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What Are the Recommendations for Training? What Resources Are Necessary for this Training?

Training is an important aspect of the health IT implementation process.  It is necessary to help the staff learn and adjust to the new system.  Proper planning is essential for well-executed training and a successful health IT implementation.   

In an article published in the Journal of American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) (see the related resource below), the author outlines specific steps involved in planning for training. Based upon the experiences of Evanston Northwestern Healthcare in Evanston, IL and its Chief Learning Officer, the five steps include:

1. Needs Assessment and Analysis – Determine what types of training are needed and what objective(s) the training should achieve.
2. Design – Determine the scope of the training, the audience, the number of staff members to be trained, and the resources available.
3. Development – Create training materials that address the outcomes of the design step.  The organization may want to consider bringing in outside training consultants if it does not have the resources to develop the training on its own.
4. Implementation – This step is the training “go-live.”  Before the training begins, the organization may want to conduct a “test run” in order to determine if needs will be met or if adjustments must be made.  Tracking training attendance, completion, and competency are suggested.
5. Evaluation – Occurs after the training is implemented (gone live).  This step provides an opportunity to look back at the training to determine if it was effective, what went right, or what went wrong.  This can help inform future training efforts, and help to determine if further rounds of training are needed.

While this approach is a general guide to the health IT training process, you should require additional training specific to the care of patients with HIV/AIDS. Staff should have knowledge of the unique concerns that exist in the treatment of HIV/AIDS and how to handle these concerns within the health IT environment.  These additional issues include privacy and security concerns due to the sensitive nature of HIV/AIDS, the importance of care coordination, and other issues as mentioned in the "What issues are unique to HIV/AIDS care with respect to health IT?" question from the Introduction Module and in the questions from the Privacy and Security Module of this HIV/AIDS Health IT Adoption toolbox.

Related Resources:

Designing Effective Training – This guide to health IT training includes keys to a successful training and additional resources.  
EHR Preparation - Documents and Resources – The Indian Health Service (IHS) website provides multiple resources to help providers and clinics prepare for EHR implementation and training.