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3 Best Practices for Training and Development in Healthcare
By: Jenn Hall | June 2025
Healthcare is a highly regulated industry with life-or-death consequences, so it should come as no surprise that there is a high value placed on employee training and development across every level of the healthcare team. Among the many benefits of investing in training and development, most healthcare organizations will gain:
- Improved patient care and outcomes
- Increased operational efficiency and streamlined workflows
- Compliance with healthcare regulations and laws
- Improved employee satisfaction, morale, and retention
- Enhanced adaptability to new technologies, processes or procedures, and other advancements
Knowing the importance of training and development for your healthcare team is a great first step toward creating a healthy, safe, and well-functioning healthcare practice. The next step is to optimize your training and development program with the following best practices.
#1. Conduct a skills gap / need assessment
It’s difficult, if not impossible, to align training with the needs of your organization if you don’t know what those needs are in the first place. To better understand the needs of your organization, begin with a skills gap / needs assessment.
You may use performance data, surveys, interviews with staff or managers, job descriptions, and other data to inform your analysis and uncover the needs of your organization. Be sure not to overlook new hires or non-clinical team members in this assessment. Every role has value and will contribute to the overall success of your organization and the care your team is able to provide to your patients.
#2. Align organizational needs with relevant training
With your team's needs identified, you can more accurately align those needs with relevant training. Your needs-to-training alignment may look something like this:
| Team Needs / Skill Gap | Training Topics or Programs |
|---|---|
| Increase support for patient blood tests |
|
| Improve patient satisfaction |
|
| Streamline operations for better efficiency |
|
| Reduce healthcare associated infections (HAIs) |
|
| Improve triage function |
|
Team Need / Skill Gap: Increase support for patient blood tests
- Phlebotomy training program
- Medical assistant training program with phlebotomy coursework
Team Need / Skill Gap: Improve patient satisfaction
- Communication skills
- Customer service skills
Team Need / Skill Gap: Streamline operations for better efficiency
- Medical coding and billing training
- Electronic health record (EHR) training
- Medical administrative assistant training
- Healthcare office manager training
Team Need / Skill Gap: Reduce healthcare associated infections (HAIs)
- Sterilization techniques
- Infection control protocols
- Sterile processing technician training
Team Need / Skill Gap: Improve triage function
- Medical assistant training
- Medical administrative assistant training
- EHR training
As this example illustrates, there are often several training options to consider when addressing a specific need. For example, you may find that you need more of your medical assistants to have phlebotomy training to improve patient care delivery and efficiency. This can be achieved through a targeted phlebotomy training program, or through a medical assistant training program that includes phlebotomy coursework.
Beyond the direct alignment between needs and training topics as shown in the table above, your team may want to also track:
- Associated roles
- Specific team members who will benefit from training
- Assigned training
- Training status updates (in progress, completed)
Documenting the team’s needs against training opportunities will enable your team to better track your progress in reducing any skills gaps. Additionally, this documentation will be a valuable benchmark when your team conducts the next assessment.
#3. Make technology an essential part of team member training
Technology has become pervasive in the healthcare industry for not only patient care assessments, treatments, and procedures, but also documentation, communication, and other processes and protocols. For example, your team may work with telehealth platforms, medical coding and billing software, electronic health records, scheduling systems, and more.
Beyond the technology solutions used in healthcare delivery and operations, there are numerous opportunities to introduce technology in your training and development programs as well. For example, your team may adopt virtual reality simulations, online education programs like those offered through U.S. Career Institute, virtual lectures or webinars, and more.
Not only does technology make training programs more accessible, but according to eLearning Industry, students who learn online retain between 25% and 60% more information. And according to Best Colleges, “Most online program graduates (73%) say their programs prepared them for employment after graduation, and 31% say they were extremely well prepared.”
With greater access to current training information, higher training retention, and greater career preparation through online, technology-supported programs, your team members will be able to more easily grow in their roles and careers, while your overall organization benefits from an easier and more cost-effective way to maintain a well-trained workforce.
Elevate your training and development program with U.S. Career Institute
The importance of developing your clinical and non-clinical healthcare team cannot be overstated. Not only will it support a higher level of patient care and operational efficiency, but it will have a positive impact on your team’s ability to attract and retain top talent. U.S. Career Institute has a rich history of providing high-quality distance education, including several in-demand healthcare programs. We don’t just provide education; we partner with you to align relevant training with your specific needs, enabling you to gain even more value from the partnership.
Are you ready to elevate your training and development program and close those pesky skills gaps? We can help. Let’s discuss your current needs and goals and how we can help.
