News | Best Practices

CHUG @ C-Live: How to Transform Your Leadership

Time:

The leadership track is Thursday, May 17th from 8:00am – 10:15am in Octavius 1.

Description:

This interactive session demonstrates tools and methodologies that will provide an effective approach to take your leadership skills to the next level. You will learn ways to engage in successful crucial conversations with your colleagues, staff and stakeholders as well as gain insight on how to increase your emotional intelligence to effectively transform your leadership.

Objectives:

1. Understand how your leadership style is both helping and hindering your effectiveness

2. Learn a customized approach to increasing your emotional intelligence as a leader

3. Walk away with a deeper understanding of how to improve caregiver engagement, productivity, and morale

Nursing Education Credits Now Available!

The CHUG Board of Directors is pleased to be able to offer, for the first time ever, Nursing Education Credits!

It is not too late – REGISTER NOW!

At CHUG, you’ll be able to earn up to 11.0 contact hours. Activity Number: 1214 Working with Southern NH AHEC, an Approved Provider of continuing nursing education by the Northeast Multistate Division (NE-MSD), an accredited approver of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation, CHUG is excited to be able to offer this additional educational opportunity to our membership.

AGENDA IS NOW POSTED! Here’s just a few of the sessions being presented this year:
* End the Year with a Bang!
* Health and Social Care: Closing the Gap in Clinical Outcomes
* Change Fatigue Getting You Down?
* The ‘A’ Team and the Importance of Changing Culture
* If Quality is the New Currency, Wellness Will Make it Rain!
* Painless Documentation in No Time!
* The Easy Button for Medical Quality – Templates with User Check (TUC)
* It’s a Tough Job but WE have to do it
* Narcissists, Drama Queens & Psychopaths – Everyone Can Adopt New IT Initiatives
* Save Time and Make Your Community Happy by Automating Common Administrative Tasks

And of course there are many more, to see the agenda click HERE.

Come early and attend any of these ten pre-conference classes!
* CPS-PM Custom Reports without the Embeddd Designer
* EMR Crystal Reports class (for CPS & CEMR)
* Beginning Visual Form Editor
* Intermediate Visual Form Editor
* InDxlogic 101: Basics: Health Information Management – Automated Document Indexing
* InDxlogic 201: InDxLogic Advanced Management Training, Workflow Optimization, and MACRA/MIPS
* Qvera Interface Engine Level 1 Certification
* Surescripts Patient Portal – Take your portal to the next level – Class
* Managing Interfaces in Centricity EMR and CPS
* Provider-Directed Design for CPOE Assessment & Plan with Clinical Decision Support, Making EHR Use Easier!

Click HERE to get more information about pre-conference classes.

We will be introducing exciting new Leadership and Teamwork Resources this Fall!
BE the leader your employees WANT to follow. A leader steps up in time of crisis and is able to think and act creatively in challenging situations, to inspire staff to perform and engage in achieving common goals. It’s about knowing your team, having a shared vision and setting staff up for success. To survive in this complex, ever changing market requires a strong, passionate and innovative team.

Don’t wait too long to register, Saver Discount only available for 3 more weeks! REGISTER NOW!

7 Tips to Cultivate Your Trainer Part 2

Article by Angela Hunsberger

This is the second installment of a two-part blog mini-series where I share the tricks of the trade with detailed tips surrounding 7 essential “train the trainer” categories.  Missed the first half? No worries, you can check it out here: 7 Tips to Cultivate Your Trainer, Part 1 of 2.

 Tip #5:  Value-Added Quality

Add some polish to your curriculum and put some thought into how you can make this experience enjoyable for your students.  Ensure handouts are of nice quality and not bad photocopies.  Print a few extra in case you have unexpected attendees.  In your exercises and examples, use scenarios that make clinical sense.  Otherwise, your students may get lost in the details and your intended focus is lost.

Offering students choices is another way to add value and enhance the learning experience.  When I find wiggle-room in the agenda, I’ll offer the class the opportunity to choose what they learn next.  For example I’ll ask “Do you want to cover phone notes or patient check out next?” or, “Do you want to take a break or get out of class early?”  Giving them options makes them feel like they have some control.

In your exercises and examples, use scenarios that make clinical sense.  Otherwise, your students may get lost in the details and your intended focus is lost.

For a fun twist during class, give out treats as a small gesture to revive the group.  Using a theme for the class is another way to make it interesting.  One of my week-long training courses was a boot-camp theme that included MRE’s paper sacks containing military inspired treats, toy soldier name badges, and an American flag pinning ceremony at graduation.  The smallest things can make the class fun and promote interaction.  Awarding tickets for questions or participation then doing a raffle at the end of class with small prizes can go a long way for class participation.

As long as focus is not lost, put the fun back into learning.  Break up the seriousness of the day with a fun slide show review of the content and work-appropriate shenanigans.  One presentation that my class enjoyed was a gameshow-theme quiz.  Students like it when they hear or get to share relevant stories in the field. Approaches such as these make the content and workflows meaningful.

Tip #6:  Common Obstacles

In over a decade of training trainers, I’ve learned to share some strategies to keep pace of the agenda when class sizes are large.  Prepare your trainer to overcome hurdles with language difficulties and also to keep on pace when students lack basic computer skills.  Being patient while also respecting the students’ experience and history goes a long way.  New trainers are not often prepared to handle the disengagement of students during class.  One tip I use is to pause and say “You’ll want to write this down” and wait to move on as they write down each step.  I’ll recap the steps during regular intervals in case a student forgot to take notes.  When students are given the opportunity to follow along on the computer, you will have slow navigators.  Your trainer must be prepared with keeping the class on pace and accommodate learners of all skill levels.

A nurse, a front office registrar, and an office manager may all be interested in learning only the content that applies to their role. As the trainer, you know your agenda is relevant to all of them but you must find a way to engage every student.

More obstacles to prepare your trainer include methods to make the content relevant when training users from multi-specialties or various roles at the same time.  A nurse, a front office registrar, and an office manager may all be interested in learning only the content that applies to their role.  As the trainer, you know your agenda is relevant to all of them but you must find a way to engage every student.  Holding training away from the office and in an isolated training room is ideal for students to avoid disruptions from other staff.

Another challenge is managing a class when side-bar conversations take place.  Sometimes, the conversation is relevant, while other times it is not at all and is causing a disruption. One technique is to stop and ask the group if they have a question since the class may also be wondering about the same thing.  If it is relevant, allow for an open discussion to engage the class.  If the conversation goes off topic, put it on a parking lot to come back to later.

Not everyone comes to class, sits in the front row, and enthusiastically takes notes to learn.  There will be times when your trainer must deal with negativity, disinterest, or shutting down.  In the past, it has been helpful to involve negative users and make them a part of finding solutions.  My experience has taught me that negative people are also passionate about what they do.  When they are part of the solution, they become a powerful advisor and often get buy-in from their peers when a solution is found.

Tip #7:  Mentoring, Etiquette, Work Ethic and Growth

One of the best approaches I’ve experienced is allowing your trainer the opportunity to shadow a mentor and be shadowed.  This dynamic provides a coaching environment where your trainer can gain confidence.  A mentor can provide valuable feedback for how to handle questions that come up in class while also giving the trainer room to learn and grow independently.   Your trainer may learn from the mentor and also be encouraged to get involved outside of the classroom.  For example, a trainer may gain value by joining an industry association or club or through networking via an online forum.  Remind the trainer that when networking outside of the classroom, you still represent your organization and yourself.  Project a nice appearance to gain credibility while being yourself and still a professional.

An effective trainer is more than someone who shows up to communicate material.  They must take initiative and advantage of their own learning opportunities to grow.  Putting the content into context, it is helpful for a trainer to visit practices onsite, speak to support about common support calls, and work with subject matter experts about workflow details.  All of this information can be brought back to the classroom to enhance the delivery for the next class.

An effective trainer is more than someone who shows up to communicate material. They must take initiative and advantage of their own learning opportunities to grow.

For leadership, set realistic goals and expectations for your new trainer.  Base your expectations on the trainer’s prior experience and give them time to not only learn the material, but to learn to train it.  Your new trainer is faced with double duty.  As the trainer, you are not expected to know every answer.  Finding out answers to questions is a great way to learn and will take time.

As a trainer, use test scores to reflect on your training and improve the next time.  Offer surveys to collect essential feedback for content.  Expect some negative feedback but use it as an opportunity to improve your delivery and style.  Along those lines, learn to identify a student who is clearly not absorbing the material.  Communicate with managers or leadership when needed so they can best address the situation.  As a trainer, you are not tasked with qualifying candidates, for hiring, or firing.  But you do have a responsibility to ensure a productive and positive learning experience.

On a personal note, understand that all students may not like you.  Be confident in the fact that training is not about being liked, it is about facilitating learning and ensuring each student is provided the opportunity to learn skills needed to perform their job.  Alternatively, it is important to recognize that not every personality makes a good trainer.  A trainer must have the skills needed to adapt to the class energy and environment.  Trainers are sometimes placed in this role because they are good at using the software.  Proficient software skills does not mean a person is equipped to train.  It takes a specific personality to deliver the content and instruct users successfully.

The next piece of advice is to not overload your trainer.  Give your trainer a break when possible by allowing them to work from home, letting them go early, or give them a change of scenery by shifting to a support role for a day.  Training is mentally draining.  In return, trainers must learn their bandwidth limits.  It is in our nature to want to help but instructors must learn their thresholds and speak up when they are overwhelmed.  Failure to communicate will lead to burnout or low quality work.

Success in motion:

A recent project in Austin, Texas inspired me to share my collection of tips and tricks.  While providing interim training for new employees for a large organization, I met an energetic young lady who was preparing to take over the instructor role.  As a new employee, she was tasked with learning a new software and how to train the workflows simultaneously.  She quickly shadowed and taught the class while being shadowed.  We met online between training weeks to iron out any details and refine the training material.  This approach gave her independence with a safety net.

Above learning the material, she took a genuine interest in being the best instructor she could be.  Because of this, I wanted to nurture her enthusiasm with some “extra” mentoring.  Working together we evaluated the current curriculum and revamped the material.  The new trainer worked on her presentation techniques and mastered the software in record time.  Towards the end of my engagement, this young professional was off and running in record time due to her work ethic, technical ability, professional attitude and desire to learn.

As you evaluate your own training program, consider all of the elements to deliver a truly impactful learning experience that will translate into a return in your investment in your employees.  Knowledge is truly a gift.  Why not wrap it up with a nice bow?

For more information on training and the benefits you can cultivate, check out our roadmap, Frontend to Backend Training: Why It Drives Revenue Cycle Health.

7 Tips to Cultivate Your Trainer – Part 1 of 2

Article by Angela Hunsberger

Preparing your trainer to deliver an impactful learning experience is essential for getting the most return on your training program. Aside from the curriculum, learn how to inspire, groom, and mentor your trainer to enhance your program and promote skill set growth. A good teacher mixed with a thoughtful technique can make the difference in what learners retain.

This is the first of a two-part blog mini-series where I share the tricks of the trade with detailed tips surrounding 7 essential “train the trainer” categories.

Read more

YOU are a ROCK STAR & CHUG NEEDS YOU!

REMINDER: DEADLINE TO SUBMIT SESSIONS FOR CHUG AT CENTRICITY LIVE IS FRIDAY – DECEMBER 18th!

WE KNOW YOU….
You are an expert in a Centricy solution!
Your organization has driven measurable results in the last year!
You have succeeded in workflow development, report creation or training!

Now you need to share your success and realize YOU are the rock star we are looking for.

SUBMIT AN ENTRY to present a session for CHUG at Centricity LIVE 2016.

There are plenty of speaking opportunities available, you can teach practical skills to peers, lead a panel discussion, share best practices or present a case study. CHUG at Centricity LIVE is a terrific venue to explore and discuss healthcare’s most pressing issues.

Besides assisting your fellow users, in exchange for your participation, you’ll receive two complimentary passes to CHUG at Centricity LIVE in Phoenix, AZ – one for you and one for a peer. That is a $1,600 value – for EACH session you lead.

Don’t wait, please sign up today, you only have till Friday December 18th. Contact chug@beattygroup.com for more info or CLICK HERE. Can’t wait to see you in Phoenix!

Meaningful Use Stage 2 Tips: Core Measure 12 (Preventive Care)

To meet Core Measure 12, Centricity has the ability to mass generate letters in conjunction with Inquires to transmit targeted reminder letters. It is possible to retrieve a subset of patients with a certain condition who were seen on a given date range. After retrieving the list, reminder letters can be generated for each patient, pulling patient specific details into the letter template. To have the action counted with CQR, the letter MUST be saved in a folder with “Actionable” in the title.

Example: To setup an inquiry to retrieve diabetic patients seen in a month, an inquiry can be setup with these criteria:
FIND patients WHERE problem code ICD-9, active CONTAINS ’250′ AND FIND patients WHERE appointment date IS ON OR AFTER 01/01/2015 AND FIND patients WHERE appointment date IS BEFORE 02/01/2015.

After clicking search and retrieving the information, reminders can be generated by selecting the activity of SEND REMINDER. Find the letter template and click print.

Mike Baeske
Software Applications Specialist – Team Leader
Ortho NorthEast (“ONE”)
1330 Medical Park Drive, Fort Wayne, Indiana, 46825

LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER – 2015 CHUG Conference

Take a minute to listen to how two of our users describe the CHUG experience. Click HERE to see why you should attend CHUG!
FLASH SALE: Save $50 with discount code FLASH50 – HURRY expires FRIDAY September 25th.

LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER AND SAVE!
The CHUG Fall 2015 conference taking place at the New York Marriott Marquis, October 1st – 3rd, 2015 is quickly approaching.

We know it’s hard to break away from the day to day workload at your organization, however, the CHUG conference provides you with unprecedented access to GE Healthcare executives and product managers along with crucial networking time with your peers, who can help you solve some of the challenges you have been facing.

REGISTER NOW!

Take a LOOK at our jam packed agenda, see you in New York!

2015 Quality Reporting Preparation Program for MU, PQRS & CPCi

Message from GE Healthcare:

Dear Centricity Practice Solution and Centricity EMR Customers;

We are pleased to announce the launch of our 2015 Quality Reporting Preparation Program. This preparation program, modeled after our highly successful ICD-10 preparation program, is designed to help your practice prepare for Meaningful Use (MU) and the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) as well as the latest addition to our supported quality programs, the Comprehensive Primary Care initiative (CPCi).

The submission deadlines for these programs are about six (6) months away, and we are eager to share with you the resources we have developed to help you prepare and be successful.

Click HERE to read this communication from Peter Kinhan with additional details.

CHUG NEW YORK – Call for Presentations

DON’T WAIT….the deadline is FRIDAY JUNE 19, 2015
SUBMIT YOUR PRESENTATION!

CHUG needs users LIKE YOU to present sessions or lead discussions that are important and relevant to Centricity EMR and Practice Management users! Receive a discounted conference registration fee if you are selected to present a session during CHUG in New York.

Is the Future Now? Healthcare of Tomorrow Today
Since the adoption of legislation around Meaningful Use, Healthcare IT has been moving at light speed to catch up and surpass the technology of the day. Are we fulfilling the promises of an integrated healthcare world? Will the onset of ICD-10 be a step forward or a step back? Am I ready for medical wearable? Will my patients engage in their care? All of these questions relate back to the speed at which healthcare is moving, but are we and can we keep up?

Here are some topics of interest, but don’t limit yourself to these….
- What tools and workflows are you using to engage patients?
- How are you preparing for Electronic Prescribing of Controlled Substances?
- What reports are you using to increase efficiency?
- How is your office planning to utilize wearable data?
- Techniques to increase IT department productivity and efficiency.
- Change management techniques.
- Training techniques/systems.
- How do you prioritize in a world where every project is a high priority?
- How do you keep your Clinical Decision Support information up to date? Organized?
- How are you communicating with Health Information Exchanges?
- What interoperability are you doing?
- How do you take the pain out of coding with ICD-10?
- Customize versus Standardize? How do you balance them?
- Any other topic that would be of interest to Centricity EMR or PM users.

WHY PRESENT?
- You don’t mind being up in front of other people.
- It is so nice to share your knowledge with others.
- Networking is a good thing!
- Boost the profile of yourself and your organization.
- You WILL get a FANCY RIBBON to add to your name badge that says “SPEAKER”!
- And of course, all approved sessions will receive 2 discounted conference registration fees.

CLICK TO SUBMIT YOUR PRESENTATION

PQRS Webinar – Reschedule Date

Notice from GE Healthcare:

Dear Valued Quality Submission Services Customer,

We are writing to apologize for the issues with yesterdays PQRS Insurance Webinar. We know your time is valuable and are committed to equipping you with the information you need to meet the upcoming timelines. We will be conducting another webinar on Tuesday, February 3rd at 12 EST, with more robust information and instructions and hope that you are able to join us then.

Informational webinar: Updating Insurance and Transmitting to CQR

DATE: February 3, 2015     TIME: 9:00-10:00 AM PST / 12:00-1:00 PM EST        Registration Link

 

Thank you for your support,

Centricity Team

Live Webinar: 6 Steps to Denial Management in CPS

CHUG Encore Presentation Webinar – 6 Steps to Denial Management in CPS
Date/Time: January 29, 2015, 2:00PM – 3:00PM EST

Speaker: Angela Hunsberger, Senior Healthcare Consultant, Hayes Management Consulting.

Join us for an encore presentation! In case you missed it during the Centricity Healthcare User Group (CHUG) fall conference, Angela Hunsberger will be discussing best practices and system tools to help track denials and automate tasks for unpaid claims using Centricity Practice Solutions.

During our webinar you will learn:

  • Methods to identify common denial codes by payor
  • How to automate denial management workflows using existing CPS tools, including (but not limited to) remittance, visit owners and task management
  • Tips and tricks for working non-payment appeals from real CPS users

Click here to register : simply fill out the form and press “Submit” to sign up for our webinar.

Join us CHUG at Centricity LIVE

More reasons than ever to attend CHUG at Centricity LIVE

With over 40 education sessions, product roadmap presentations, panel discussions and hands-on training, CHUG at Centricity LIVE is a premier learning conference to help YOU optimize your investment in GE Healthcare and network with other users like you!

Valuable Content

  •  Dedicated education tracks for Financial Management, Care Delivery Management, Population Health Management and Technology.
  • Customer presenters.
  • CEU credits available.
  • NEW THIS YEAR: The Centricity Technology track, designed with input from the GE Software Center of Excellence in San Ramon California.

Multiple Choices

CHUG at Centricity LIVE offers a full spectrum of learning options to suit your knowledge needs.

  • Product Roadmap sessions: Get a glimpse of what’s ahead for future releases.
  • Panel Discussions: Share and exchange best practices with industry and GE Healthcare experts.
  • Partner/Sponsor sessions: Get answers in deep-dives on complementary solutions.
  • Product Exploration sessions: Learn more about your existing solutions and discover new ways to boost their productivity — and their value.
  • Best Practice Case Studies: Hear how other organizations use their GE Healthcare solutions to tackle the challenges you face.
  • The Collaboration Zone: Get insight on new technologies and emerging healthcare trends.
  • Hands-on: Product demos at our ‘Sandbox’.

Attendees are eligible to purchase specially priced Disney Meeting & Convention Tickets. CLICK HERE to save 10% at Walt Disney World.

REGISTER TODAY, mark your calendar and bookmark the CHUG at Centricity LIVE 2015 web page to get updates on conference content in the coming months. We look forward to seeing you in Orlando in April!

Webinar Etiquette

How many webinars, on-line meetings, or calls have you been on in the past month? We have complied a list of the Top 4 things Not To Do:

1. Show up late and interrupt the conversation to let those know you have arrived.

2. Forget you are on mute. People are asking you questions and you aren’t responding? Why? Check your phone to make sure you haven’t forgotten to un-mute the call!

Read more

Schedule Right the FIRST Time

We use a Triage Scheduling form in our EMR to help guide staff into doing the right thing when scheduling. Scheduling staff are asked to follow so many different scheduling preferences it can be overwhelming trying to remember them all. We took the “remembering” aspect out of it and built our Triage form to do the remembering for us.

Staff enter information such as; type of injury, date of injury, insurance information, body part, etc., the EMR calculates that information along with age and zip code and will auto generate a list of appropriate physicians that I can schedule with. The form can give “pop-ups” that help with specific preferences such as “30 min for all bilateral hips” or “prior authorization before scheduling 2nd opinions”.

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Is there Light at the end of this Healthcare Tunnel?

“Stress is not what happens to us. It’s our response to what happens.  An response is something we can choose at any moment.” www.livelifehappy.com

Does anyone else feel like healthcare is consuming most of your life these days? I am reading blogs on Healthcare IT, Healthcare law, Healthcare updates, Healthcare mandates, Healthcare…you get the idea.

As a Practice Administrator, I feel as though I should have an IT, law, administration, accounting, and marketing degree. I am fortunate to work for a Physician that believes in investing in his employees and providing resources to get our jobs done, but I wonder about those that don’t? Even with endless resources, the burden to stay on top of the latest news in healthcare is cumbersome. On top of the things you HAVE to do, what about the things you want to do?

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11 Reasons to say “Yes” to a Scribe

How much is your time worth as a provider? Or a better question, what is YOUR hourly rate? With the increase in government regulations and the need for timely, accurate documentation, scribes are a great option.

1. Help Me, Help YOU

Making your job as a provider easier should be a reason to consider a scribe. Not only is your scribe taking down your documentation into the EHR as directed but they are also there as your “assistant.” You may choose to pull an already clinical person, such as an MA or a nurse, to become your scribe. This will allow your scribe to assist you with minor procedures, injections, casting, etc.

2. Can I get a witness?

Unfortunately there are times when a patient visit becomes a “He said, She said” moment. With a scribe, you will have a witness in the room documenting the information in “real time.”

3. Call for some Help

Read more

Increase Productivity with Letters

Insurance Companies have never made claims processing a simple task and with ICD10 this is likely to get worse and not better. Now is the perfect time to reevaluate your accounts receivable department, analyze their workflow, and increase productivity.

Utilizing letters within CPS is one way to make the most of staff’s precious time. How often does your staff need to complete appeal letters in order to be paid for services? This is a frequent task at our site and one that previously took so long it was pushing aside other necessary tasks. Staff workflow included pulling the carriers appeal form off their website and manually completing it, too much time was going into ‘double data entry’ all the information is listed in CPS, yet staff were spending time copying it onto the insurance companies form.

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Schedule & Manage Surgeries with your EMR

Have you considered using your EMR to schedule and manage your surgeries?

  • Create an encounter form to help your provider order surgery.
  • Use required fields to make sure the provider cannot advance without supplying the minimally essential information needed to schedule the procedure.
  • Program dynamic lists into the form to be specific to each surgeon. Only show them the special surgical needs they use or would like to see.
  • Formatting on the order page will help organize this surgical information in a structure that is easy for the receiver to read. Critical information can be placed near the top of the order followed by supporting documentation, or a particular detail can be placed in all CAPS. Either way the significant information will stand out.

Read more

Successfully Implement a Patient Portal!

When I started to implement a patient portal there were a few things I realized I needed to think about first.

1. Hardware and bandwidth:

One of the first things you have to consider is where is it going to run, on your own equipment or hosted? If in house, you will need a dedicate server (or two) depending on how many providers you have and what you expect in usage. This will use your internet connection, so make sure you have enough bandwidth to serve your practice plus additional for patient portal use. If you are using a hosted solution for your EMR and patient portal, you mainly have to worry about the cost of the additional servers and the bandwidth from your provider. Do not forget that your usage will increase over time!

2. Design:

Second thing to do is to figure out your design of the patient portal. If you have an existing website trying to mimic it can be difficult, but not impossible. Think on what will make easy to use to for your least technical patient. You want to make sure that they understand where to go to send messages, or fill out patient forms. Once you have settled on your design, start to fill in with content.

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Quick Tip on Maintaining Productivity During Implementation

Implementation

Here is a quick tip:

To help providers maintain productivity while implementing new EHR workflows, consider having them use the new workflow on the first few patients of the morning or afternoon until they weed out conflicts and gain more confidence in using the software. Week by week they will add more and more patients until they are 100% electronic.

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Eight Strategies to Improve Your Training and System Adoption Rates

1. Establish backups for people who are in training to maintain productivity, temporary staff, or a colleague who is cross-trained in the user’s work. It is difficult to focus on training when you know your work is piling up!

2. Utilize multiple training tools, because everyone learns differently supplement classroom training with computer-based training (CBT), web training, workbooks, etc.

3. Trainers LOVE lists of questions! Make the most out of the time spent training, have participants do some pre-work before class, so that they come to class with questions. Also, have the administrative tasks taken care of prior to training (logins, passwords, etc.)

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