The Problem
By law, employees in this Managed Care organization must complete HIPAA training before they can handle patient data. Since most jobs involved handling patient data, getting new-hires trained and certified in HIPAA quickly was an urgent need.
The organization had created its own HIPAA training workbook and test. But printing copies of the workbook, scoring the test, and communicating with the new-hire’s supervisor was a huge burden in this high-turnover organization. As a result, HIPAA had become a bottleneck, preventing new-hires from moving into full productivity.
Prometheus Approach/Solution
Analysis showed that the existing program was satisfactory, but its deployment was the problem.
To relieve the administrative burden, Prometheus re-purposed the existing program into an easy-to-access, easy-to-administer online program.
Now, new-hires can download or print the online version of the workbook and take a practice quiz at their convenience. When they are ready, they can attempt the online certification test. If they pass the test, they are given access to a downloadable Certificate of Completion. If they do not pass, they are given remediation and another set of test questions. They can take the test as many times as they need until they pass.
The program is linked to a training database. Supervisors and Human Resources can access the database to view a full record of the HIPAA training activity in real-time, including records of non-passing scores and the specific questions that were answered incorrectly.
As an additional benefit, Human Resources can print reports of training certification completion from the training database.
Special Skills/Software
We used front-end analysis and interviewing to ascertain the real problem with the existing program.
We used instructional design to create a deployment approach which would leverage the existing materials to best advantage.
We used Articulate Presenter to create an online “module” through which we could deploy the existing workbook. We used Articulate Quizmaker to create a self-scoring test that could be used for certification. The Articulate scores were reported to an existing training database, so as to be available for real-time tracking of completion.
We consulted with the client on their onboarding process, showing them how to automate the HIPAA Certification task and various other training-related tasks to alleviate bottlenecks.
Result/Benefit to Client
Supervisors are pleased because new-hires can begin HIPAA Certification as soon as they get network access. Supervisors also enjoy being able to monitor their new-hires' progress directly, without asking for help from HR.
Human Resources is pleased to have the administrative burden lifted from their shoulders, without giving up the ability to monitor performance. They also appreciate the ability to easily create reports for compliance or other purposes.
New-hires are pleased to have more control over their own learning, at their own pace. They also like the idea that they can revisit the online materials for reference, when needed.
For more information about this project, please contact us.