How a Performance Management System Can Help with Urgent Employee Training and Communications

It’s no secret that training and communication in healthcare organizations are essential to delivering quality care to patients, and protecting the health and safety of workers and patients. The ongoing swine flu (A/H1N1) pandemic reminds us of the importance, due to the severity of the outbreak and the means by which the disease spreads.

Naturally, all healthcare organizations have pertinent influenza policies and procedures that employees are required to read and follow. But when policies change or are amended, and awareness needs to be refreshed or heightened, how are these communicated in a timely and effective manner?

One creative solution is to use your computer-based training systems. The advantage of using such a system, over simply posting or distributing documents, is that the organization can require, schedule and track the completion of tasks for all employees. And using a training system that is part of a broader performance management system provides the added advantage of being able to tie completed training into competency assessments and performance appraisals.

Performance Manager™ from HealthcareSource, for example, allows you to upload materials, require signatures, and even create tests related to subjects such as respiratory protection, social distancing, cough etiquette, and patient quarantines. Or perhaps, you just want to ensure that everyone has seen the updates to the hospital’s pandemic influenza plan, and operational changes that will occur once the plan is implemented.

In any event, tasks with due dates, can be scheduled for employees, and they can access these materials, review them and even take tests online. All they need is a web-browser. The results of these tests and the status of these tasks can easily be tracked and monitored through reports, and the system will even alert managers to overdue tasks.

Even the greatest plans, policies and training materials are of no value if they are not implemented and communicated in a timely and effective manner. And some developments, such as worldwide pandemics will test your organizations ability to respond. It’s not too late to make a performance/learning management system part of your plan and an integral part of your employee communication strategy for the future.