Healthcare organizations want to do everything they can to deliver safe, high-quality care. One increasingly important component of their multipronged efforts is ongoing professional development for providers.
Equipping clinicians with the latest knowledge in areas that include patient safety, emerging treatments and therapies, and clinical guidelines is a must in the modern healthcare field.
“This industry has rapid technology and medicine-based changes, and the quality of our patient care is directly tied to how well providers are staying up to date on that information,” says Bonny Kneedler, vice president, Clinical Laboratory Quality, Exact Sciences, Madison, Wis. “High-quality and consistent application of healthcare happens as a result of providers’ knowledge and understanding.”
Overcoming Barriers to Provider Education
The benefits of continuous provider education are unquestionable. But as with other initiatives that require a piece of organizations’—and clinicians’—valuable time, there can be barriers to implementation. Three big ones, according to Kneedler, are time, capacity and money.
“Think about providers’ schedules: They’re overflowing with appointments and commitments and a laundry list of things they need to get done in usually well over an eight-hour day,” she says. “We’re all human, and after you’ve had a full day and week and month, the thought of adding in an additional commitment can feel overwhelming.”
Another potential barrier to continuous provider education is the expenses associated with certain courses or conferences, including travel and accommodations, says Kneedler.
For all the challenges, there are a multitude of solutions. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, however. Instead, there are incremental steps organizations can take to prioritize provider education.
To start, it’s important to offer a variety of educational types to fit multiple and changing preferences among clinicians, as some learn best at a large conference or group meeting, others prefer a virtual setting, and others still may learn better one-on-one or in a smaller session.
“Having options for everyone is one of the most effective ways organizations can provide these development opportunities,” Kneedler says.
In addition to hosting several conferences throughout the year, including neurology and primary care conferences and a telehealth symposium, in which providers share their research internally and with other organizations, The Medical University of South Carolina prioritizes smaller-scale educational opportunities. That includes grand rounds within each service line, which promote learning among the organization’s residents and fellows, says Anthony Poole, DMSc, PA-C, CPHQ, system director, Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement Program, The Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston. In addition, newsletters, email updates and regular meetings are key components of the academic medical center’s provider education efforts.
Poole cites MUSC’s initiatives around colon cancer as an example of how education has helped improve care coordination and quality.
“Our leaders and clinicians regularly share information about the work we’re doing, including what screening opportunities are available, such as colonoscopy and Cologuard®,” he says. “We work across service lines to say, ‘Hey, Primary Care, we’re tracking this initiative, but we’ve got to work closely with our Digestive Health department, who are doing all of our endoscopies.’”
Beyond offering a variety of education types to appeal to clinicians’ diverse preferences, Kneedler and Poole have the following additional tips for enhancing provider education efforts:
Try advanced planning. Getting education on clinicians’ calendars six, nine or even 12 months in advance could improve participation. “Try blocking time so that space is dedicated,” Kneedler says.
Consider rotation. Not every clinician needs to attend the same development opportunity at the same time. “Maybe half go at one point, and the other half go at another point,” Kneedler says.
Set aside funds in the budget or look for budget-friendly options. For those organizations that can ask for funds for professional development, they should—and they should make sure to use them, Kneedler says.
“Spend those dollars so they don’t get spent on something else,” she says. “And when there’s no budget, I think looking into cost-friendly development opportunities, such as no-charge options or those with potentially waived fees, can alleviate cost barriers.”
Make professional development a priority. It might sound simple, but “leaders have to make it a priority,” Poole says. “If an organization is going to say that they want to deliver world-class healthcare, then it must be willing to invest in the development of its medical staff across the board.”
Organizations should consider building professional development into providers’ contracts, says Poole. “You can’t have everyone budgeted at 40 hours a week of clinical time. There has to be some nonclinical administrative time that can be focused on professional development.”
Lean on partnerships. Collaborating with experts in the field can bring essential knowledge to organizations and providers. “It really expedites that knowledge transfer and allows the expert to impart knowledge to multiple providers at once rather than taking a provider out of their environment,” Kneedler says.
For MUSC, collaborating with Exact Sciences has helped bring education about colon cancer screening to its many providers, who are located across the state.
“Particularly in our rural and suburban areas, it is difficult for our quality leaders to always be on-site providing in-person quality support and education,” Poole says. “When we collaborate with partners who are able to get out and have their teams do some in-person education on a regular basis just to keep our teams up to speed, it becomes another tool in the toolbelt of provider education.”
When the partner has shared goals with providers, it can be even more meaningful, Poole says.
“Our collaboration with Exact Sciences is a lot different than a typical vendor relationship because we both have shared goals: To screen as many patients as we can for colorectal cancers, to improve the health of our communities and to prevent disease burden from colorectal cancer,” he says. “It’s about working together to achieve that common purpose.”
For more information, please contact Violet Gudino, Health Systems Marketing, Exact Sciences, at vgudino@exactsciences.com.