THE BENEFITS OF ONLINE TRAINING FOR LONG-TERM CARE FACILITY EMPLOYEES

15-04-2017

The need for long-term care in the U.S. is growing and will continue to grow in the coming decades, as the number of Americans aged 65 and over is expected to nearly double by 2050.¹

Assisted living facilities, skilled nursing homes, and other long-term care (LTC) facilities fulfill a critical need by providing round-the-clock custodial and medical care for the elderly and disabled.

THE CHALLENGE OF STAFF TRAINING FOR LTC FACILITIES

Among the many challenges of long-term care facility directors is ensuring their staff of physicians, registered nurses (RNs), certified nursing assistants (CNAs), personal care aides (PCAs), licensed practical nurses/licensed vocational nurses (LPNs/LVNs), and others involved in resident care are properly certified and receive in-service and continuing education training.

With an average of 109 beds per facility² and dozens of employees, training is a significant expense for long-term care facilities—especially traditional in-person training, with costs that can include trainer fees, classroom space, and travel expenses.

EMPLOYEE TURNOVER DRIVES UP TRAINING COSTS

Further driving up training costs is employee turnover, which tends to be higher, on average, in long-term care facilities than in the general nursing population. Turnover is particularly high among employees who spend the most time with residents, such as CNAs and PCAs.³

Consider that:

In 2012, the median turnover rate in skilled nursing facilities was 44%, according to a report by the UCSF Health Workforce Research Center on Long-Term Care.³
For CNAs, the median turnover rate was even higher, at 52%.³
Using the conservative “rule-of-thumb” estimate of 25% to estimate comprehensive turnover costs in the U.S., the cost to replace an LTC worker ranges between $6,650 and $17,100 (estimate is based on BLS salary data for nursing aides, LVNs, and RNs).^4,5,6

The combination of high turnover and rapid job growth means LTC employers are tasked with constantly recruiting new employees. This makes it especially critical for LTC facilities to secure cost-effective training programs—and online training is an ideal solution. This is where we turn our attention now.

ONLINE EDUCATION: A REVOLUTIONARY TRAINING DELIVERY SYSTEM FOR LTC FACILITIES

The Digital Revolution has transformed education by enabling the delivery of affordable, quality educational materials online, accessible day or night.

Medcom is a leading provider of online education for healthcare facilities. We offer a full suite of online courses to help ensure quality resident care, from complete healthcare education courses, to mandatory employee updates, to CE courses for nurses and allied health professionals.

Our courses are developed with the input of professionals from leading healthcare organizations, such as the American Lung Association, Mayo Clinic, and New York Presbyterian Hospital.

Our programs cover important topics, such as:

F-Tags
Billing and coding
CMS Final Rule
Memory care
OSHA compliance
And much more

Our award-winning online courses contain everything required to train LTC staff; they are an affordable education solution for long-term care facilities large and small—local, regional, or national.

Our courses satisfy state and federal mandates, meet in-service and continuing education needs, and help boost employee retention.

ONLINE COURSES CAN BE DELIVERED VIA MEDCOM’S ROBUST LMS

LTC facilities have the option of using their own learning management system or Medcom’s robust learning management system.

Our LMS enables LTC facilities to easily deliver employee education across the entire organization and provides the tools administrators need to track employee progress. Our system provides:

Unlimited, 24/7 access to online courses
Onsite or offsite access using any mobile device or desktop computer
Post-tests with instant results
Access to view and print a variety of reports
Up-to-the-minute access to records of user progress and test scores

Learners can watch entire courses straight through or skip around to the most relevant sections for their needs.

Administrators can add and remove users as needed, and they have protected access to real-time data, all stored in a secure, online database. Course subscriptions include unlimited continuing education certificates and free technical support.

BENEFITS OF ONLINE TRAINING

Profit margins are often razor-thin at LTC facilities. Medcom is proud to offer cost-effective training programs that help boost employee retention, improve resident care and satisfaction, and maximize profitability for these important facilities. For an average of just $200 per month, per facility, our programs can help:

Improve resident experience
Boost employee satisfaction and morale
Improve profit margins

FEATURED SERIES FOR LTC FACILITIES:COMPETENCY ENHANCEMENT TRAINING

Medcom’s series Competency Enhancement Training for Long Term Care Professionals helps learners prevent mistakes by learning from case studies.

The series highlights the results of long-term facility inspection surveys—which are conducted to ensure compliance with the many federal regulations governing LTC facilities—and offers an unvarnished look at the survey process, as well as what facilities have done to receive citations.

The series is designed to exercise and test critical thinking skills by challenging learners to identify causal factors of adverse events cited in survey reports.

Medcom’s affordable online training is the ideal solution to help long-term care facilities of every scope and size deliver comprehensive training that LTC staff need to work effectively in the field. Please contact Medcom at 800-541-0253, or [email protected] for more information and a free preview.

ABOUT MEDCOM

Medcom offers a complete suite of online education, including nurse CE programs, to help ensure quality resident care. Our award-winning online courses not only meet regulatory compliance, but the Medcom solution is cost-effective, meets in-service and continuing education needs, and boosts employee retention.

Our robust learning management system provides the tools to fulfill your various educational needs, which make for skilled employees, happier residents, and an overall better experience in the healthcare environment.

THE BENEFITS OF ONLINE TRAINING FOR LONG-TERM CARE FACILITY EMPLOYEES