It goes without saying that onboarding and training programs are essential to a well-run department and are tied back to employee retention and customer satisfaction.
That said, many organizations find themselves in one of two predicaments:
- No designated trainers; limited time. Leaders are subject matter experts but putting together a training program that engages, teaches, and holds staff accountable is a whole other beast. Lacking backgrounds in instructional design, leaders find that they struggle to find the time and resources necessary to develop training and effectively teach staff.
- Designated trainers; limited expertise. A trainer, or even training department, is available. However, often these trainers cover multiple departments and have limited time and lack subject-matter expertise.
One of my best friends is an elementary school teacher. One of her favorite sayings is, “Just because you can read; doesn’t mean you can teach someone to read.” And it’s true, there’s a science and art to teaching that should never be underestimated.
Patient Access and Patient Financial Services representatives are often hired with no prior experience. They are likely new to the healthcare industry and have no knowledge of the revenue cycle. And that’s OK. I’m an advocate for organizations hiring on soft skills, knowing that technical skills can be learned on the job. However, this places a lot of pressure on the onboarding process, especially if you find yourself falling into the first predicament: No designated trainers and limited time.
So, what do you do when you have limited time and resources? My first recommendation is to invest in a learning vendor, one with both learning expertise and subject matter expertise. Did you know that HBI not only provides research memberships to 1,900 hospitals, but we also have an extensive Learning library of e-learning courses, on-site workshops, custom courses, structured career growth plans, Continuing Education Credits (CEC) and other certification programs? Check out HBI’s e-learning courseware catalog here.
In the meantime, I’ve included an evaluation list to help assess your current onboarding program.
On a scale of 1 to 4, do you agree with the following statements? (1=Disagree; 2=Somewhat Disagree; 3=Somewhat Agree; 4=Agree)
- My organization recognizes that learning is dynamic and everyone learns differently. As such, my organization’s onboarding/training program includes a variety of platforms (face-to-face classroom, e-learning courses, job shadowing).
- During face-to-face learning sessions, employees remain engaged through participant activities like icebreakers, group discussion questions, live audience polling, and role-playing.
- The onboarding program is continually evaluated. After each training session/course, anonymous feedback is obtained through multiple-choice questions along with open-ended free-text questions.
- There is a clear employee training curriculum and new hires know what is expected of them from the start.
- The training aligns with Human Resources’ training as appropriate. Training connects back to the organization’s mission, vision, and values.
- Knowledge assessments that accurately evaluate competency are appropriately distributed to employees and tracked.
- Employees receive training on the whole revenue cycle and have a thorough understanding of the function of the other revenue cycle departments.
- Certifications, continuing education credits, and career ladders are in place to continually grow and advance employees.
If you scored below a 25, let’s talk on how we can help improve your training experience.
Reach out to us on how we can help you help your employees!