Overview

Under various federal and state programs, hospital systems are funded partially on the basis of their scores of patient surveys and partially on the outcomes of patient care. Better communication between caregivers and patients results in more information shared and thus more effective treatment of patients. Kaiser Permanente needed in-person training to facilitate those kinds of communications, but the company didn’t have the reach to cover all their clinics.

Organization Development for Kaiser’s Hawaii region wanted to change their culture by enhancing the customer experience, decreasing accidents, and improving patient care.

We developed a training solution for medical professionals based on the concept of AIDET: Acknowledge, Introduce, Duration, Explanation, and Thank.

Culture Shift

In Hawaiian, ohana is a special word for “family,” with an untranslatable emphasis that families are bound together, and that family members must respect and cooperate with one another. Ohana can be extended to apply to your whole village or town — even a company you work for and you are loyal to.

We leveraged that cultural family spirit by celebrating stories of fellow workers and a general sense of the caring and compassion that people normally associate with families.

Focus on Communication

We developed an interactive, multimedia course that reinforced corporate training through real-world scenarios and also reflected work culture in Hawaii.

Relationships there, to some extent, are as vital as data. When delivering an e-learning solution that will not be implemented with in-person training, it’s crucial to show the faces of familiar and well-liked people within the organization for learners to bond with a computer screen.

Local Flavor

Maintaining a person-to-person connection and using local conversational styles would make the difference between truly relatable e-learning and just another mainland export.

We interviewed staff at all levels of the organization — medical professionals, support staff, and more — to form a cohesive vision of what they needed to be more effective together.

Employees, Not Actors

Along with training video, we wrote and produced video of scenes with actual Kaiser employees who could present the customer service methodology in action and as examples in the course activities.

This approach played to two of our strengths: producing video and film with engaging and entertaining writing and direction, as well as working with non-actor employees to create authentic video narratives with details specific to the organization.

Program Ambassadors

The project attracted 25 ambassadors within the company to participate in and promote our custom e-learning solution: “We are real people in our company — together.”

One example was a video that depicted actual Kaiser employees each doing something helpful and constructive to someone else, then that person “paid it forward” and assisted the next person, and so on. Learners empathized with co-workers in these fun and caring situations and thus made corporate learning more personal and relevant to them.

Interactive video scenes allowed learners to apply what they learned in “real-world” situations. Providing the actual words that caregivers should use with patients — and with each other — allowed them to learn and practice a new communication style.

Upon completing the course, learners received credit in Kaiser’s learning management system (LMS) and a job aid to help them continue to practice at work.

Engaging Cues

Animated graphics helped learners with the instructional content of the course and voice over audio helped them retain what they learned.

Using a local voice over actor helped us create the island vibe while driving home the importance of the communication skills taught by the corporate training.

Results

The program rolled out with unprecedented completion levels  — raising national rankings for the company.