Telecommunications instruction in healthcare organizations: education or training?

ABSTRACT

This article reports the result of a nationwide survey of healthcare organizations about 1) the sources of telecommunications training, 2) the quality of the training provided by the various sources, and 3) the impact of the training on the perceived importance of telecommunications to the organizations. While self-instruction was the most common form of telecommunications training, sources external to the organizations were more widely used than in-house training. In particular, workshops, seminars and vendor-authorized training were more widely used than organizational sources, with training from educational institutions being used the least. The quality of training provided by workshops, seminars and vendor-supplied training was rated higher than the quality of training provided by educational institutions and organizational sources. Self-instruction was rated the lowest in quality. However, there is one bright spot for educational institutions. Individuals with telecommunications training from an educational institution rated the importance of telecommunications higher than individuals with training from other providers. It is anticipated that individuals who have received training at an educational institution have a clearer vision of the future and the potential benefits of telecommunications.

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INDEX TERMS

Keywords:
telecommunications, training