New Learning Management System Offers More Courses, Opportunities
This fall, nurses will have access to richer and more convenient educational opportunities through HealthStream, a new online learning management system that will go live at BWH in November. HealthStream is a leading provider of learning solutions for the healthcare industry, providing services to more than 1.3 million healthcare professionals across the country including Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Newton-Wellesley Hospital.
HealthStream will replace the hospital’s current learning management system, Medcom T3, through which BWH nurses, physicians and others have completed online courses for the past three to four years. Medcom T3 will not be used after Sept. 30, at which time the transition to HealthStream will occur. HealthStream is more technologically-advanced and uses pictures and video and audio devices to create a more interactive learning experience for the user. “HealthStream provides more options for varied learning styles and more effective learning opportunities,” Carol Luppi, RNC, BSN, nurse educator in The Center for Nursing Excellence, said.
Regulatory courses and opportunities for continuing education are available through HealthStream, as well as the opportunity to develop customized BWH Web-based courses. “Nurses who are content experts can work with their nurse managers or educators to create a course and share their expertise with colleagues,” Luppi said. “A working group will assist them in publishing it for the hospital community after a peer review process.”
Also, the system efficiently archives information so that managers and educators can easily assess and review staff competencies, provide advanced certification and build professional development programs. In addition to offering free continuing education courses, HealthStream partners with companies to provide state-of-the-art training on a variety of medical topics. For example, through a partnership with Laerdal, HealthStream offers online advanced cardiac life support and basic life support training.
Courses are accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week from anywhere with an Internet connection. “Nurses and staff in all roles can access training easily at their convenience,” Luppi said.
One major advantage of HealthStream is that it will have a data feed from PeopleSoft so that when nurses’ data are changed in PeopleSoft, it will automatically be updated in HealthStream. This includes changes in job descriptions, titles and marital status.
Staff will be assigned a self-paced training course included in the HealthStream Learning Center ™ that provides a comprehensive overview of all the available education opportunities. Group training sessions for HealthStream will be held in the Bornstein Amphitheater in October for managers and educators who will administer the system. Those who currently use Medcom T3 will have access to HealthStream first, but the goal is to make it available to all interested departments.
After extensive research into learning management systems, the Partners Working Group selected HealthStream to provide online learning management services. A multidisciplinary working group is responsible for implementation at BWH. This group includes Debra Leven of Administration, Gwen Gilchrist of Provider Services, Angela Crutchfield and Melissa McLachlin of Human Resources, Janet Barnes of Compliance, Joseph Bernard and Christine Wright of IS, and Carol Luppi and Anne Bane of Nursing. Contact any one of these members with questions regarding this exciting educational opportunity.