Board 504 - Technology Innovations Abstract A Large-Scale Simulation, Learning Management and Competency Tracking System (Submission #1169)

Abstract

Introduction/Background Large-scale integration of simulation into healthcare training and delivery calls for systems that facilitate the efficient management, tracking and documentation of training status and competencies. Currently, this information—if tracked at all—is typically stored in a manner that reflects the dissociated nature of health care organizations. It is often found in disparate spreadsheets on individual workstations used for local reporting efforts that occur annually or semi-annually at best. The inconsistent, error-prone and scattered nature of these data sources creates considerable difficulty for organizations and simulation programs who wish to get a clear picture of provider training and competency levels in order to meet clinical and administrative needs, as well as both patient safety and process improvement goals. Methods We describe a scalable and open source simulation program management suite currently in use at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) for the management, tracking and documentation of simulation-based provider training and competency. We currently use this system to ensure that simulation-based training milestones are met by over 500 providers and staff across specialties at MGH. This suite includes applications that: Allow medical simulation trainers/facilitators to post, schedule, and assign training opportunities in a decentralized manner; Allow learners to sign up for these events online; Automatically record attendance using a portable microprocessor-based RFID card reading system which tracks trainees, time, place, and equipment used. This help eliminates data entry errors. This system is built in an open, modular way to allow for simple integration regardless of which identification and access management system is employed by a given institution; Build and populate a provider training record that allows learners to check their training status in the context of curricula and specific training objectives, allows learners to view both required and recommended training, and allows administrators to view the progress and training status of learners; Enable administrators to report on session and group data associated with simulation training sessions. Results: Conclusion This combination of open hardware and open source software can be used by organizations to document and track simulation-based provider training and competency online. It facilitates hospital-wide distributed learning and tracking that can be extended and quickly adapted to meet evolving organizational needs in constantly changing clinical environments. The longer-term goal of this work is to provide a sharable, open source platform to help ensure that simulation training milestones are met by thousands of providers, independent of location or organization. We are actively working towards generalizing and improving this simulation administration suite so it can be easily and cost-effectively adopted by other organizations. This work was supported by CIMIT under U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity Cooperative Agreement (CIMIT No. 13-2193). The information contained herein does not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the Government, and no official endorsement should be inferred. Disclosures SimQuest Solutions, Inc.