A Lead Trainer or Lead Educator’s role is very important to the success of an EHR implementation or any new informatics-related project.
The Lead Trainer or Educator is responsible for creating, reviewing, and updating lesson plans (also called “curriculum development”) to make sure these lesson plans accurately reflect not only the system functionality but also the clinical workflows specific to the organization. The Lead Trainer or Educator is also responsible for collaborating with the programmers and clinical subject matter experts (SMEs) when there are items in the lesson plans that need clarification, coordinating the classroom schedule with the department/unit managers, and picking the right classroom trainers and making sure that they are adequately trained.
When classroom training starts, the Lead Trainer or Educator provides support to the classroom trainers under her or his supervision by ensuring that they have all the tools that they need to successfully teach in the classroom (this can include proper orientation and coaching, as well as making sure that the appropriate job aids such as workbooks and manuals are available). He or she may sit and observe during classroom sessions to evaluate a classroom trainer’s strengths and weaknesses and provide feedback for improvement, as well as communicate any issues that come up in the classroom to the appropriate programming team or clinical subject matter experts.
Depending on the nature of the project and/or the size of the organization, there can be one Lead Trainer/Educator for the entire project, or one each for a specific clinical/business specialty or application.
SAMPLE DAY FOR A LEAD TRAINER/EDUCATOR (PRIOR TO A PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION)
(Depending on the organization’s timelines and number of resources, this phase can run from a few weeks to several months.)
8:00 Meets with classroom trainers as a group or on a 1:1 basis to discuss priorities for the day
9:00 Checks and answers emails from the project implementation team, subject matter experts, and other Lead Trainers/Educators
10:00 – 12:00 Reviews and updates lesson plans. Tests the steps in the lesson plans against the actual system functionality to make sure they are in sync. Takes down notes for items that needs to be discussed with or clarified by the project team and/or clinical SMEs.
12:00 Breaks for lunch.
1:00 Meets with the project team (usually programmers and/or workflow analysts) or clinical SMEs to discuss the notes she or he has taken down during the lesson plan/system review earlier in the day.
2:00 Interviews a potential candidate who is applying as a classroom trainer.
3:00 Meets with the Training Group to work out classroom training schedules and locations
4:00 Checks and answers email again. Addresses questions and concerns sent by the project team, clinical SMEs, operations managers, and fellow trainers.
5:00 Heads home.