecosystem. You got a couple doctors that you just have to provide a different level of service and care for them. So get that clinician feedback. Explore how collecting this qualitative feedback from end users complements the metrics like error rates and task completion times.

The solution has to be better than what was there before. So you have a performance dashboard. You're going to highlight use, The use of performance dashboards to track individual and group progress in mastering functionality. Patient outcomes. When you're discussing how improvements in clinician training directly correlate with better patient care, such as reduced documentation errors or faster access to patient data, that may mean that you get to spend more personal time with a patient.

And examine ways to measure cost savings from reduced training time. We talked about fewer on site training resources and minimized operational disruptions. It's also going to give you more time for some of the on site training resources that may be necessary to overcome either the change management access or truly just that white glove service for certain providers or clinicians that you have allocated that type of status, for lack of a better term, within your organization.

Kate, when it comes to online presence, what are some of the ways that Engagement can best be sustained organizationally.

So one of the things I think we have to look at is gamification and incorporating that into training models. This can increase clinician motivation. And as we're seeing new generations enter the physician workforce, this could be a big selling point because apparently they didn't grow up on Coleco and Atari, like some of us might have.

And then there's micro learning. So there's some benefits of short, focused training sessions that fit into busy clinical schedules and allow for more on demand learning. I think that is a huge plus, especially with people being hybrid, remote, whatnot. And now, and as far as regular updates, you do need to maintain relevance by embedding updated training materials aligned with system upgrades, compliance changes, or new workflows.

That has to be a priority. And mentorship can also play a role here. So having programs where experienced clinicians can mentor others in using digital training tools, fostering collaboration and shared learning.

I have to do like a public service announcement in the middle. When you said Coleco, I'm like, how many people listening remember Coleco Vision Console and what it meant?

of business in I don't know,:

So you said Coleco, I had a total flashback to being like five years old, which yeah, that was a long time ago.

I love shout outs to to our childhood. But now if we look at what this means for the future of EHR training, we're talking about leveraging AI to tailor training content based on individual learning behaviors, progress, and clinical specialties.

This is one of those instances where. AI's capabilities really can make a significant difference, I think, in being able to customize. And of course VR training. So using VR simulations to create immersive hands on training experiences for complex EHR tasks. I think that's something that's a long time coming and is going to be really interesting to see.

And natural language processing. So this type of technology can allow users to interact with training platforms through conversational queries.

And of course, predictive analytics. So using these, using predictive analytics to identify training gaps before they can implement, before they can impact clinician performance, ensuring proactive interventions. So a lot of this high tech tools that we're seeing. Really can play a role in something like this.

it got, it was kicked off in:

I also love the aspect of the fact that you're going to have your flagship hospitals, but then you're going to have your critical access facilities, and even some of your urgent care scenarios, urgent care locations, or some of your private physician offices, and nobody It's great. is left out. It democratizes access to training.

And I do love the personalization aspect coming into that, or the VR perspectives. For those of us that have tried VR and we're seeing it not just for training, but also for patient therapies, et cetera, this really becomes a customized way of how you learn. So you and I may be required to know the same information, but we're seeing And as these systems become more mature and more customized to our preferences, then it's going to teach us in the way that we learn and retain information best.

Yes, it's the future of EHR training. It's also the future of so many more aspects of what we're seeing in the ability to deliver this digital content across the continuum. Always more to come on these, but super interesting to be able to see how. likely to a response to what was happening during their pandemic.

They have absolutely revolutionized a way that creates better engagement and likely retention within their health system. Remember to share this podcast with a friend or a colleague. Use it as a foundation for daily or weekly discussions on the topics that are relevant to you and the industry. They can subscribe wherever podcasts.

Kate, thank you for joining me. Thank you, Sarah. And thank you for listening. That's all for now.

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