Preventing Dangerous Medical Error with Online Learning

Mistakes happen. After all, we’re humans, not robots. But for medical professionals, a single mistake — however small — can cost someone their life. Human error in the medical field results in an estimated 250,000 deaths and costs nearly $20 billion annually. This data differs from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s more conservative estimate (98,000 deaths). Even more, since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the 31% reduction in average central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) was reversed, and U.S. hospitals also saw an increase in catheter-associated urinary tract infections, ventilator-associated events, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (Fleisher, et al., 2022). Despite best efforts, medical error rates are on the rise. So, how do organizations address the third most common cause of avoidable death in the U.S.? 

Organizations know that hefty fees and penalties incur as a result of medical error. They also know the heavy emotional burden their healthcare professionals endure in the wake of an error. Evidence suggests clearly defined guidelines and policies can reduce medical error rates in hospitals. However, just as humans are prone to errors, the human mind is also prone to forgetting. As German philosopher Herman Ebbinghaus discovered in his late 19th century psychology studies, the nature of human forgetting can be illustrated through a curve. Memory rapidly degrades as soon as hours to a day after learning, and retention fades to about 20% after 30 days. However, certain learning strategies can disrupt this curve, improving retention of important information, as in the case of patient safety training. Therefore, coupling error prevention guidelines and policies with a way to offer continuous learning is a uniquely effective way to reduce errors. 

For example, CLABSIs are often preventable, and rates can be reduced, if not eliminated, by adherence to evidence-based patient safety guidelines. One hospital in a large Colorado healthcare system was selected to pilot the idea that CLABSIs could be addressed with training. After implementing Amplifire’s online learning platform, they experienced a 79% reduction in CLABSIs. A reduction of this magnitude has a profound effect on patient wellbeing.  

By implementing rigorous patient safety guidelines and policies as part of a larger “safety culture” and reinforcing them with an online learning solution that makes learning stick, organizations can tangibly achieve better patient outcomes and help their people reach their highest potential. Here’s how. 

Creating a patient safety training program 

While mistakes are a part of life, the stakes are higher in healthcare. In working to eradicate medical error, organizations are maintaining a culture of safety, based on clearly defined patient safety guidelines and policies, as well as establishing an effective learning solution to continuously fortify patient safety initiatives. 

A culture of safety promotes the use of the Joint Commission Patient Safety Goals that supports institutions and healthcare professionals to create the safest environment for patients and providers. However, the Joint Commision’s guidelines are extensive, and the human brain is designed to naturally forget some things over time. Moreover, organizations often have their own policies and guidelines around patient safety and error protocol. So, as organizations strive to create a safety culture, they should also prioritize learning as well. Continuous training can help solidify these guidelines and policies and keep them fresh in employees’ minds. 

Typically, training can be costly and time consuming. Training can also be ineffective if not implemented properly, or if it’s not personalized to learners’ prior knowledge. Guidelines and policies are not always the most exciting material to review, which is why non-engaging training won’t stick with learners, leaving safety culture efforts fruitless. When the stakes are high, introducing a training program that actively engages learners and makes learning stick is critical. 

Confidence as a precursor to action

There are two main types of error. The first type of error is error of omission occur as a result of actions not taken. This can be remedied by continuous training. Information remains fresh in the minds of employees throughout their work, helping to combat any knowledge gaps, uncertainty, or stale practices that exist.  

The second type of error is error of commission which occurs as a result of the wrong action taken. Because this type of error stems from an action, it indicates a particular type of cognitive risk exists in the minds of employees: confidently held misinformation (CHM). CHM is when a person believes they are correct when they are in fact wrong. CHM is particularly dangerous because it’s invisible until an active mistake has been made.  

The world’s leading cognitive scientists recognized the real-world significance of this mental phenomenon, and their research is put to work in Amplifire’s adaptive learning platform. It finds and fixes CHM before mistakes happen. Where CHM would previously be invisible, Amplifire exposes it. Where there would eventually be a costly error from this CHM, the platform intervenes.  

At a multi-hospital healthcare system, 2,385 physicians received an Amplifire course on safety in three modules: Safety Science, Culture of Safety, and Solving Safety Concerns. Amplifire discovered that nearly all of the physicians had some CHM or uncertainty in their knowledge base — which is concerning, but not necessarily surprising, since physicians are prone to mistakes, too. The special part of this training is that it spared these employees from potentially making a mistake — and preventing potential patient harm — based on that false information. 

Recognizing CHM as a risk factor is a proactive way to prevent medical error, just as is creating a culture of safety and learning from clearly defined guidelines and policies. But not all training methods to execute these safety initiatives are created equally.  

Patient safety training checklist

Amplifire’s platform not only detects and corrects knowledge gaps, instances of uncertainty, and misinformation, but it also does so in an adaptive, personalized manner that’s specific to each learner’s knowledge level. This degree of personalization is essential to creating a well-received culture of learning that respects employees’ time and expertise, while also ensuring everyone has the information they need to maintain the highest degree of safety. As an organization, there are qualities like time to completion, flexibility, and efficacy that factor into a training program’s viability. 

Here are some features that made learning stick for healthcare employees at the multi-hospital healthcare system we mentioned above: 

Adaptive learning

The Amplifire platform’s adaptive algorithm watches each learner’s starting levels of knowledge, uncertainty, and misinformation and adjusts which areas they need to focus on. The learning experience is rigorously personalized with adaptive functionality. It treats each learner as an individual with their own unique mix of mastery, misinformation, uncertainty, and information gaps so their learning time is used efficiently. By adapting to their knowledge level, trainees don’t waste time relearning things they already know. Instead, they spend more time only on subjects they demonstrate struggle with. 

In the case of the healthcare system, it cut patient safety training from four hours to only 63 minutes. Learners also benefit from a virtual instructional coach, VIC, who encourages, cajoles, and prompts learners with guidance.   

Brain science principles

Choosing a learning platform that uses science-based techniques is important not only because it makes learning more effective, but also because it is a better experience for the learner. The Amplifire platform is built on cutting-edge brain science discoveries from our Science Advisory Board (SAB) — some of the world’s leading experts in neuroscience and cognitive science. It is built to work with the way the mind naturally learns, so learners can spend less time learning and actually retain more than traditional methods.  

Science-based learning is also a more engaging experience. Over twenty cognitive triggers — identified by the SAB — are coded into the platform to guide people on their personal path to mastery. Cognitive triggers such as priming, metacognition, feedback, spacing and more create a learning experience that has a gamification feel to it. Triggers increase learning and retention by switching specific brain circuits on so that it can be recalled at a future point in time. Some of the most effective triggers work by creating engagement through emotion and attention — two powerful influences on memory. These triggers have been identified to form rapid, long-lasting memory that sticks. And when learning sticks, employees perform better, and organizations prosper. 

Course development

No need to start from scratch. Choose from (or modify) proven-effective courses developed by industry experts, members of Amplifire’s Healthcare Alliance — a collaborative group of health systems, hospitals, physicians, and nurses working to raise the bar on knowledge, judgment, and performance.  

Some courses include: 

• CAUTI Prevention  
• CLABSI Prevention 
• Sepsis: Recognizing and Managing 

• Patient Safety – Science of Safety, Culture of Safety, Solving Safety Concerns 
• Preventing Patient Falls 
• Prevention of Pressure Injuries 
• And more 

Actionable analytics

Data is good, but actionable data is better. Amplifire reveals where individuals struggle and with what topics. This specific information can help instructors or team leaders intervene for at-the-elbow coaching. For example, in the case of the Colorado health system, implementing patient safety courses with Amplifire, all physicians showed CHM or uncertainty, but there was a wide variation in degree. Most learned quickly, but others needed more support. For individuals who struggled to learn, Amplifire generated individual action plans. 

Depending on how many people struggle with certain questions, it can also help inform learning and development teams’ content strategy. If certain questions just aren’t landing with learners, it may be time to reconsider the question content.  

Training comes full circle when organizations can also use learning data to see evidence of mastery when their people complete Amplifire courses, ensuring they can operate to the highest standards. This is how the quality of a trainee’s learning experience is directly correlated to your organization’s success. Every detail matters when lives are at stake, too. Amplifire’s platform helps you ensure their learning experience is positive and effective, so everyone wins.   

By the end of training, all physicians that completed the Amplifire courses demonstrated 100% proficiency. And while we can’t generate a concrete metric to illustrate what errors would have been made but weren’t, the system was able to achieve tangible training results in less time for more physicians. 

Amplifire helps organizations achieve patient safety goals by showing leaders how knowledge is arrayed in the minds of employees. This highest degree of transparency is not possible without the data analytics from Amplifire’s adaptive learning platform. Without the ability to see what’s really going on, organizations, healthcare professionals, and patients are at risk for preventable errors.  

From the beginning, Amplifire has relied on innovative brain science to guide its product development to create the most effective learning and training solution, perfectly tailored to the way the human brain works. Learn more about how Amplifire helps people learn better and faster by checking out a demo.

Transforming Infection Prevention Training with Online Learning

While hospitals continuously work to prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), they still occur. With more reports highlighting staff shortages, burnout, and overwhelming workload — problems only exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic — people resort to shortcuts when there isn’t enough time to meet mounting demands. Despite staff being hyperaware of infection with reminders such as infection prevention “toolkits,” posters, and graphics, HAIs increased significantly in 2021, according to the CDC (CLABSI by 47% and CAUTI by 19%, for example). 

And even still, hospitals continue to combat potentially deadly cases of HAIs. A narrative review of HAIs prevention strategies cites the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety’s report of healthcare workers’ reasons for non-compliance with updated guidelines — and most given reasons stem from a lack of education and training about the guidelines’ strictness. Healthcare workers also went on to report high workloads and feelings of burnout. Information overload while already feeling overwhelmed prevents workers from absorbing new guidelines quickly and effectively. Any information learned is likely to be forgotten in the stress of the job. 

There is so much that goes into preventing HAIs that clinicians are responsible to know and execute with confidence every day. With constant pressures upon them — both systemic and job related — healthcare workers need that extra support from their organizations. That’s where effective and personalized learning can make a difference for both staff and patients’ safety. 

Ultimately, it boils down to giving the highest quality care to patients. When mistakes are made and HAIs occur, patients, their families and their caregivers suffer — which poses an emotional burden to healthcare workers who aim to deliver the best patient care. Amid a healthcare worker crisis, it is up to organizations to offer as much support as possible. Regular training in infection prevention best practices is the best way to curb HAIs, but garnering buy-in for more training can be a hurdle. This is especially true if training efficacy can’t be measured. However, if training efficacy can be measured and has been shown to deliver significant ROI (such is the case with Amplifire), that may be the push you need to ensure your staff is well supported and performing at their highest potential.  

Why science-based training matters 

For learning to deliver tangible results, it has to stick. Amplifire’s platform is built from brain science discoveries that induce powerful, lasting learning at a much faster rate. These discoveries — pioneered by our Science Advisory Board — include “cognitive triggers” that have proven to help people learn faster and retain more, which provides an advantage when it comes to optimizing training. 

The unfortunate reality is that people are designed to forget — it’s a natural part of being human. In fact, the process of forgetting is actually beneficial to cognition and learning (learn more about that intricate process here). But by harnessing the aforementioned cognitive triggers, Amplifire’s learning platform attacks what is known as the forgetting curve, forging stronger memories for information that matters, especially when it comes to infection prevention training. 

Science-based training matters because it is the most effective way to ensure important, life-saving training sticks in the minds of learners. Major health systems that have partnered with Amplifire for infection prevention training have seen astonishing results, including significant reduction in HAIs and HAI-related deaths. Ultimately, infection prevention training should empower clinicians and help their organizations reduce HAIs. With the power of brain science and adaptive, personalized learning, Amplifire helps organizations reach their infection prevention training goals. Here’s how. 

How Amplifire training delivers positive outcomes 

For clinicians 

In addition to applying brain science principles to learning, the Amplifire platform also rigorously personalizes the learning experience. Our adaptive platform tailors learning to each person by adjusting to individuals’ knowledge gaps, uncertainties, and misinformation. By personalizing the learning experience in this way, learners only spend time on the things they don’t know. This is important for clinicians because it:  

• Respects clinicians’ time. Clinician satisfaction improves when organizations show they value their time and knowledge. 
• Gets clinicians back on the floor faster. Clinicians spend less time in training and more time helping patients. 
• Gives clinicians confidence. Clinicians feel better prepared to provide the best possible care for their patients, boosting morale. 

In the figure below, Amplifire visualizes the importance of personalized learning in CAUTI prevention training at an East Coast hospital. Without Amplifire, there is no way to know exactly what each clinician does or does not know, posing a significant risk in HAI prevention. 

In the CAUTI prevention course, clinicians and nurses posed different risks based on their differing knowledge gaps, uncertainties, and misinformation. Therefore, the Amplifire platform adapted their learning experience to their knowledge level for optimal learning, yielding the benefits described above from the clinician perspective. 

What’s more, training doesn’t have to be boring, either. Personalized learning can combat adverse feelings associated with training. Amplifire has a gamification feel that stimulates dopamine and makes learning enjoyable.  

For patients 

Patients are at the center of all HAI prevention training objectives. The main goal of HAI training is not just to cut down on training time and associated costs, but it is to improve patient outcomes and save lives. Again, HAIs continued to increase significantly in 2021, even with scrupulous prevention efforts by healthcare organizations.  

Despite the national average increase in HAIs, a hospital at a large U.S. healthcare system saw CLABSI rates fall by 79% in under a year following the adoption of Amplifire training. When compared to the control hospital, the result was undeniable. 

Continuing the CAUTI example from the previous section, Amplifire training empowered those physicians and nurses to achieve a 38% decrease in CAUTI incidents. These HAI reductions have tangible effects on patient outcomes, and clinicians can be proud of the impact they’ve made in patients’ lives.  

For organizations  

For healthcare systems, clinician satisfaction and positive patient outcomes are of paramount importance. Organizations’ prosperity heavily depends on these factors.  

Like we previously discussed, personalized learning allows learners to only spend time learning topics they don’t know, so they don’t waste time learning the things they’ve mastered. This effective and efficient learning model slashed learning time and cuts costs associated with more time spent learning and learning in the classroom if organizations haven’t yet adopted blended or virtual learning. It also allows providers to get back to the floor faster, increasing billable hours. 

With clinicians who are more satisfied with training that respects their time and empowers them to do their best work confidently, hospitals achieve higher retention rates. By keeping good employees, hospitals cut onboarding costs and reduce turnovers. 

In addition to diminished patient wellbeing, HAIs pose a significant monetary risk to organizations. It is estimated that 250,000 CLABSIs occur in the U.S. every year, and the AHRQ estimates the average cost of each CLABSI at approximately $48,108. At a health system that deployed Amplifire’s CLABSI training and decreased bloodstream infections by 49%, they achieved $3.8 million in savings. Imagine what the 79% reduction we described above could achieve in savings — savings that could be put to work to improve hospital prosperity, enabling health systems to provide top-tier care. 

These points considered, the return on investment associated with Amplifire training can be as much as 25-fold. Effective training is absolutely critical to prosperity and future proofing your organization. Amplifire has proof of learning and powerful returns to show the value of a science-based, adaptive learning platform.  

When lives are at stake, there is no place for shortcuts. Amplifire supports the Institute for Health Improvement’s Quadruple Aim, rounding off better health, better care, and low cost with clinician wellbeing. Clinicians are the backbone of patient care; when clinicians are well supported, especially with adequate and effective training, the core elements of what was formerly the Tripple Aim become more achievable. To be a well-rounded organization, it’s essential to empower employees with lifesaving, HAI-preventing training that propels your organization to prosperity.  

From the beginning, Amplifire has relied on innovative brain science to guide its product development to create the most effective learning and training solution, perfectly tailored to the way the human brain works. Learn more about how Amplifire helps people learn better and faster by checking out a demo.

Improve EHR Training Satisfaction by Personalizing the Online Learning Experience

The looming healthcare worker shortage crisis is upon us and no organization is too large to not feel the effects. In bearing the heavy emotional and physical burden of the pandemic and its aftershocks, strained medical professionals are fed up. The U.S. could face a shortage of 37,800 to 124,000 physicians by 2034, according to data released from the Association of American Medical Colleges. According to a McKinsey report, the United States could see a deficit of 200,000 to 450,000 registered nurses available for direct patient care by 2025. The numbers are daunting, which means it’s now even more important to prioritize onboarding and retention efforts. This starts with improving the employee experience through personalization. 

Doctors with high electronic health record (EHR) satisfaction are nearly five times more likely to report they’ll stay at their organization. In a time of labor shortages and widespread burnout, organizations cannot afford to overlook how their EHR training delivers in terms of efficacy and quality of learning experience.  

Learning to operate an EHR system is complex in its own right: they manage patient history and care, clinician activity, and billing cycle, as well as host massive quantities of patient data. On top of that, navigating EHR training comes with another set of potential complications. For starters, learners have varying knowledge bases and starting points — some may be first-timers, others may be veterans, and there are a variety of specialties to consider. People also carry their own feelings of frustration, especially when learning yet another EHR customization. How do organizations manage all these variables in order to provide effective training with a positive experience and ultimately boost retention and satisfaction? That requires an understanding of the valuable data and feedback collected by a KLAS Arch Collaborative report. (Hint: many signs point to personalization, down to the training level). 

The biggest EHR training-related takeaways 

The September 2022 report conveys that common EHR user — in this case, providers — frustrations include EHR functionality, ability to deliver quality care, and vendor delivery of quality. 

The report also finds that satisfaction scores vary by specialty, with hospital medicine providers scoring over 10 points higher than the average. So, what did they like about it? The report indicates they are satisfied with their workflow training, EHR functionality, and ease of learning how to use the system. This feedback reveals that in addition to functionality, training and education are key influences on overall satisfaction provider satisfaction. 

KLAS also interviewed respondents with exceptionally high satisfaction scores to investigate what drove this unique success. One of the best practices that emerged from the investigation is “Implement EHR education, including required organization trainings and self-learning opportunities, to increase EHR knowledge and understanding.” 

Researchers concluded, “Though it may take significant time and effort to build specialty-specific workflow training, providers who strongly agree their training was specialty-specific are almost 25 times more likely to agree that the EHR has the functionality they need. Both organizations and EHR vendors can help all providers find success with the EHR by ensuring that initial and ongoing education are tailored to the needs of different specialties.” 

In other words, personalized training not only matters, but it is the key differentiator in provider EHR satisfaction scores, and has far-reaching, organization-wide implications. The question is, how do health systems deliver individually personalized training at scale, in blended and virtual settings? Amplifire has helped large organizations do just that with exceptional results, confirming that personalizing the learning experience not only yields higher learner satisfaction scores, but also generates powerful ROI. 

Personalized learning experiences lead to more effective EHR training 

The learning experience is personalized in a number of ways with Amplifire. Firstly, Amplifire is an adaptive platform that adjusts to individual learners’ knowledge levels. It tailors the experience to learners’ needs, filling in knowledge gaps, shoring up uncertainties, and correcting misconceptions. By adapting to their knowledge level, trainees don’t waste time relearning things they already know. Instead, they spend more time only on subjects they demonstrate struggle with. 

The Amplifire platform is built with cognitive triggers and cutting-edge brain science discoveries from our Science Advisory Board (SAB) — some of the world’s leading experts in neuroscience and cognitive science. These triggers work with the way the mind naturally learns, so learners can spend less time training and retain more than traditional methods. Not only does this approach make learning more effective, it is a better experience for the learner. Triggers including gamification, priming, feedback, metacognition and more keep learners engaged, improving the learning experience.  

Another factor in creating a successful learning experience is collecting data to inform any further enhancements your organization should choose to offer. In a blended setting, Amplifire’s data analytics offer insights that were previously invisible. Instructors can see which topics have landed and which topics learners have struggled with, and where further instruction is needed. They can then filter topics with a high struggle rate to inform their instruction. Instructors can identify individuals who are struggling with what questions or topics to provide at-the-elbow coaching. This level of personalization ensures struggling learners get the help they need and the best learning experience possible. 

In action, this level of personalization has powerful effects for both trainees and health systems at large. One such example is how UCHealth cut training time by 87.5%, achieved an 86% learner satisfaction score, and experienced $1.45 million in savings using Amplifire training. Where learners typically spent eight hours in the classroom with their previous training system, learners now spend an hour or less on average in training. This not only respects their time, but also increases their time out on the floor, helping patients. 81% of learners said the course covered EHR skills relevant to their role, while 82% said that Amplifire’s unique question and answer format helped them learn strong EHR skills.  

Furthermore, based on the built-in proficiency analysis tool within the EHR system, employees achieved 19% higher proficiency — showing that the training not only delivered on these fronts, but that it is also more effective. Research into this data is ongoing, but Harvard University neuroscientist Dan Schacter believes this result is because Amplifire gives clinicians a more robust mental schema with which to integrate their ongoing experiences in the EHR. Over time, the Amplifire-based schema compounds into EHR proficiency that grows at a faster rate than proficiency based on mental schemas originating in the classroom. 

For the 19 providers — identified using Amplfiire’s learner analytics — who struggled to learn on multiple topics, Amplifire generated individual action plans. Administrators and educators used these plans for at-the-elbow consultation. Apart from the functionality of the learning platform itself, Amplifire also gives organizations the to support individualized coaching — the level of personalization the Arch Collaborative report reveal could make or break employee satisfaction.  

From the beginning, Amplifire has relied on innovative brain science to guide its product development to create the most effective learning and training solution, perfectly tailored to the way the human brain works. Learn more about how Amplifire helps people learn better and faster by checking out a demo.

How to Enhance the Online Learning Experience

The quality of a trainee’s learning experience is directly correlated to your organization’s success. As more organizations look to transition to online learning or blended approach for their training and development, they’re often met with friction. Learners suffer from virtual burnout — when people kick into survival mode where the focus is only on keeping their head above water and getting the urgent things done. They aren’t interested in covering material they already know, and it is important to respect their knowledge and time. 

But just how serious is employee burnout? Joel Goh, Harvard Business School professor, along with Standford business professors Jeffrey Pfeffer and Stefanos A. Zenios, estimated based on mathematical projections that the U.S. government spends about $125 to $190 billion dollars a year on the mental and physical ramifications from burnout — representing 5 to 8 percent of national spending on healthcare. So, while transitioning to online training may seem like a solution to staffing, expense, and productivity issues, it remains critical to organizations’ health to prioritize the learning experience when choosing a solution. 

The name of the online learning game is engagement and a learner-centric approach. When designed correctly, online learning can be engaging and effective. The science behind learning centers around cognitive triggers that stimulate neurotransmitters that keep learners engaged — which is so much more than building in little games or adding videos. Yes, gamification can be a good strategy to keep attention during learning, but it must be executed in a way that is actually helpful to the learner. The reason Amplifire consistently cuts training time and associated costs is because our brain-science-based platform successfully keeps learners engaged, learning faster, retaining more, and performing at higher levels. Instead of being burnt out, employees are energized and confident after training.  

Wondering what features you should be looking for or best practices to implement to provide a positive learning experience for employees? Fight burnout and enhance the online learning experience with these best practices. 

5 Best practices to create a positive online learning experience: 

1. Personalization

An adaptive platform that adjusts to individual learners’ knowledge levels is essential to learning personalization, and thus the overall learning experience. Amplifire’s adaptive algorithm watches each learner’s starting levels of knowledge, uncertainty, and misinformation and refines which areas they need to focus on. The learning experience is rigorously personalized with adaptive functionality — no instructor intervention needed. It cuts learning time in half (sometimes more) by treating each learner as an individual with their own unique mix of mastery, misinformation, uncertainty, and information gaps. In the Amplifire platform, learners also benefit from a virtual instructional coach, VIC, who encourages, cajoles, and prompts learners with guidance.    

2. Flexibility

Another way to combat employee burnout during training is to provide flexibility. Virtual learning is inherently more flexible than in-person formats but offering additional flexibility as to what time and where employees can complete their online training reduces the stress of trying to complete it during busy work times or during their personal time. 

3. Science-based learning techniques

Choosing a learning platform that uses science-based techniques is important not only because it makes learning more effective, but also because it is a better experience for the learner. The Amplifire platform is built on cutting-edge brain science discoveries from our Science Advisory Board (SAB) — some of the world’s leading experts in neuroscience and cognitive science. It is built to work with the way the mind naturally learns, so learners can spend less time learning and actually retain more than traditional methods. 

Science-based learning is also a more engaging experience. Over twenty cognitive triggers — identified by the SAB — are coded into the platform to guide people on their personal path to mastery. Cognitive triggers such as priming, metacognition, feedback, spacing and more create a learning experience that has a gamification feel to it. Triggers increase learning and retention by switching specific brain circuits on so that it can be recalled at a future point in time. Some of the most effective triggers work by creating engagement through emotion and attention — two powerful influences on memory. These triggers have been identified to form rapid, long-lasting memory that sticks. And when learning sticks, employees perform better, and organizations prosper. 

4. Feedback

Feedback is a critical component in online learning environments. Learners may feel disconnected or lost without valuable feedback that addresses their specific learning needs. In a comprehensive literature review of studies exploring the role of feedback in learning, 65.07% of the studies demonstrate that automatic feedback increases learner performance in activities and 82.53% of the studies showed that there is no evidence that manual feedback is more efficient than automatic feedback. So, instructors need not feel any added strain to provide feedback — it can be automatic, just not cookie cutter.  

Feedback (an Amplifire-identified cognitive trigger) should be personalized to each learner, rather than blanket explanations that lack relevance. For example, Amplifire offers feedback in real time based on a learner’s answer. Upon submitting an answer choice, learners receive immediate feedback whether they were right or wrong, and the correct answer is delayed to further stimulate curiosity and motivate learners to seek the correct answer. Detailed, elaborative feedback can boost learning by 500% when compared to non-feedback learning. The timing of the feedback process is optimized for maximum retention, according to research provided by the SAB. 

Furthermore, learners can see and track their own progress as they move throughout the module. This eliminates the guessing game and makes the path to mastery as transparent as possible.  

5. Data analytics

A key part of the successful learning experience equation is collecting data to inform any further enhancements your organization should choose to offer. In a blended setting, Amplifire’s data analytics offer insights that were previously invisible. Instructors can see which topics have landed and which topics students have struggled with, and where further instruction is needed. They can then filter topics with a high struggle rate to inform their instruction. Instructors can identify individuals who are struggling with what questions or topics to provide at-the-elbow coaching. This level of personalization ensures struggling learners get the help they need and the best learning experience possible. 

Training comes full circle when organizations can also use learning data to see evidence of mastery when their people complete Amplifire courses, ensuring they can operate to the highest standards. This is how the quality of a trainee’s learning experience is directly correlated to your organization’s success. Every detail matters when employee wellbeing is at stake, too. Amplifire’s platform helps you ensure their learning experience is positive and effective, so everyone wins.  

From the beginning, Amplifire has relied on innovative brain science to guide its product development to create the most effective learning and training solution, perfectly tailored to the way the human brain works. Learn more about how Amplifire helps people learn better and faster by checking out a demo.

Student Metacognition: How Overconfidence Leads to Unpleasant Surprises

If you drive a car, chances are you’ve been a victim (or instigator) of at least one fender-bender. Whether the careless driver was you or the other person, there is one likely factor: the instigator was overconfident in his or her driving abilities.

Overconfidence is such a common phenomenon it’s no surprise that it would affect every area of our lives—even those areas where caution is essential.

Is the world of higher education immune? Sadly, no. An intriguing essay from Aeon Magazine cited a variety of studies that reveal an epidemic of overconfidence among college students.

Most notably, David Dunning and Justin Kruger’s semester-long study of college students in 1999 revealed that poor performers who were given feedback about their past test scores still could not accurately predict their future performance. They predicted they would do well, but time and time again, they did not.

Dunning and Kruger concluded that D and F students have a higher propensity to overestimate their abilities than A students, who actually have a tendency to underestimate their abilities. A students also were better able to reevaluate their competence when presented with evidence contrary to their self-assessments.

What Does This Mean for Higher Education?

Well, first it means students need to learn to accurately evaluate their competence. More importantly, it means universities need to give students the tools to accurately evaluate their competence—before exam time.

Often, students feel confident in their knowledge after reading the material several times, completing homework assignments, and taking online quizzes. Unfortunately, according to learner data from Amplifire, students who confidently rely on these study methods alone are overconfident in their knowledge.

The problem is, traditional studying doesn’t make information stick. The basic principles of neuroscience tell us that the human brain was built to learn and retain information in very specific ways.

Students don’t know this. Most professors don’t know this. If you want to help your students succeed, teach them that caution is essential – not just when driving a car, but when studying for a test. Overconfidence leads to unpleasant surprises like car crashes and F’s on exams.

So what does cautious learning look like? It looks like universities reevaluating course design in light of cognitive science. It looks like students adopting new learning tools, feeling confidently prepared for exams—and being right about their level of preparedness.

Case in Point: Amplifire helped 40,000 students in North Carolina improve their metacognition—and their exam scores.

Metacognition: How to Learn Better by Thinking About What You Know

The Amplifire learning platform is built on brain science principles to foster better learning. By harnessing the power of cognitive and neuroscience discoveries, the platform helps people learn faster and retain more. Of these discoveries, researchers have identified over twenty “triggers” that facilitate better learning. One of these triggers is metacognition, which many learning experts and instructors have recognized as an indicator of high performance and academic success following learning. 

Many resources tend to have varying definitions of metacognition and what metacognitive learning looks like. Like we do for everything here at Amplifire, we’ll take a science-based approach to the topic of metacognition and learning. In this article, we’ll cover:

• What is metacognition? 
• Why is it helpful for learning? 
• How to integrate metacognition into the learning process 

What is metacognition? 

People tend to separate rational thought from emotion. Sometimes, we go as far as to put emotion and rationality at odds — perpetuating the misconception that intelligence is derived from thinking and learning that is untarnished by emotion. However, the latest cognitive research indicates that emotion is a powerful influence in the process of learning and facilitating long-term retention. One of the most effective ways to ensure lasting learning is to tap into feelings of knowing. 

One of the most remarkable traits that humans possess is our ability to hold knowledge about the state of our own knowledge. Metacognition is to think about what you know or evaluate how well you know something. This process stems from feelings of knowing — you either feel confident in your knowledge of a particular topic; you may feel uncertain; or you may feel that you do not know something. The process of metacognition is derived from feelings of knowing, which has been shown to stimulate faster and stronger learning. 

Why metacognition improves learning and memory 

The reason metacognition is so powerful when it comes to learning is because it calls forth feelings of knowing to the forefront of the learning process. How we feel about what we know is important from an evolutionary standpoint. Humans evolved successfully because of the strong correlation between confidence and subsequent behavior. If you are confident, you act. If you are uncertain, you hesitate.  

The ability to assess how you feel about what you know, or make a judgement about what you know, can facilitate faster, stronger learning. Using fMRI scans of the brain, researchers at MIT visualized the neural source of this ability by directly imaging the brain. Psychologists had proposed that being able to assess your “judgements of learning” about a fact makes you a better learner.  

So how does this process work? Interestingly, the researchers also discovered that judgments of learning and knowledge itself occur in two different circuits of the brain. Judgements about learning happen at the time of learning, whereas feelings of knowing occur during memory retrieval, according to John Gabrieli at the GabLab, the McGovern Institute at MIT. When we access memories, parallel processing occurs: one circuit (the parahippocampus) is working on retrieving the information, while another (ventromedial prefrontal cortex or VMPFC) is processing clues for familiarity. Researchers believe the VMPRC is responsible for the judgements of learning we experience. A strong signal indicates familiarity, whereas a weak signal indicates uncertainty.  

Because these circuits are connected, an activated VMPFC creates a link to long-term memory. When metacognition is integrated in the learning process, stronger memories are created for later recall.  

How to integrate metacognition into learning 

Learning experts encourage instructors to integrate metacognition in their lessons. Students with strong metacognitive skills are positioned to learn more and perform better than peers who are still developing their metacognition (Wang et al., 1990).  

It’s no wonder why metacognition is directly built into the Amplifire platform. Within the platform, participants answer questions that are written in a Socratic format to encourage learning. But rather than simply answering questions, learners are prompted to indicate whether they are sure, unsure, or don’t know an answer without penalty. This way, learners must make a judgement about what they know — based on their feelings of knowing — while they recall information. 

Through this process, learning with Amplifire directly calls the VMPFC to report on its confidence level while the parahippocampus is busy retrieving the actual information. Amplifire users are engaged and learn rapidly because the circuit that stores memory and the circuit which predicts the memory are active and engaged. Amplifire brings Gabrieli’s judgements of learning directly into consciousness rather than leaving it to the subconscious. In some cases, learners lack sufficiently developed metacognitive skills, so this process isn’t immediately or innately accessible to all learners. With this simple evaluative answering process built in, learners can easily and directly access metacognition, thereby improving encoding, storage, and recall. 

Amplifire’s metacognitive approach was put to the test at a large community college in North Carolina with an enrollment of more than 40,000 students when the online learning platform was added to the culinary arts curriculum. Every student in the course must pass the food and beverage safety certificate exam in order to begin a career in the restaurant business. The food and beverage safety exam pass rates were then compared with those from the year before. Students who used Amplifire were 18% more likely to pass the exam — and 34% less likely to fail it. 

In true metacognitive fashion, learners were aware of this benefit, with 100% of them agreeing that Amplifire helped them learn and remember the material. Time and time again, the benefits of science-based learning are evident by the positive outcomes demonstrated by Amplifire learners. 

From the beginning, Amplifire has relied on innovative brain science to guide its product development to create the most effective learning and training solution, perfectly tailored to the way the human brain works. Learn more about how Amplifire helps people learn better and faster by checking out a demo.

3 Best Ways to Increase Engagement with Online Learning

In a world where we’re constantly peppered with distractions, it can be hard to focus on any one thing, let alone learning. The distractions are even evolving to manipulate our attention spans (ex: TikTok) to keep people locked in. So, if things like social media, television, video games, and communication are ever innovating to keep people engaged, how can the learning and education industry keep up? 

Another barrier to creating more engaging learning environments is the content. If a lesson is too boring, learners tune out. If the content is oversaturated with extraneous multimedia or unrelated information, learners miss the point. There’s a nuance to instructional design and it’s not always easy to implement. Although technology may seem like the enemy in the age of distraction, eLearning has emerged as a potent vessel for delivering engaging content. 

More often than we’d care to admit, we are enticed by shortcuts, gimmicks, and convenient falsehoods to serve as short-term solutions to our problems. When it comes to learning, we want to learn faster and remember as much as possible — so any solution promising these results by easy means is attractive. The problem with these solutions is that they don’t stick because they don’t cater to the way the brain actually works. Cognitive and neuro- science exist for a reason; and thankfully, some of the world’s most renowned researchers have shared their discoveries with Amplifire. Our adaptive learning platform is built on brain science principles that activate the brain’s natural learning processes. These “triggers” — as we call them — are designed to cut through distractions, inform instructional design, and effectively enhance retention. By working with the way we naturally learn, rather than against it, the Amplifire platform has been successful in keeping learners engaged so they can learn faster and better. Here’s how we do it. 

Why learner engagement is important

There is a direct correlation between high learner engagement and subsequent performance. For example, in a 2019 study of higher education students who took online courses, the mean performance of highly engaged students was significantly better than those with low engagement levels. Therefore, it should be instructors’ top priority to keep learners actively engaged. 

Not only does increased engagement lead to better outcomes, but it also improves the learning process. Engaged learners typically learn faster and retain more information in the long run than distracted or disengaged learners. 

Amplifire uses the latest brain science research to help people learn faster and remember better. These principles inform the way information is taught via our adaptive learning platform. Because the scientifically sound principles stimulate the brain’s most effective learning mechanisms, learners are naturally more engaged. This leads to better outcomes when the information is applied in real life, whether that’s out of the classroom or out in the workforce. 

How to keep learners engaged in online learning 

More specifically, Amplifire relies on twenty-or-so cognitive triggers to stimulate more effective learning. These triggers are presented through the Socratic method of asking questions to teach, test, and reinforce information. Questions are presented via an adaptive learning platform, which conforms to each individual’s needs, thus personalizing the learning experience — even in a virtual setting. Content is intentional and carefully crafted, adhering to instructional design principles.  

By homing in on all these factors to keep learners engaged, Amplifire has helped clients achieve impressive results. People tend to think online learning lacks a personal touch, when in fact, it can provide a flexible, powerful canvas to enact effective engagement strategies. 

3 Strategies to increase engagement 

1. Harness the power of brain science 

There are plenty of gimmicks and falsehoods (i.e. “learning styles”) out there that claim to help people learn better. However, the only reliable way to truly create a more effective learning experience is with brain science.  

As we previously mentioned, Amplifire’s Science Advisory Board has identified over twenty triggers that allow people to learn faster and retain more information. This ultimately leads to better performance. But how are they put into action? Here are some examples: 

• Priming — Priming is a powerful strategy to improve retention. It involves pretesting learners before they’ve studied material. When compared to traditional studying, priming results in higher test scores, regardless of whether learners perform well on a pretest (a 2010 study). Instructors use the Amplifire platform to prime learners before lessons to improve retention. 
• Feedback — Studies have shown that feedback in the form of a correct answer and explanation can improve retention dramatically. The Amplifire platform provides feedback (slightly delayed after a learner answers a question) to significantly enhance retention. 
• Metacognition — Within our platform, learners can indicate whether they feel confident or unsure about their answer or indicate that they don’t know the answer. The process of thinking about how much you know has been proven to strengthen the pathways around that information, promoting stronger learning. 

2. Personalize the learning experience 

Another powerful way to engage learners is to make the learning experience personal. We’ve all experienced a time when an instructor elaborates in detail on a subject we already know — the eyelids tend to get droopy. However, we also understand the intrigue when hearing interesting information for the first time, too. 

Adaptive learning platforms — like Amplifire — tailor content based on individual learner’s needs. Since the experience is adapted to each learner, they don’t waste time learning what they can demonstrate they’ve mastered and can focus on only what they don’t already know.  

3. Carefully craft content 

A common misconception is that there should be a lot of images, videos, colors, illustrations, graphs, etc. to make lessons interesting. Neurologically speaking, oversaturating a lesson with superfluous content is detrimental to learning. On the other hand, intentionally designed content enriched with the right material can create an engaging experience for learners. 

When instructional design and eLearning come together, design intersects with science to create an engaging and effective learning experience. It does matter how you present information — learning outcomes are at stake. Even the format of a question matters. To make learning stick, Amplifire uses multiple-choice format (proven to be most the most effective question type) to present information, with illustrations, videos, and other materials on an as-needed basis. 

From the beginning, Amplifire has relied on innovative brain science to guide its product development to create the most effective learning and training solution, perfectly tailored to the way the human brain works. Learn more about how Amplifire helps people learn better and faster by checking out a demo.

Why You Should Be Investing in Online Learning for Hard Skills Training

Soft skills are increasingly emphasized in job recruitment. Monster’s The Future of Work 2021: Global Hiring Outlook reported that when employers were asked to name the top skills they want in employees, they cited soft skills such as dependability, teamwork/collaboration, flexibility and problem-solving. These skills are desirable because they are regarded as harder to teach than hard skills. But as emphasis is placed on soft skills during job recruitment, conversations about the workforce’s hard “skills gap” grow louder. 

Just how deep is the skills gap void? Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute issued a report showing that as many as 2.4 million jobs could go unfilled in the next decade. To put a dollar amount to it, that gap could jeopardize $454 billion of economic output in 2028 or more than $2.5 trillion over the next decade. Furthermore, almost 40 percent of American employers say they cannot find people with the skills they need, even for entry-level jobs, according to McKinsey & Company. Almost 60 percent complain of lack of preparation, even for entry-level jobs. This sounds like a lot of untapped talent that could be developed with effective training. 

Employers are behind the eight ball when it comes to investing in training to address this workforce dilemma. Corporate investment in workforce training fell by 30 percent between 1999 and 2015. More generally, as a share of GDP, the U.S. federal government now invests less than half as much in workforce training as it did 30 years ago. However, a new hire for a skilled role can cost up to 20% more than workers that companies reskill to do the same tasks. So, why the hesitation? If organizations are aware of the continuously increasing skills gap and still aren’t investing in training, there must be something barring them from making the leap.  

Investing in training is risky — what if your investment doesn’t produce real training outcomes, doesn’t increase productivity, or doesn’t improve the organization’s bottom line? There remains an ambiguous connection between training initiatives and business outcomes. If a training solution could prove learning occurred and training was successful, organizations could then measure the business impact of training following implementation. There are a number of training solutions — apprenticeships, programs, instructor-led training, eLearning platforms — that aim to provide organizations with an alternative that effectively closes skill gaps. Amplifire’s brain science-based learning platform stands apart because of its ability to demonstrate that learning has occurred, thus ensuring training has been effective. 

Online learning offers a flexible solution for organizations who not only require training that fits within their structure, but also generates ROI and tangible outcomes. When it comes to upskilling, reskilling, and training employees, Amplifire’s adaptive platform creates a personalized learning experience for each learner. This, combined with proven-effective brain science principles incorporated throughout the platform’s design is what generates the positive outcomes that our customers experience — shown through our ability to provide evidence of learning. 

Amplifire not only employs cutting-edge science to close the skills gap but has also benefited businesses by decreasing employee turnover and preemptively mitigating risks. Here’s how effective learning can translate into ROI. 

How online learning improves business outcomes with effective training 

Close the skills gap by closing knowledge gaps 

From the Amplifire perspective, a skills gap is the result of a knowledge gap — one that can be filled by effective learning strategies. Our adaptive learning platform fixes knowledge gaps, uncertainty, and misinformation quickly by determining what learners already know, versus what they don’t. This way, the employees’ learning experience is tailored to their experience level. They spend less time training and more time on the job, cultivating their careers, equipped with more skills. 

This type of personalized learning for skills training increases employees’ growth potential, expanding their career opportunities. 

Decrease employee turnover 

We touched on how personalized learning for skills training increases employees’ growth potential, expanding their career opportunities. Additionally, personalized learning keeps employees actively engaged — and employee engagement is critical these days. A Workday report revealed that growth-related comments represented 8% of all employee comments in 2021 — a 2% increase compared to 2020. This figure puts lack of professional growth as a top correlate to high turnover rates. 

Amplifire also encourages the leadership side to engage with employees, as well. For example, when a learner demonstrates significant struggle on specific questions or topics, Amplifire’s reporting suite provides that information to instructors and/or managers as an opportunity for more personalized intervention. Ultimately, more one-on-one interactions emerge — perhaps an ironic result of a virtual solution. 

Learning experience aside, Amplifire was first and foremost designed to make learning stick. Our platform is armed with numerous cognitive triggers that have been found to help people learn faster and retain more information. Faster, better training means increased productivity, and increased productivity is good for your bottom line. 

Preemptively mitigate risks 

A unique capability of Amplifire’s learning platform is that it detects commonly held misinformation (CHM). CHM describes the scenario when a person believes they are correct, but they are actually wrong. This confidence, although misplaced, is a precursor to action. When a person is confident, they act. When they act based on a misconception, mistakes are made that can be insignificant or substantial. CHM is detrimental to good business and can cost organizations revenue or worse — but you’d never know it’s there until after the mistake was made. 

With the ability to detect and subsequently correct CHM before it results in costly mistakes is Amplifire’s superpower. As an online learning platform, we have the unique bandwidth to execute this feature.  

Other benefits of online learning for skills training 

Many of the business outcomes we discussed snowball into associated benefits. For example, offering skills training through Amplifire’s platform keeps employees engaged, thus promoting employee retention. But establishing a culture and infrastructure of training for hard skills not only helps to keep talent, it also allows companies to engage in more inclusive hiring practices. Say you find the perfect candidate, but they are lacking some hard skills as a result of circumstance. With an effective training program in place, companies can hire a wider range of talent. 

The bottom line is: training is good for your business. Moreover, investing in the right training solution is even better for your business. Online learning is a scalable, flexible solution that can be tailored to fit your business needs. Amplifire’s platform takes online learning a step further, combining brain science with personalized learning to create a uniquely effective experience for learners. As the skills gap continues to grow, fill the hole instead of yelling into the void. 

From the beginning, Amplifire has relied on innovative brain science to guide its product development to create the most effective learning and training solution, perfectly tailored to the way the human brain works. Learn more about how Amplifire helps people learn better and faster by checking out a demo.

The Best Assessment Strategies for Effective Learning

When we think of assessments or tests in a learning context, we think of them as a tool for instructors to measure how much a student knows. But if the goal is to ensure that learners retain as much material as possible for as long as possible, what if the most effective use of assessments is before they’ve actually studied anything?  

At Amplifire, we’re concerned with better learning: remembering more, faster, over a longer period of time. And frankly, we believe that is everyone’s goal when it comes to learning. Our platform is built on brain science principles and employs the Socratic questioning method to stimulate learning. Our approach to assessment is science-based; and, as it turns out, assessments themselves can promote stronger, longer lasting memories. However, not all assessments are created equal. We’d like to share some of our research-backed testing strategies for better learning. 

Best type of test for learning: Multiple choice 

As we mentioned, not all assessment strategies are created equal. Some resources will say that open-ended, essay-like questions are the best way for students to practice recalling information. There are many types of test questions out there, including true/false, fill in the blank, the aforementioned essay, and more. But according to research by some of the world’s leading cognitive scientists, the multiple-choice format is the best type of test question to truly promote better, long-lasting learning.  

After all, testing isn’t simply about evaluating what learners know — the act of testing can be a tool to improve memory. In a study about testing efficacy, researchers Elizabeth Ligon Bjork, of the Bjork Learning and Forgetting Laboratory at UCLA, and Jeri L. Little concluded,  

“Answering multiple-choice questions…can enhance performance on a later test, not only on questions about the information previously tested, but also on questions about related information not previously tested — in particular, on questions about information pertaining to the previously incorrect alternatives.” 

They then investigated why this is true. The format of a multiple-choice question presents a prompt with several answers in which one or more choices are correct, and one or more choices are incorrect. The test-taker must read and contemplate all the answers to determine which is correct, invoking a “search and retrieval” of information stored in the brain. Therefore, multiple choice is not merely about recognizing the correct answer. It is a combination of recognition and recall, tapping into the cognitive process that increases memory retrieval and storage strength. 

How to design an effective multiple-choice test 

There are several criteria that ensure your multiple-choice assessment is optimized for maximum efficacy. Factors like timing, feedback, and content design all contribute to the quality of the questions and ultimately the quality of retention derived from the assessment. That is because these factors are known cognitive triggers — mechanisms that maximize the brain’s natural memory processes. The multiple-choice format, combined with these factors, can help any learner retain more. 

Timing 

Tests are most often given after learning and studying to gauge learners’ retention. Learners implement a variety of study methods — from flashcards to notes, from cramming to spaced-out prep — in the hopes of achieving a high score. But if the ultimate goal is truly to learn and retain as much as possible, then it might surprise you that the best time to give a test isn’t after students learn material, but before they study anything. 

The reason pretesting is so effective for learning is because it invokes a cognitive trigger known as priming. When compared to traditional studying, pretesting before learning and studying — or “priming” — results in higher test scores, regardless of whether learners perform well on a pretest (a 2010 study).  

Not only is pretesting conducive to better learning, but it also helps learners and instructors gauge existing knowledge, so they know where to focus attention. Rather than wasting time learning what they already know, learners can focus on topics they struggle with. 

Feedback 

If you’re using multiple-choice assessments as a pretest, this process allows for feedback either during learning or after the test is completed. Feedback is a great way to directly access the brain’s natural memory-storage process to help learners retain more correct information. 

Studies have shown that feedback in the form of a correct answer and explanation can improve retention dramatically. This is especially true for low-confidence, correct answers. Let’s face it, we’re not always confident about the answers we give, but feedback including the right answer can help solidify correct information in learners’ minds. Therefore, offering an opportunity for feedback (slightly delayed after a learner answers a question) can greatly enhance retention. 

Content 

When it comes to writing multiple-choice questions, the content of the entire question matters, even the incorrect answers. The key to designing an effective multiple-choice test is to make sure all the content in the questions serves a purpose. The study by Elizabeth Bjork and Jeri L. Little not only determined that the multiple-choice format led to better learning outcomes, but also determined specifically what type of content led to those outcomes. They post-tested for results comparing a group that pretested with multiple-choice questions that contained non-competitive (obviously incorrect compared to the correct answer) incorrect responses and a group that pretested with questions that contained competitive (intentionally similar) incorrect responses. They found that the content in the alternative, incorrect responses made an impact on later test performance on related material. Learners who took the test with competitive alternatives performed better on a later test than the other group. Content matters, even if it’s the incorrect response. 

These triggers are built into Amplifire’s eLearning platform, along with a few others. Like we mentioned during our discussion of feedback, learners aren’t always confident in the answers they choose — which isn’t a bad thing. For example, another trigger known as metacognition is also woven into the platform’s answering process. Learners can indicate whether they feel confident or unsure about their answer or indicate that they don’t know the answer. The process of thinking about how much you know strengthens the pathways around that information, promoting stronger learning. 

So, while multiple-choice format gets a bad reputation as an easier form of testing, it is the most effective way to test — not only for evaluation purposes, but for more thorough learning. By enhancing your multiple-choice pretests with certain cognitive triggers, you set learners up for success with stronger memories and better retention with less time spent learning, overall. 

From the beginning, Amplifire has relied on innovative brain science to guide its product development to create the most effective learning and training solution, perfectly tailored to the way the human brain works. Learn more about how Amplifire helps people learn better and faster by checking out a demo.

Amplifire Partner, Pri-Med Institute, Receives Two NAMEC Best Practice in CME Awards for 2021

An Amplifire partner, Pri-Med Institute, is the recipient of two 2021 Best Practice Awards from the National Association of Medical Education Companies (NAMEC). The 17th annual NAMEC Best Practice in CME Awards recognize best practices — ideas or processes that can be implemented by NAMEC members to improve continuing medical education (CME/CE). We are excited to join in celebrating Pri-Med’s continued accomplishments in continuing medical education and are proud to have collaborated on an award-winning course.

Of the two award-winning courses, “Treating More Than Just an Itch: Updates on Atopic Dermatitis for the Primary Care Provider” — which was developed in partnership with the Amplifire Healthcare Alliance — was recognized as “Best Practice in Enduring Material Educational Design.” By working with Amplifire, this leader in continuing medical education created a curriculum that combines the principles of active cognitive brain science and artificial intelligence to provide clinicians with a personalized pathway to mastery.

The Pri-Med Institute also received “Best Practice in Collaboration Among CME Stakeholders” for the CME/CE curriculum “Current Issues in Obesity: Stigma, Science, and Solutions,” developed in partnership with the Obesity Medicine Association.

Mindi Daiga, vice president of accreditation at Pri-Med, said “With our fifth NAMEC award in the past two years, we’re proud to be at the forefront of developing relevant education that meets the needs of clinicians and their patients.” She added, “We’ll continue to work with top-tier clinical faculty and education partners to develop courses that provide the latest medical insights, in the formats that best serve the primary care community.”

To read the full press release, go to “Pri-Med Institute Receives Two NAMEC Best Practice in CME Awards for 2021.” Learn more about how Amplifire is helping organizations put the power of brain science to work.

From the beginning, Amplifire has relied on innovative brain science to guide its product development to create the most effective learning and training solution, perfectly tailored to the way the human brain works. Learn more about how Amplifire helps people learn better and faster by checking out a demo.