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Although this article uses the terms “competency” and “assessment” interchangeably, various healthcare institutions may utilize different terminology such as “validation tool.”
On the overhead announcements, it can be heard that Joint Commission surveyors have entered the hospital.At this point, the mood in the hospital shifts, and suddenly, everyone is more on edge as they wait to hear what the room of surveyors would like to audit next…Hospital administrators and educators know the feeling all too well. An in-inhouse surveyor discovered a potential finding and is requesting additional documentation. Now it is up to the hospital administrators and educators, who frequently scramble to find proof of competencies to demonstrate that they are proactive about any policies and procedures that might compromise patient safety. Competencies in healthcare are often paper-based and may or may not be tracked “digitally” (oftentimes, merely a simple spreadsheet). The last obstacle that hospital leadership wants to tackle is a stack of unorganized paper competencies and the one competency that is being summoned was the one that had coffee spilled on it! Furthermore, tracking via a spreadsheet is highly prone to human error. As one can see, the standard method of healthcare competency management via paper and a spreadsheet is a setup for failure.
The chances that competency papers remain white and stain-free are highly unlikely. Paper competencies have been submitted with wet stains and it is a mystery to the receiving end whether those are bodily fluids or simply spilled beverages. Now, are these the type of documents that a hospital administrator would want to present to a surveyor? Absolutely not! Hospitals want to present the impression that their hospitals are a clean place that puts infection control at the forefront. Presenting clean documents are key to adding to that image.
Hospital management holds the responsibility of managing the competency of their frontline staff. Moving competency assessments from paper to a digital platform with 24/7 support could drastically improve productivity and efficiency in the healthcare setting. A digital platform would provide greater ease in identifying incomplete assessments and in following up to ensure that those competencies are entirely completed, thereby resulting in higher rates of completion.
StaffGarden offers a premier digital platform to manage hospitals’ competency assessments and provides a centralized hub for all competency documentation. Some of StaffGarden’s intuitive competency features include automated assignments, automated due date reminder emails, and accessibility to all assessments for audits and reporting. StaffGarden works in unity with health systems to transform and elevate how healthcare teams operate and grow. The Clinical Success Cloud can be thought of as the “one-stop-shop” for elevating healthcare teams across the Nation.
StaffGarden is the leading digital healthcare platform focused on the clinical success of the professional clinician. Our flagship product is GROW, the only digital Clinical Ladder program on the market. In addition to Clinical Ladder, the platform supports career path development, Competency / Assessment tracking, peer and 360 review management, residency management support, and clinical project management for all types of clinical projects. To learn more about Staffgarden, check us out on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.
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