Evaluation of online training on the prevention of venous thromboembolism.

INTRODUCTION: The integration of new evidence into clinical practice can be a prolonged process, with delays of years or even decades. One approach to speed this integration is through the use of online provider education.

PROBLEM: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a serious patient safety issue. Prevention requires coordinated care and adherence to evidence-based guidelines, supported by provider education.

PURPOSE: This study reports how an interdisciplinary team developed and piloted an online provider training program for the prevention of VTE.

HYPOTHESIS: If providers use the online educational training, they will demonstrate increased mastery of key content areas related to VTE prophylaxis.

METHODS: We used a prospective test-retest study design in which medical residents and fellows served as their own controls. All participants were given a pretest followed by educational content and then a posttest. We also assessed 2 different types of learning content (ie, with and without case studies/questions) and randomized participants to each type prior to assessment.

RESULTS: Using the McNemar test we found a trend for knowledge gains related to VTE guidelines on the posttest for clinicians (n = 67) with a 14.5% improvement in content mastery (P = .05, 2-tailed). We did not find any significant differences between training modalities. Clinicians overall reported high levels of satisfaction with the application.

CONCLUSION: Our online education efforts indicate the potential for increasing mastery of VTE prophylaxis concepts. If resources are limited, we suggest a static approach to content delivery and an exploration of standardized methods for portability of online curriculums across learning management systems.