E-learning and the enterprise: the Eckerd Corporation brings continuing education to pharmacists nationwide with online learning - E-learning/Training

Health Management Technology, Dec, 2001 by Simone Karp

Smart organizations--be they healthcare, retail, manufacturing or service--use the Internet to tackle business problems that otherwise might take years and cost millions to solve. Eckerd Corporation, a subsidiary of JC Penney Company and one of the nation's largest retail drug store chains, is an example.

Eckerd has combined the use of the application service provider (ASP) model with an impressive e-learning platform to enable its pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to fulfill continuing education requirements and thus maintain their state licenses and certifications.

In February 2000, Eckerd teamed with Pittsburgh-based CECity.com Inc. for access to an ASP model e-learning platform, CE management services and libraries of content for online continuing education for Eckerd pharmacists. Based on the success of the pharmacists' program, Eckerd extended e-learning access to its pharmacy technicians in September 2001.

The rationale for Internet-based e-learning to deliver continuing medical education (CME), continuing education (CE) and required compliance training is obvious. And the demand is growing as more states mandate CME and CE as a requirement for professional licensure, relicensure and certification.

E-learning is convenient for healthcare professionals since they can access course content at any time and from almost anywhere. Immediate feedback provided online streamlines the learning process, and the ability to get course completion certificates in real time reduces the pressure of licensure deadlines. Most important, e-learning can eliminate travel costs to conferences and decrease the time that employers and employees spend away from their jobs.

Online CE Solution

Eckerd operates 2,650 drug stores in 20 states and employs 8,000 pharmacists and 8,900 pharmacy technicians. Eckerd was managing CE programming offered in different formats from a number of providers. Coordinating the intake, cataloging, inventory and distribution of CE to meet the needs of pharmacists was arduous and time consuming. Eckerd wanted an enterprise solution.

A key factor in this shift was Eckerd's vision of a curriculum for its associates that would be professionally rewarding, provide insight into an array of disease states and emerging therapies, and address state licensure requirements. Through an enterprise initiative, educational programming could be designed to support Eckerd patient care initiatives and national disease state awareness programs, and thereby drive corporate-wide knowledge sharing. The company also wanted to demonstrate commitment to the pharmacy profession and to its pharmacy associates. A state-of-the-art CE program would be a value-added tool for retention and recruitment Of new pharmacists.

Eckerd considered use of traditional CE formats, such as journal- or monograph-based educational activities and traditional distribution models, but felt these wouldn't support a corporate-wide initiative. Eckerd wanted to give its associates the tools necessary to track and manage their continuing education through a single, central source.

CECity established an Eckerd-branded portal based on its proprietary learning management system. It enables pharmacists to access their personal CE accounts either from home via the public Internet or from work via Eckerd's corporate intranet. The Eckerd MyCECity Portal also provides access to healthcare news services and professional resource materials.

Together CECity and Eckerd rolled out the program to Eckerd pharmacists in less than 45 days. They prepared brochures to explain to pharmacists how to access and use the portal, and customized the brochures with each pharmacist's user account information.

Eckerd pharmacists enroll online, confirm their pre-registration and select a personal password. When they access the portal again, the system automatically directs them to their personal accounts, which include state-specific information about CE requirements, a tool for measuring their progress compared to the time remaining in their licensure period, and a searchable catalog of elective online courses.

When an enrolled pharmacist selects and completes an online course, the system immediately grades the course work and issues an electronic certificate of completion. An e-mail notification is sent to both the participant and the provider of accreditation. The software automatically updates the participant's online transcript, which centralizes, tracks and summarizes all courses completed and CE credit hours earned. Participants can add credits earned offline and print a complete transcript for submittal to their state boards.

CE Content

For three years before this endeavor, CECity had been developing partnerships with thought leaders, content providers and accrediting organizations to assure high caliber content. Today, its library consists of hundreds of hours of accredited programming and hosts a large number of pharmacy accredited online CE activities. Providers accredited by the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education (ACPE) certify all pharmacy-related content. State boards of pharmacy nationwide accept ACPE-accredited activities for credit.