Every year, vendors and state agencies get a chance to come together at the Medicaid Enterprise Systems Conference (MESC) and exchange ideas on how we can improve Medicaid systems. It’s always great to see familiar faces. It’s even greater to feel the buzz of collaboration as we work together to solve pressing problems and enhance outcomes for the populations we serve.

As in years past, many key topics were covered: modularity, interoperability, big data, machine learning—all core components in a successful Medicaid system.

But this year, the Briljent team had a chance to address a component that’s often overlooked: training.

Let’s take it from the top.

We’re in a new age in healthcare, an age of constant change—be it EHRs, policies, or artificial intelligence—and each change can send its own ripples through a system. It’s a lot to manage, let alone overcome. And that’s why training is such a vital asset—training helps staff from the top down learn and adapt.

A common thread of many MESC panels was around people. How do we manage them? How do we get them to work better together? How do we keep them engaged and boost performance?

There are many solutions and methodologies that address these problems, but training is one of the most fundamental. Why? Because it starts at the foundation of any system: people and their roles within it.

Briljent focuses on people, process, and performance. We manage the people side of change through training.

The right training can make all the difference in the world. It can help a person better understand their job function, their resources, their responsibilities, and most important, how to successfully perform their job. All of these come together to boost performance and reduce turnover, which can ultimately reduce costs. And just as systems have changed, so have the methods of developing and delivering training.

The Briljent team is here to share how training is evolving and how it continues to play a large role in successful Medicaid systems. Susan Gulde, Senior Learning Consultant, and Mike Settle, HIT Program Manager, gave an excellent presentation on training at the MESC. Here are some of their main takeaways:

Let’s start with a simple breakdown. What are the common training challenges of MES implementations? Our team identified a few:

• Complex materials and technology
• Business process changes and people impact
• Multiple implementations running at the same time
• Instructor-led training demands on workers’ time and schedules
• Lack of organizational change management
• Focusing on functionality and not process

That’s a start. So, what are some ways to overcome these training challenges? There are a few adapting trends to move you forward:

Training Trends

Within this matrix of training trends, we can see shifts in delivery models that impact everything from training time, to support tools, to training focus. Ultimately, the future state of training will lean toward microlearning within 5-10-minute increments with a comprehensive focus on the learning environment.

What does this mean for learners? It means they have some choice in how they learn, which taps into different learning styles and preferences for absorbing information. Microlearning in 5-10-minute increments creates sustained engagement and better retention.

In short, like many trends of the future, training will be optimized to produce better performance in less time at less cost.

Parallel with these trends are a few training models of interest:

Top 3 Training Models

A deeper dive into each model provides more insight:

Traditional training models rely on trainers to distill knowledge to learners. It’s a bit of a dated approach with limits on effectiveness and utilizes a “one-size-fits-all” methodology. With a learner ownership/self-directed model, learning ownership is flipped to the learner. The learner owns the pace through use of on-demand learning materials. The self-paced learning is then augmented via classroom participation.

In the learner choice/personalized model, a custom approach is leveraged. It’s on-demand, continuous learning. A learner can access training modules as needed in short bursts of micro-learning, and each choice creates a custom path forward. It’s more tailored to each learner and his or her style/preference. This enhances engagement and retention, giving learners more say in how they absorb information.

AI learning models will shift things even further. AI learning systems will customize and calibrate training based on data collected from each learner. They will then use this data to predict and address future learning needs and behaviors including critical thinking and higher-level problem solving. They will create an adaptive learning process, and they will also help foster soft skills and people skills.

So, how does all this affect Medicaid systems?

To start, Adult learning principles apply regardless of industry—you focus on teaching business process, problem solving, and critical thinking. There’s a big distinction between good training and great training, and it has to do with the teaching methodology:

Teach people how to think, not what to think.

Moving forward, as we continue to optimize training solutions, we’ll have a greater ability to effectively train staff as Medicaid systems change. When we reach the point of further AI integration, training has the capacity to seamlessly evolve alongside the systems themselves.

System modularity can muddy all this further with change butterfly effects. It will take constant innovation to stay above water. AI can lend a hand with this, along with leveraging the best training delivery methods for each situation. If done right, you can field some common challenges:

• Increased complexity of training
• Curate training material across vendors
• Focus on individual learner needs—can’t have a shotgun approach

When you focus on developing the right training solution for each environment, it can make all the difference. It helps staff perform their jobs, reduces turnover and costs, and boosts performance, ultimately resulting in improved service and outcomes for the populations we serve.

It’s no secret that times are changing, and that can be seen in Medicaid systems. It’s easy for state agencies and vendors to feel overwhelmed. That’s where we step in.

Briljent is here to help you manage the people side of change.