Healthcare organizations face an incredibly tough situation: they need to provide continuous training to meet the exacting standards of the industry, but that training – due to difficult schedules, breadth of knowledge, and evolving trends – is uniquely difficult to provide. And on top of clinical knowledge, healthcare professionals need to be adept at adopting new technologies, well-versed in new medical treatments and drugs, up-to-date on best practices, and able to handle big organizational and administrative changes, all of which requires even more training.

Healthcare professionals know they need to be lifelong learners when they enter the field. But how do they fit extensive training into long hours and certification requirements? How can they make sure the quality of the training is consistently high? How can they get through all the necessary paperwork? In short, how do they keep up? A Learning Management System (LMS) component is a great solution to many of these issues. In this article, we’ll look at the top four advantages of using a Learning Management System.

1. Convenient to professionals

With accessibility across mobile, tablet and desktop platforms, and the ability to be accessed anytime a learner has a free moment, the LMS solution provides clear advantages when it comes to the problem of balancing work and training. Learners can work at their own pace and take the courses that are most relevant to their position. The best part is that LMS can accommodate their busy schedules, which means they don’t have to take an entire course in one sitting – courses can be taken bit by bit when healthcare professionals have the time. There’s no need to think about physical study materials, like handouts, binders or textbooks. As a result, there’s increased knowledge retention because eLearning tends to use more of the five senses, often harnessing video and narration as well as texts and diagrams in their coursework, and the courses can be easily referenced later, allowing learners to review materials whenever they need to do so. LMS programs tend to enhance course completion due to these strengths.

From an organizational perspective, an LMS also has convenient features. An LMS doesn’t require a physical space, juggling schedules, or finding trainers, and the training is incredibly scalable – a large number of users can have access to the system at once. A good LMS will often offer integration capabilities with an organization’s software systems and services. All the employees need is a laptop, tablet, or even smartphone.

2. Better, more up-to-date content

With the LMS solution, content can be standardized, which has two advantages. The first advantage is that the content can be created by the best experts in the field alongside experts in training. This means the most effective training, with the most up-to-date information, is available to anyone on the LMS. The latest research and clinical case studies will be reflected in the content, making healthcare professionals more effective at their jobs. It also means that all the healthcare professionals on the LMS will be taking the same course, which leads to better standardization of best practices and workflows, and the opportunity for teams to learn together, as well as apply what they’ve learned on the job.

The second advantage is that courses can be easily added and updated, meaning that the latest topics, techniques, and standards can be quickly accessed, helping professionals keep up with their fields. With an LMS, you can make sure employees are taking the courses you need them to take, as well as send them reminders about pending assignments, requirements, and incomplete courses (great for busy professionals who may lose track of their progress when they’re pulled away to work). Course requirements can be as adaptive as they need to be; an organization can select the courses they need based on role or organizational hierarchies. An LMS often offers the ability to set permissions and to customize content. That way, it’s very clear to healthcare professionals what they need to take and when, saving them the trouble of figuring out what their required courses are going to be. This frees up more time for them to focus on getting the coursework done and getting back to serving patients.

3. Compliance, tracking, and reporting

The LMS is great to have for the sake of compliance and clearance. Compliance standards are constantly changing, and an updated course means healthcare professionals don’t have to keep track of those standards alone—they can learn the new standards and get compliant quickly. An LMS also allows you to track an employee’s progress through various coursework in real-time, as they’re doing it, so there’s no delay between the healthcare professional taking the course and meeting whatever compliance standards they have to meet. And a big-picture that looks at the completion rates of everyone in a given department or organization can be easily accessed. This can be particularly useful for needed forms, HR documentation, and certifications. Again, this translates to less wasted time figuring out administrative issues, and more time doing their jobs.

4. Online advantages

Beyond convenience, there are some unique advantages to using eLearning for medical courses. One is the ability to use new learning tools to cover hard-to-reach subjects, like providing imagery of internal systems. The traditional video and diagrams have evolved into explorable 3D images, giving a more comprehensive view of what’s going on, and learners can even create these images themselves. Another medical topic that benefits from using an LMS is pharmaceutical products; new ones are constantly coming out and trials are always being conducted, making this a particularly important area for training, and one that particularly benefits from an easy-to-update LMS.

Cutting-edge topics like palliative care can also be covered in the LMS format. As a relatively recent discipline, it’s a topic that many healthcare professionals would not have been educated on. An LMS can provide reliable information and get them up-to-date. Other, situational topics like cultural sensitivity for a certain area or a certain population relevant to the healthcare professional’s patient demographics can also provide valuable, targeted training.

Overall, the LMS is a great solution to many of the trickiest problems healthcare professionals face in keeping up with their training and is well worth considering for any organization.