Think about this: Medical nanobots could be used to do everything from fight cancer and clean out arteries to deliver drugs and perform delicate procedures.
It almost sounds like something out of a science fiction film, doesn’t it? Microscopic robots could be swimming through our bodies, helping make the treatment of diseases more effective and less invasive.
For healthcare facilities to succeed, they must be ready to adopt such technologies when the time comes. From big data to robotics, new innovations hold the key to boosting operational efficiency and improving patient outcomes and experiences.
To fully unleash the potential of new technologies, healthcare organizations must adequately train staff on how to deploy new technologies. Here’s how you can do just that.
Communicate Why the Technology Matters
Your physicians must understand why you’re making the investment in new technology. As an article in the American Medical Association notes, we must educate medical students and doctors on the benefits technological innovations bring them. Otherwise, their motivation to learn and use the product or service may not be ideal.
For instance, if you need to switch to a more advanced EHR system, clarify the issues the current system has and highlight how the new system solves them. Doing this will make implementing the new technology go more smoothly, as the staff will have the proper mindset going into training and adoption.
Assess Technology Skills and Make Training Relevant
Technology training should first be customized to the needs of each position. Second, it must take into account the current knowledge of each doctor. To better understand this, administer a technology skills test for your physicians and other staff.
Be sure to make the assessment relevant to current trends. Steven A. Wartman, president of the Association of American Health Centers, says that the main healthcare trends of the first half of the 21st century include remote care and care anywhere, big data, robotics, artificial intelligence and more. Test your staff’s familiarity with these trends and ability to use relevant technologies.
After you identify gaps, design your training program to develop those necessary skills. And make the training actually applicable to what your doctors do on a daily basis.
Make Training Flexible and Hands-On
Sure, you could hand out large books and manuals that thoroughly teach how to dissect data and make highly accurate diagnoses. But that’s not the most effective method to go about technology training. What you require is hands-on experimentation and the ability for doctors to learn on their own time and terms.
For example, allowing your physicians to study online from any device offers unmatched flexibility. As a guide in Training Industry Magazine, e-learning for healthcare organizations offers many advantages, including the ability to gather analytics, accessibility from anywhere and the option for personalization.
When combined with hands-on experiences, e-learning could prove tremendously efficient. In fact, according to Shift, an e-learning software company, mobile learning reduces training time by 40 percent to 60 percent and achieves much higher knowledge retention rates.
Make Training an Ongoing Process
Time doesn’t stand still in medicine. You must incorporate continual training, especially training on new technologies, into your healthcare organization’s culture.
As a CHAS Health article states, “the healthcare industry is an ever-changing field that requires extensive skills and training. The development of a successful program is key to employee retention, competency, and the balance of work and personal life.”
Getting Your Staff Ready for the Technology of the Future
By first communicating the benefits of technology training, then making proper skills assessments, you can up your physicians for success. Remember: make your training program adaptable, relevant and accessible. Also, make training and education a key part of your organization’s culture and you’ll be able to stay up to date with fast-moving technology.
Additionally, when hiring new physicians, take steps to ensure they have an agile mindset. By partnering with reputable recruiting agencies, like Adaptive Medical Partners, you can land doctors who are capable of quickly adopting new technologies. This way, you’ll be even better prepared for the future.
