In this episode of Access On Air, Meg Sutton, a product manager at NHA speaks with Michelle Heller, NHA content strategy and an allied health educator focused on medical assisting and phlebotomy as well as Lisa Davila, RN, director of service excellence at Platte Valley Medical Center about the importance of soft skills in healthcare. They dive into how to teach these skills, touching on how it can be difficult to teach, and then discuss how these soft skills are evaluated, starting at the first interview.

Meg Sutton, product manager for National Healthcareer Association, and Ron Goldman, co-founder of Kognito and chief simulation strategist, discuss the value of virtual simulation in a healthcare setting. During this episode, they dive into why communication is so critical in a healthcare setting and how this skill set can be improved through virtual simulation learning and practice with virtual humans.

Some healthcare employers now prioritize soft skills as more essential traits for new hires to have than clinical knowledge or technical skills.

Are the healthcare workers in your training program prepared to leverage interpersonal skills in the medical field for the best patient outcomes? The line between soft skills versus hard skills in healthcare is blurry, and some employers are putting more emphasis on the soft skills during the interview process.

Electronic health records (EHRs) gained widespread use in the mid-2000s, when the HITECH Act gave providers a financial incentive to switch from paper charts. Now, EHRs are ubiquitous in healthcare; a report from January 2020 found that 95% of hospitals use EHR technology.

As the demand for EHR technology has increased, so has the supply: in 2017, there were more than 1,100 EHR systems available to providers. No two EHRs are exactly alike, and each system has its own processes and quirks that staff need to master. Today, we’re going to examine the most common EHR mistakes your staff is probably making—and how they impact your bottom line.

An important message from our Ascend Learning CEO

Greg Sebasky, CEO of Ascend Learning sent the following message to Ascend Learning team members today. 

Ascend Team Members,

As we all witness the difficult and painful events of the past week, I, like many of you are experiencing understandable feelings of grief, fear, anger and sadness. I believe we’re all looking for the right words to express our strong support for those suffering due to ongoing racism and discrimination as well as the unequal treatment and lack of opportunity for many people, including black, brown, and indigenous citizens of our country. True humanity requires opportunity, justice and equality be accessible to everyone. I don’t have a perfect answer or perfect words to address all that is happening around us, but I do believe together we can continue to make a meaningful difference in the world. And I know we all share a desire to do what is right by and for all people.

Organizations in every industry, including healthcare, now recognize the importance of building essential soft skills in their employees to harness the broader business benefits. Commonly referred to as “people” skills, essential skills or interpersonal skills, soft skills and attributes are just as critical to success. In fact, ten of the sixteen ‘crucial proficiencies in the 21st century’ identified by the World Economic Forum are non-technical.

To help you have a better understanding of the true impact of soft skills in healthcare, we’re sharing research on some of the most important soft skills that healthcare workers need to master.

Are you seeking to hire, train, and retain highly-qualified, deeply engaged allied health professionals?

Certified allied health professionals and their many roles are essential to outpatient clinics, surgical centers, hospitals, and numerous other healthcare settings. The demand for these highly skilled frontline healthcare workers is quite high, as reflected by the challenges employers often face when it comes to recruiting and retaining them. You’ll have to stand out to achieve the results you seek.