Microlearning Videos - the Best Alternative to Tipsheets for EHR Support

EHRs were brought into hospitals and healthcare organizations to solve the problems of handling patient data and improving healthcare outcomes, but working on EHRs at times could be a challenge in itself.

Traditionally, healthcare organizations have relied on classroom training and tip sheets to solve EHR-related queries; however, these solutions do not scale well. In addition, these solutions fail to understand the needs of the end-users while working with EHRs. They simply provide an over-arching generic framework for learning.

A better solution would be to utilize microlearning videos as a part of the in-application support strategy, available to users in their moment of need.

Discover:

1. What Is a Microlearning Video?
2. What Is a Tip Sheet?
3. The Difference Between Microlearning Videos and Tip Sheets
4. Tip Sheets vs. Microlearning Videos
5. Things to Remember While Creating a Microlearning Video
6. How Can Microlearning Videos Make Everything Better for EHR Support?

What Is a Microlearning Video?

A microlearning video is a short byte-sized video that provides palatable content to the user, which could help with quick query resolution. When it comes to EHR support, it could be a great help in providing task-based support.

The prime purpose of a microlearning video is to help users attain proficiency on a specific task in just a few minutes. This just-in-time learning methodology could be a great way to provide concise information that would be easy to comprehend and apply while using the EHR. It is important to remember that although microlearning videos are small chunks of content, they could certainly be a component of the extended learning journey.

The content of a microlearning video could be something as simple as which button to press on a screen in the EHR, to as complex as a multi-step process to update the inventory orders short-cut list for the physician.

Watch this video to get an understanding of how microlearning works.

What Is a Tip Sheet?

A tip sheet generally refers to a document that contains information or tips related to a specific topic or a problem. For example, in healthcare, tip sheets are created on specific areas of concern and put on a Sharepoint portal so that providers can access them in their hour of need.

An example of a tip sheet could be a step-by-step textual document that guides a provider through a clinical workflow like how to make a particular medication entry in a Computerized Prescribed Order Entry (CPOE) system.

The Difference Between Microlearning Videos and Tip Sheets

One of the key differences between tip sheets and microlearning videos is the format itself. While tip sheets refer to written content, microlearning videos, on the other hand, are audio-visual. Moving to the size of the content, tip sheets are elaborate and long-form, whereas a microlearning video enlightens the user with byte-sized content.

Now that we have an introductory idea about tip sheets and microlearning videos, let’s compare the two.

Tip Sheets vs. Microlearning Videos

1. The situations in which tip sheets have been used

Traditionally, tip sheets have been used to help hospitals and healthcare organizations with enterprise application support. Tip sheets are believed to suggest solutions to any problem faced mainly by the providers and other personnel in the healthcare organization. For example, if you take Epic, tip sheets have been created to guide users on the functionality of Epic and how it could help with efficient care to improve patient behavior and health.

2. The challenges with tip sheets

Cumbersome Creation: The entire process of documenting a tip sheet is very onerous, be it the creation of a new one or the updation of an existing one; it certainly does take up a lot of time and other resources.

Strenuous Search: If you believe that the creation is the only time-consuming task when it comes to tip sheets, then it is essential to know that searching through various tip sheets and finding the right one is equally tiring.

Complex Content: By the time your users search through multiple tip sheets and finally land on the desired one, they have very little energy left to comprehend everything on the specific tip sheet. Additionally, everything that is available on the particular tip sheet may not be relevant to the discrete difficulty faced by the user at that point in time.

This situation might put you in a fix because the tip sheet isn’t fulfilling its ultimate purpose of solving a problem if the user doesn’t even wish to go through it. However, you must understand that you can’t blame them because after all the trouble, why would your user want to take up the additional burden of making sense out of a 6-page document, right?

3. How microlearning videos overcome these challenges

If you were put into the shoes of your physician for a day, you would find them wondering if EHRs were brought in to make things easier or increase the complexity of care. This is probably because the foundational classroom training doesn’t work the best without some additional training on how to solve EHR-specific queries or cope with the complexity of EHR upgrades. Even when the Office of Inspector General inspected the Department of Veterans Affairs’ training to transition to a new Electronic Health Record (EHR) system at the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane, Washington, it identified that although classroom training was a necessary component of the new EHR training, it was insufficient to effectively demonstrate how the EHR would be used in a clinical and administrative context without additional training.

Ideally, tip sheets should solve this problem, but they add to the burden. This is why you must look at microlearning as an alternative to tipsheets.

Microlearning videos overcome the challenges of tip sheets in the following ways:

• Eliminates the creation complexity
  Considering that microlearning videos can aid with both formal and informal learning, super users, subject matter experts of the healthcare organization, and content creators could be involved in the process of content creation. With more people involved, larger amounts of content are created in lesser time.
• Eases the content consumption
  The content that microlearning videos offer makes consumption and comprehension easy and never fails to keep the user hooked. This helps the user find a solution to the EHR-specific problem and saves time.

A microlearning video could be leveraged to its fullest potential by implementing it into the right AI-enabled support tool. The tool could make searching simple and quick with a smart process that suggests a search based on the user’s role in the organization. With reduced time and engaging content, your users would look forward to learning more with microlearning videos. It would also encourage them as they can solve their queries independently without having to reach out to the Helpdesk.

Things to Remember While Creating a Microlearning Video

Here are a few things to keep in mind while creating microlearning videos. Following these practices could help microlearning videos do wonders for your healthcare organization.

Make sure to understand the complexity of the topic

When coming up with a microlearning video to address a specific query, it is always important to understand the case’s complexity. Evaluating the viability of microlearning videos to do justice to the topic is essential. If the problem requires extensive study, then microlearning videos could be used as a primary support source accompanied by additional support resources like reading materials.

Know what to focus on

Beating around the bush certainly doesn’t work for microlearning videos. The crispness is the beauty of microlearning videos, and knowing the particular pain points to focus on is crucial here.

Make it simple to follow

Ensure that the content is easy to follow. The users are hooked when they have clarity, which creates interest to learn more. Keeping the content uncomplicated could also aid with quicker query resolution.

Think from the user’s perspective

The ultimate goal of microlearning videos is to help the user. Therefore, everything done right, from the content creation to the execution, should be driven by keeping the user’s requirements at the forefront. The user problems should be the starting point for decisions regarding the microlearning videos.

How Can Microlearning Videos Make Everything Better for EHR Training and Support?

Reduces physician burnout problems

According to a survey conducted on Physician Burnout by the National Institute of Health in the United States, 70% of EHR users reportedly have Healthcare IT-related stress. With microlearning videos, the struggles of dealing with EHRs are minimized. Thus it proves to be a useful solution to cut down physician burnout problems.

Enhances the overall learning experience

Since microlearning videos could aid with both formal and informal learning, it improves the overall learning experience of the users. It could act as a great support to the organization’s training and support strategy. The overall experience is also improved because the content creation and delivery are coherent. This also results in better user satisfaction, improved efficiency, and reduced delay. A case study conducted at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (OSUWMC) revealed that providers completed training via eLearning approximately 45% faster than classroom training.

Increases retention with clear and crisp content

Microlearning videos offer captivating content that is easy to assimilate and retain. The reduced information load makes it easy for users to process the information and use it as a solution, both in the short and long run. This, in turn, improves your user’s learning curve.

Saves time and improves efficiency

The time spent finding tipsheets and going through them is all cut down. This means that your physicians can spend their time focussing on patient care. It would ultimately enhance the care provided and improve efficiency and patient satisfaction.

When it comes to EHR training for new software adoption or even upgrades, you can turn to microlearning videos without any hesitation. However, it is important to remember that microlearning videos in isolation cannot help meet the training needs of your healthcare organization; rather, they could be embedded into a comprehensive training and support tool to reap the best results.