EHR Training Development Plan for Hospital Staff
This paper presents a comprehensive training and development plan for the implementation of an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system at St. Joseph Hospital, which launched its EHR in May 2012. The plan covers training needs for approximately 1,500 hospital employees and physicians, outlines specific performance objectives, describes the delivery method using satellite and wide area network (WAN) technology across multiple hospital locations, and details evaluation strategies and reinforcement mechanisms. The six-month program, budgeted at approximately $1.5 million, aims to reduce medical errors, improve worker output, and enhance the overall quality and efficiency of patient care.
- Introduction: Healthcare competition drives need for employee training
- Training Needs for St. Joseph Health System: EHR launch context and hospital background
- Statement of Training Objectives: Measurable skill and performance targets for trainees
- Method of Implementing the Training Program: Logistics, technology, cost, and timeline details
- Training Evaluation: Three-method framework for assessing training effectiveness
- Reinforcement and Conclusion: Financial incentives and summary of training plan
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What makes this paper effective
- Provides a concrete, time-bound implementation framework — including a specific budget ($1.5 million), timeline (January–July 2013), and participant count (1,500 employees) — that grounds abstract planning in operational detail.
- Uses measurable training objectives (e.g., reduce medical errors by 90%, increase worker output by 85%) that allow clear post-training evaluation against defined benchmarks.
- Integrates multiple evaluation methods — pre/post performance comparison, employee surveys, and external evaluator review — demonstrating awareness of triangulation in assessment design.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied instructional design methodology by sequencing a training plan through recognized stages: needs assessment, objective-setting, delivery planning, evaluation, and reinforcement. This mirrors the ADDIE model framework commonly used in organizational training literature, giving the paper a logical, systematic structure that connects each section to the next.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with an introduction establishing the competitive context for healthcare training, then moves to a needs analysis specific to St. Joseph Hospital's EHR rollout. Subsequent sections define measurable objectives, outline delivery logistics (venues, technology, cost), and describe evaluation tools. The paper closes with a reinforcement strategy using financial incentives and a brief conclusion. Each section builds on the previous one, following a sequential planning logic appropriate for a training proposal document.
Introduction
Present competition within the healthcare market environment has driven healthcare organizations to continually search for innovation in order to capture opportunities, overcome obstacles, and survive in an increasingly competitive landscape. Training and education have become critical tools that healthcare organizations employ to achieve competitive advantages. Implementing training and education for employees helps healthcare organizations eliminate medical errors associated with clinical practice, which consequently enhances the quality of healthcare delivery.
The fundamental objective of this paper is to provide a training and development plan for new and existing employees of St. Joseph Health System.
Training Needs for St. Joseph Health System
Many healthcare delivery systems currently seek to improve the quality and efficiency of care through the introduction of an Electronic Health Record (EHR) (Brokel & Harrison, 2009, p. 82). St. Joseph Health (SJH) is one of the top 100 best hospitals in the United States. The hospital provides a range of advanced medical care services, including cancer care, pediatrics, heart care, surgery, obstetrics, radiology, and other healthcare services. Recently, the hospital has integrated technology and innovation into its operations to improve real-time decision making.
On May 6, 2012, St. Joseph Hospital launched its Electronic Health Record system. The installation of this new technology is intended to assist the hospital in delivering quality healthcare and enhancing the patient experience. Successful implementation of the project will enable patients to enjoy:
Despite the information technology systems the hospital has implemented to enhance the quality of healthcare, management had not yet established an elaborate training and development program for clinical employees to support the EHR implementation. An electronic health record is a medical information management system used to improve the quality and efficiency of patient care as well as to enhance clinical decision support. EHR systems assist organizations in improving information storage and data-sharing capabilities. Bohlander (2011) argues that organizations have taken advantage of advancements in information technology to enhance competitive market advantages. Computer networks have assisted organizations in storing large amounts of data electronically, thereby reducing the costs of information storage and retrieval (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy, 2010). Based on the importance of EHR for organizational efficiency, St. Joseph Hospital management has proposed a plan to implement a training and development program for hospital employees.
Statement of Training Objectives
A training objective is a specific skill, knowledge set, or attitude that trainees will acquire as a result of a training activity. By the end of the EHR training course, employees of St. Joseph Hospital will be expected to achieve the following outcomes:
References
Bohlander, S. (2011). Managing human resources. Cengage Learning.
Brokel, J. M., & Harrison, M. I. (2009). Redesigning care processes using an electronic health record: A system's experience. The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 35(2), 82–92.
Gomez-Mejia, L., Balkin, D., & Cardy, R. (2010). Managing human resources (6th ed.). Prentice Hall.
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