Recruiting and retaining Allied health professionals in long-term care has been at the forefront of the entire sector since the start of the pandemic. One company that trains certified nurse assistants, medical assistants, pharmacy assistants and more recently spoke daily with McKnight's business.
Medcerts offers programs for the Alliance's medical professionals to qualify without having to earn a university degree of two to four years.
Chief Product Officer Dana Jansen told McKnight's business every day that Medcerts was one of the nation's first traditional online or e-learning providers 15 years ago.
“We had a running start before the pandemic. Of course, after the pandemic hit, it did two things. We've now moved online to many other schools,” he said. “But if you want to call it a profit, one of the biggest benefits of the pandemic was the much greater acceptance of online training in Allied health. Traditionally, these skills, clinical skills can be taught online.”
“Frankly, we had that running start, so we were already investing in a variety of training types that were very digital and very engaging and immersive.
Medcerts CEO Craig Sprinkle said the company's online training program is flexible and makes it easier for people to easily qualify for the skills and certification they need for healthcare work.
“This opens the door for students and helps employers play a more important role faster,” he said. “And really, whenever we dig a little deeper into it, focusing on where most of the vacancy is, frankly, it is the frontline Allied medical professionals who are the backbone of patient care at the end of the day.
Dana Janssen added that 60% of all healthcare workers are medical professionals in the Alliance.
According to Sprinkle, he believes there are many individuals who are willing to learn to step into the role of Allied Healthcare in regards to the labor challenges facing operators.
“We can only connect these learners with opportunities to get training, and we can prepare them to step into roles that are in demand,” he said.
According to Sprinkle, there is a “common misconception” that the only path to taking a step into healthcare comes from a two- or four-year degree. He said the training like the ones that Medcerts offers are more specialized and targeted. This “really helps people step into those professions more seamlessly than people who have been in school for two years or those who have been in school for four years.”
Medcerts subscribers must be a high school graduate or equivalent graduate or a parent who will be participating in the program. High school students will not be able to take the certification exam until they graduate, but they will be able to take the exam immediately upon graduation and immediately join the Allied workforce.
On average, the program takes five to six months to complete, with an average cost of $4,000.
That doesn't necessarily mean that students need to ponies $4,000 tuition, Janssen said. The company partners with healthcare employers across the country, and if the employer sponsors the program, tuition fees are generally covered by the employer through tuition support or tuition reimbursement programs.
Medcerts is based in Michigan, but Sprinkle has noticed that 100% remote training programs are led by employees across the country.
