The routine annual clinical system upgrade at Children’s Medical Center Dallas was anything but routine.

In addition to the standard annual Cerner Millennium software application upgrade, the 406-bed children’s hospital participated in the Alpha implementation of Cerner’s CareMobile, a hand-held, point-of-care solution that uses bar codes on the patients’ identification wristbands to track medication administration and online clinical documentation.

This advanced technology aids patient safety by ensuring the right medication is administered at the right dosage to the right child at the right time.

These integrated technologies will have a tremendous impact on the day-to-day operations and patient care, and required a substantial workflow change in many departments.

With a “go live” deadline of only six months, the IS training department faced the task of training a large majority of the hospital staff and physicians on the new systems.

Mitzi Cardenas, CMC’s Information Systems Advanced Development director, knew the end result would enhance Children’s operations and patient care by creating workflow efficiencies, clinical business data and process integration, and operational improvements. She also knew that CMC’s training department could not meet the overwhelming training need alone.

Cardenas turned to Houston-based Solo Learning—a learning management company—to assess the training department, and develop and implement all aspects of training for this large system roll-out. She worked with Solo to develop a training strategy that would teach users to maximize the benefits of the technology in multiple departments. The new training structure would have to:

• Quickly familiarize employees with the aspects of the technology they most often would use.
• Provide realistic training scenarios before the new software launch on a department-by-department basis.
• Allow employees to review elements of the program quickly on an as-needed basis.
• Structure the training to enable the hospital to fully function during the training of a majority of its employees and physicians.
• Complete the process within a few weeks.

After the initial assessment of the training department, Solo analyzed the data and recommended a unique, training strategy for Children’s Medical Center.

Blending a computer-based-training strategy with instructor-led classes, Solo Learning maximized efficiency by covering the system basics in the CBTs and more detailed, department-individualized material in a classroom setting. Solo created nine detailed simulation training modules to replicate the software so every user received relevant training scenarios based on their use of a particular aspect of Millennium and CareMobile. A variety of training scenarios and interfaces was developed so user groups, such as physicians, nurses, lab technicians and even dietary aides, would be trained with information pertinent to their jobs.

Employees could complete online training from their own computers at their own pace, reducing the length of time away from their departments. This method also allowed employees to review lessons several times. After individual training was complete, instructors conducted multiple one- to two-hour classes on the specific, detailed functions for each department.

“To maintain efficiency and adhere to a tight schedule, the CBT training served as a prerequisite for attending the more advanced instructor-led classes,” Cardenas said. “This policy allowed the instructor-led training to focus on the more complex aspects of the programs at CMC.

“Requiring and enforcing the CBT classes as a prerequisite to the instructor-led classes ensured that all employees had some basic knowledge before they attempted the more advanced classroom training,” Cardenas said.

One of the most critical user groups that would have the heaviest usage of the new systems was the nursing staff. To address this group, Solo set aside special areas for a clinical educator to work with the employee in their own department, explaining the steps as they worked through a problem.

“These specialty training areas and classes helped minimize the disruption to normal hospital operations, which is really important to us,” said Lisa Flesher, IS manager.

Response from employees was positive, despite the change in many employees’ workflow and duties, Cardenas said.

She credited that positive response to the training and the various formats used. “The CBTs, clinic educators, and the detailed classroom instructions combined to create a thorough training program for us,” she said.

The blended training module helped CMC quickly assess the training needs, develop a plan structure that would work around the demands of a busy children’s hospital, and provide realistic training for individualized users in a very tight timeframe. The training project was completed on time and on budget. From start to finish, the project, including full-simulation software development and classes, took 14 weeks.

For more information, visit www.sololearning.com or www.childrens.com.