Working in collaboration with Hospital Educators and Human Resources Managers, RWHC has developed an online orientation program that can be used by students and agency staff to complete their training requirements. The Orientation Portfolio Program came about out of discussion occurring at the Human Resources and Education roundtables over growing concerns of managing both the practical aspects of orientation for these individuals and meeting all of the documentation requirements. Many Human Resources Managers felt that this is their greatest vulnerability in Joint Commission surveys.
The system is housed at RWHC’s secure data center, and only an internet connection is needed to gain access. Students pay a one-time $12 fee and are able to self-register; and participating agencies enter their employees into the system, keeping the work for the hospital coordinator to a minimum. The facility coordinator can monitor the activity and program completion, ensuring that these tasks are completed before these individuals arrive onsite and to provide proof of compliance during surveys. Completing these programs ahead of time allows the student’s clinical on-site time to be more productive.
Another major advantage of this program is that the basic/general orientation concepts need only be reviewed once by a student or agency personnel. Completion of this general information is credited to each facility to which the individual is going. Facility-specific information can also be added onto the site so that the site-specific training can be completed as well. The information is provided via PowerPoint presentations, and there is a quiz for each program in order to document a certain level of understanding.
A second component of the Orientation Portfolio Program is the Documentation Module. It provides the ability to upload and track documentation requirements for things such as vaccinations and licensing. All documents are archived in the system.
The Orientation Portfolio Program’s greatest advantage is that it was developed by its users. It improves efficiency, decreases staff time, and creates consistency and reliability.