Boost Clinician Satisfaction & Maximize EHR ROI by Enhancing the Learning Experience with Online Learning

In today’s rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, the challenges facing health systems are more complex than ever. High burnout rates, clinician turnover, and low satisfaction among healthcare professionals have become pressing issues that demand immediate attention.  

Unhappy and overburdened clinicians are more prone to making errors, leading to compromised patient safety and outcomes. Dangerous clinician burnout is only exacerbated by documentation burdens. Herein lies the importance of proper EHR training. Efficient use of EHRs can significantly improve clinical workflows, allowing healthcare professionals to focus more on patient care and less on administrative tasks. They get back to doing what they love, with less friction. In turn, clinician satisfaction improves, and health systems experience less turnover. 

Implementing online learning in a blended learning environment to improve the EHR learning experience  

In the quest to improve EHR training experiences and, subsequently, clinician satisfaction, health systems are getting innovative. An approach that allows for creativity is blended learning.  

In its simplest form, blended learning is education consisting of two or more delivery methods. By combining different delivery methods, blended learning offers a more dynamic and interactive learning environment. For example, health systems use Amplifire’s online learning platform as part of their overall learning ecosystem.   

Organizations that have incorporated adaptive online learning into innovative blended learning ecosystems have seen measurable improvement in training time, EHR proficiency, and clinician satisfaction. To explore these results, blended learning best practices, and provide actionable steps to implement adaptive EHR training programs effectively, download the free eBook. 

Boosting Clinician Satisfaction & Maximizing EHR Investment: How blended learning enables EHR innovation

Amplifire, new member of the KLAS Arch Collaborative, shares exciting results around EHR training at 2023 Learning Summit

BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Knowledge Factor, Inc. (“Amplifire“), the leading adaptive eLearning and content creation platform leveraging advances in brain science, and sponsor of the Healthcare Alliance, a growing consortium of over 25 world-renowned U.S. health systems, was honored to present at the 2023 KLAS Arch Collaborative Learning Summit in Salt Lake City, Utah, sharing results around electronic health records (EHR) training. As a new member of the Arch Collaborative, Amplifire joins hundreds of healthcare organizations revolutionizing healthcare quality by improving the EHR training experience. The Summit was Amplifire’s first opportunity to contribute to this initiative through partnerships and shared performance data.

Anna Eissenberg, Client Engagement Director, Amplifire, and Lindsay Coffman, Interim Director Clinical Informatics Education and Adoption, Providence, presented “Reimagining Epic Onboarding with Cognitive Science and Data.” Providence shared their transition from in-person training to online learning as part of a blended learning strategy with Amplifire to remedy costly training that lacked data insights. For inpatient nursing, they achieved a 41-48% training time reduction, saving $667,317 in Q1 2023. Learner analytics identified knowledge gaps and helped optimize the training experience and improve course content. Notably, clinician satisfaction metrics improved.

At the Learning Summit, a presentation by University of Washington and Tegria Healthcare & Technology Services also highlighted results from Amplifire-based EHR training. Keynote speaker Dr. Brent James, Amplifire Clinical Innovations Advisory Board Chairman, discussed tools that drive dramatic clinical change.

“The Amplifire team was thrilled that Healthcare Alliance members, Providence and UW Medicine, shared their insight among other thought leaders within the Arch Collaborative. Peer-to-peer guidance and inspiration are hallmarks of the Learning Summit, and Amplifire is gratified to empower a growing number of innovative health systems. Like KLAS, Amplifire is committed to improving caregiver wellness by enhancing training effectiveness and the learner experience,” noted Dr. Bryan Bushick, General Manager, Healthcare Alliance, and Amplifire’s Chief Healthcare Innovation Officer.

“KLAS is thrilled to have Amplifire as a part of the Arch Collaborative community and looks forward to measuring Amplifire’s impact on clinician experience. As a provider-led effort, the Arch Collaborative is supported by EHR vendors, professional services firms, and third-party education tools, like Amplifire, to share, learn, and improve the healthcare industry,” said Jenna Anderson, Strategy and Operations Director, Arch Collaborative.

Amplifire was also included in the recent KLAS report “EHR Education Software and Services: A Guide to Vendor and Firm Offerings.”

About Amplifire
Amplifire is a next-generation learning platform with more than four billion interactions and is an innovator in high-stakes training for critical roles. The Amplifire platform harnesses advances in cognitive science to create personalized learning and drive successful outcomes. The platform’s adaptive algorithm guides millions of learners to mastery across healthcare, government, and other segments, providing unique analytics that offer valuable learner insights.

Reducing Systems-Level Clinician Burnout Through Data-Driven EHR Training

Clinician burnout is a critical issue that affects the well-being of healthcare professionals and compromises patient care. While electronic health record (EHR) systems are intended to streamline processes and maximize efficiencies, they have inadvertently contributed to clinician burnout by introducing complex workflows and documentation burden.  

A 2022 survey by the Harris Poll for athenahealth reveals the complicated relationship between clinicians and EHR systems. On one hand, the physicians surveyed overwhelmingly endorse technology with 90% saying better patient data would instill more confidence in their ability to support patient needs. Moreover, 85% say the patient experience is better with easier access to data. 78% say they have sufficient information about medical history and the context for patient visits, and 71% report EHR platforms allow them to provide high-quality care. 

On the other hand, 59% of physician respondents say they are frustrated by the challenges of accessing clinical information on a weekly basis, and 58% say they often (once a week or more) feel stress because of information overload. Also, according to the survey, the leading cause of regular burnout is excessive documentation requirements (57%). Additionally, 91% of respondents say the burden of regulatory requirements is getting worse, 72% do not believe their organization is working to reduce the time they spend on administrative tasks so they can focus on patient care, and 63% express feeling overwhelmed by administrative requirements and burdens on a weekly basis. 

So, while clinicians do see the value in EHR systems, they are perpetually frustrated by inefficient processes and documentation/administrative requirements. As those in healthcare know, no two EHR systems are alike. For instance: a clinician may have years of EHR experience but they need to understand a new organization’s or department’s workflow — customizations, nuances, and all. An adaptive online learning platform offers a two-pronged solution to improving systems level burnout: reduces time spent training and simultaneously collects data to optimize EHR processes. 

Reduce training time and streamline care with adaptive online learning 

Hospitals onboarding clinicians — new or experienced and anywhere in between — can streamline the EHR training process with the help of adaptive online learning. Traditional training methods often involve lengthy in-person sessions, which can be time-consuming and disruptive to clinicians’ workflows. With an adaptive online learning platform, healthcare organizations can provide a personalized learning experience that caters to individual learning needs. Adaptive learning ensures new clinicians get all the information they need, while experienced trainees don’t spend time learning what they already know. Incorperating adaptive online learning into any blended training program greatly reduces time spent learning, reduces costs, and gets clinicians on the floor treating patients faster. 

By tailoring the training experience, clinicians can efficiently acquire the necessary skills to better navigate EHR systems, reducing frustration and minimizing the impact on their workload. A study by the KLAS Arch Collaborative, “the single greatest predictor of user experience is not which EHR a provider uses nor what percent of an organization’s operating budget is spent on information technology, but how users rate the quality of the EHR-specific training they received.” Across organizations included in the study, there were 475 instances in which two physicians of the same specialty using the same EHR system in the same organization reported opposing responses as to whether EHR enables them to deliver high-quality healthcare (the response choices were “strongly agreed” or “strongly disagreed”). In over 89% of these instances, the physician who strongly agreed also reported better training, more training efforts, or more effort expended in setting up EHR personalization. Higher quality training equates to more efficient work and higher clinician satisfaction.  

Furthermore, doctors with high 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. 

How your online learning platform can help optimize your EHR system 

In addition to reducing training time and improving the EHR experience, an online learning platform can contribute to the optimization of EHR processes. These platforms collect valuable data on learner interactions, system usage patterns, and user feedback. By leveraging this data, healthcare leaders can gain insights into the specific challenges clinicians face when using the EHR system to make informed system-level improvements. This information can be used to identify areas for revision, streamline workflows, and enhance usability. With the guidance of informatics leaders, hospitals can collaborate to implement necessary changes and updates based on the collected data, ultimately resulting in a more user-friendly and efficient EHR system. 

Additionally, learner data can be used to identify skilled and highly proficient EHR users for future training. It can also identify struggling users and narrow down which topics they have the most trouble with, enabling informed one-on-one coaching, small group lab training, and other interventions. 

Reducing systems-level clinician burnout through data-driven EHR training requires the collaboration and support of key decision makers. By leveraging adaptive online learning platforms, healthcare organizations can reduce training time while simultaneously collecting valuable data to optimize EHR processes. Through effective leadership and collaboration, hospitals can foster a culture of continuous improvement, ultimately leading to improved clinician well-being and enhanced patient care. 

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 with online learning by requesting a demo. 

EHR Blended Training Plan Examples and Best Practices

As the healthcare industry continues to feel the strain of labor shortages, higher turnover rates, and widespread burnout, learning and development professionals are under pressure to re-evaluate and optimize their organizations’ training plans. To accommodate a higher influx of new clinicians and ensure a positive onboarding experience, many training departments are exploring blended learning by adding online learning to their electronic health records (EHR) training programs.   

Virtual is the new normal and online learning solutions are no longer unchartered territory. Although many organizations are embracing virtual, no one organization is the same; all hospitals and health systems have different needs. They need to onboard and train different roles and specialties with varying EHR experience levels, sometimes in different locations across states or countries. They can see how online learning can save time and cut costs, but sometimes the biggest barrier to making that transition is envisioning how it will actually work in practice. And of course, they want to be sure their trainees have a positive onboarding experience, as well.  

Amplifire’s Healthcare Alliance members incorporate the online learning platform in their training programs in ways that are specific to their requirements. Depending on organization size, capacity for in-person support, resources, and preference, training plans look different for different organizations — with Amplifire as the common link. Here are some strategies that we’ve seen Healthcare Alliance members put into practice: 

EHR Implementation Plan Examples and Best Practices 

1. Journey by experience level

Some Alliance members decide that different learning paths are more appropriate for different skill levels. Although the Amplifire learning algorithm adjusts to each learner’s experience level in real time, some health systems prefer to differentiate onboarding for non-EHR-experienced clinicians and clinicians with EHR experience with the support of their larger, dedicated training team.  

For learners who have never trained in EHR systems and are unfamiliar with the interface, jumping into an online training module can be overwhelming. In that instance, learning and development teams elect to have inexperienced learners begin with some type of pre-learning to prepare for further training. Sometimes, that is an in-person session, resources permitting, or introductory video, or other.  

For experienced learners, teams have opted to start with Amplifire right out of the gate. Since learners are familiar with the content, Amplifire’s Socratic question method is easier to digest, and learners get the information they need quickly. 

From there, there are opportunities for customized learning by specialty function. Finally, all trainees, no matter the experience level, typically end with an Amplifire module to determine mastery of the content and graduate from training. 

In training by experience level, the Amplifire platform has helped teams who prefer this path effectively, efficiently, and quickly onboard experienced clinicians in record time. Inexperienced clinicians get the extra support they need, and experienced clinicians don’t waste time learning things they already know. But an issue organizations face is that experienced clinicians often don’t know what they don’t know; so, rather than running into problems down the line, they complete an Amplifire module which finds and fixes misinformation and /or knowledge gaps and ensures 100% proficiency. It’s faster than the in-person alternative and everyone gets the personalized training they need, even online. Incorporating the Amplifire platform during training helps to ensure all clinicians are on the same page and able to master EHR use cases with expertise and finesse. 

2. Journey by role

For many of our Healthcare Alliance members, it’s ineffective and inefficient when trainees are spending 12-16 hours in the classroom when they could be spending that time out on the floor helping patients. Teams saw the value of incorporating Amplifire to streamline training, but clinical leaders were concerned about employees who were coming in with little-to-no EHR experience and how they’d respond to online learning in their training program. 

Where there is concern about onboarding clinicians of varying experience levels, personalization is a priority. For Alliance members who experience this pushback, they’ve designed different learning paths for different roles. Nurses and providers beginning in the EHR training and onboarding program usually have similar, but not quite identical paths. In one example, both nurses and providers begin with brief instructor-led training (ILT) followed by Amplifire. Then, they move on to either eLearning videos or skills lab and coaching depending on their needs, ending with one-on-one follow ups. 

In breaking up training by role, learning and development teams are then able to reap the benefits of Amplifire learner analytics to inform the coaching sessions that follow. Oftentimes, trainers see experienced learners struggling more than inexperienced learners — they tend to carry bad habits. By offering Amplifire to everyone early in training, trainers can gather more trends in learner data and adjust from there. They see patterns that would be invisible in ILT but are picked up by the Amplifire platform. 

Even though a common concern in incorporating online learning is how inexperienced learners will respond, clinicians can still struggle no matter what level they enter training. While clinical leaders are often concerned about inexperienced trainees, Amplifire reveals that clinicians with years of EHR experience can struggle just as much. The platform detects these learner behaviors and corrects the knowledge gaps, misinformation, and uncertainty, improving EHR proficiency when clinicians return to the floor. Furthermore, when learning behavior patterns such as this are exposed, organizations use these insights as a multi-pronged solution to inform their blended learning strategy and personalize the learning experience for their employees.  

3. Journey by Amplifire

One of the things that makes the Amplifire platform uniquely effective is personalization. With an adaptive learning algorithm, robust analytics, and brain-science based techniques, Amplifire is conducive to the way the human brain naturally learns and the learning experience is rigorously tailored to meet individual needs in real time, and in extended coaching scenarios. So, while some health systems elect to incorporate Amplifire EHR training after some type of ILT, video, or other pre-learning, some jump right in and offer Amplifire modules from the start. 

We’ve seen Alliance members that have the benefit of early leadership buy-in and are challenged to get all their clinicians training online, at scale, in record time. In this case, members have the option to choose an on-demand Amplifire EHR course already developed by other Healthcare Alliance members and modify the course to their organization’s specifications.  

Next, teams can elect to send trainees through a simulation lab for hands-on experience and EHR specialty-specific training. Learners later complete a refresher course in Amplifire and any providers who are identified to have struggled with the material are coached with at-the-elbow support with Amplifire intervention report data. 

Clinicians report higher satisfaction rates with the inclusion of Amplifire training rather than hours-long ILT and classroom work. Since the Amplifire platform adjusts to their individual knowledge level, clinicians of any experience level only spend time where they need to and end up back on the floor in record time, confident in their EHR knowledge and skills. In some instances, Amplifire cuts EHR training from eight or more hours to only two hours total. Organizations respect their learners’ time and expertise while giving time back to patients. However, communication is the key to success in the transition from in-person learning to blended. The more organizations communicate with learners and offer support, the more receptive learners are to the transition to online learning as the primary training tool. 

Did you know: 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. For a deeper look into how Amplifire helps organizations onboard employees with EHR training in record time by personalizing the learning experience for clinicians of all experience levels, follow up with our blog: “Improve EHR Training Satisfaction by Personalizing the Online Learning Experience”. Or, contact us if you would like more details on our EHR courses.  

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.

Better EHR training in 1/8th the time

Let’s face it, when it comes to EHR training, a one-size-fits-all approach is ineffective. While you may have pivoted from the traditional classroom to an online training program in response to the pandemic, the question still remains—is it really working? The good news is that you can quickly transform your EHR training to obtain measurable outcomes.

A New Learning Ecosystem

Your clinicians expect a personalized learning path that is engaging and respects their time and knowledge.  An adaptive eLearning solution that customizes the learning experience to fill their unique knowledge gaps, shortens training time.

UCHealth and other health systems have found a learning ecosystem that cut training in 1/8th the time while increasing proficiency and learner satisfaction, resulting in a substantial ROI. And now you can too!

Reduction in Resident Onboarding Time

Get your residents on the floor faster

Every year, learning and development leaders are challenged to find the necessary training resources to onboard the onslaught of residents. But major health systems have found the answer in an adaptive eLearning strategy that gets their residents on the floor on day one—yielding significant time and cost savings.

Reduce Learning Time

Due to the lack of training space and trainers, it typically took one health system six weeks to onboard 500 residents. After adopting the online strategy, they were able to onboard all 500 residents in one hour. Furthermore, the platform’s learner analytics let trainers and L&D leaders confirm that individuals had actually mastered the content before they hit the floor.

Reduce Consulting Hours

Switching to an adaptive eLearning approach saved another health system over $200K/year in consulting hours since outside contractors were no longer needed to conduct classroom training.

Reduce Trainer Time

By eliminating the classroom and moving EHR onboarding to an adaptive eLearning platform, one major health system was able to give 256 hours back to their trainers. This equated to tens of thousands of training dollars saved.

Download the full case study
to see the training ROI realized by this health system.