Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Online Device and Drug Training Benefits Hospitals and Companies


Online Device and Drug Training Benefits Hospitals and Companies                                   
           
Innovation and product development are key functions within the medical technology and pharmaceutical industries. As these companies continue to launch new equipment and products aimed at improving patient care and treating illnesses, effective training for any new device or drug is essential. Every physician, nurse, clinician, or technician must be able to use a product correctly in order for its introduction to be a success.
Traditional training methods for medical technology involve sending a company representative onsite to conduct live training. This method can be expensive and present challenges in terms of travel, training time, facility space, attendance, and tracking. Getting everyone necessary to take part often becomes a logistical nightmare. In addition, staffs who fall through the cracks and miss training potentially represent a significant risk for healthcare organizations.
A blended learning environment that includes online training as part of medical technology and pharmaceutical implementations makes a great deal of sense for the industry. E-training can complement or even replace in-person training for many companies. The added benefits of E-training, from cost to compliance, are numerous:
    COST -- Training is significantly decreased as a company expense and makes training a set cost item.
    SPEED -- Customers can begin to use products faster, without waiting for an available training representative, which will give more patients better healthcare service,
    FEEDBACK -- Customers can provide more feedback on training and share more important clinical information and experience.
    TRACKING -- For risk management and audit purposes, hospitals can maintain clear records of everyone who has engaged in training.
Beyond the elements of cost and tracking, medical technology often offers clear advantages in terms of effectiveness. When every learner gets standardized training, organizations and hospitals can be assured of the competency that results from training consistency. In addition, training that incorporates the best adult learning principles is often more interactive and more visually engaging than when it occurs in a classroom setting. Whether used alone or in a blended learning environment, E-training can help companies make sure that healthcare staffs use their products effectively.
What do you think about E-training using in healthcare service? Do you think there is any disadvantage?




8 comments:

  1. Great article! It just makes sense to use e-training for healthcare employees... especially when you think of nurses who work all hours of the day and night. It would be impossible to get them all together to do training.

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    1. Thank you for your commends! And yes I believe online training will be the most efficient way for a company to introduce their new medical product to doctors and nurses!

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  2. I have mixed feelings about this. I feel certain types of training, such as computer training or something simple as that for E-training would work fine. I'm concerned if it means training how to work the machines in the hospital or anything. I would want my nurses to have hands-on training, instead of watching it on the internet. They need to make sure they know what they are doing before they help anyone. Certainly there are advantages in certain parts of the healthcare world, but definitely disadvantages also.

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    1. Thank you for your commends! I totally understand your concern and I agree with you that nurses and doctors need hands-on training to make sure they are qualified enough for patients! But what I was thinking was I believe the most efficient and effect way for a company to introduce its new products to nurses and doctors will be using online training to show them basic knowledges of the new product and then give them hands-on training to help them be familiar with the product.

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  3. I can understand both arguments, but I'm with Karen on this one. While certain aspects of the medical field may be appropriate for online training tools, I'm not sure jobs such as machine operation, medicine distribution, etc. would make me feel as comfortable. I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing, because it does cut down on costs and increase flexibility. However, I believe it is highly important to experience actual, hands-on training/operation for optimal efficiency- especially in the medical field.

    This idea might be a great supplement, however, to nurses and doctors. Very interesting- great post!

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    1. Thank you for your commends! I totally agree with you! I believe that hands- on training is a must in medical field!

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  4. I like the idea to use e-training in healthcare service. I share some concerns that there are some medical things that should still be done, such as real training with tools and such. As long as that is in mind, I see much more advantage than disadvantage from using it. One other concern also would be to make sure that the technology works consistently, as access to medical training is very important and really need to avoid tech problems.

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