The Official BlueSky Blog

High Point, NC (Vocus) July 30, 2010

Amistaff Healthcare Technology, the parent company of NurseTesting.com, the leader in validated online healthcare competency testing, donated $750 in setup fees from new NurseTesting.com clients earned during April to Autism Speaks, the nation’s leading autism research and advocacy foundation.

American Consultants of Kansas City, MO, and Jefferson Healthcare of Port Townsend, WA, were noted supporters of the involvement. Angie Morris, Chief Nursing Officer of American Consultants commented,

"We especially appreciated the opportunity to contribute to Autism Speaks while meeting our needs with Nurse Testing that helps us ensure that our healthcare candidates possess the appropriate skills and expertise. The recruiting team at American Consultants continuously communicates with healthcare providers to achieve the ultimate goal…quality-focused healthcare.

Autism is a disorder that is often poorly diagnosed and commonly misunderstood. It has very broad symptoms and is a great challenge to diagnose and treat. We believe strongly in the Autism Speaks mission.”

Autism Speaks is dedicated to funding global biomedical research into the causes, prevention, treatments, and cure for autism; to raising public awareness about autism and its effects on individuals, families, and society; and to bringing hope to all who deal with the hardships of autism.

About NurseTesting.com –
NurseTesting.com was developed to create a standardized system of testing for nurses and healthcare professionals seeking employment at healthcare facilities and staffing agencies. NurseTesting.com’s comprehensive 185+ assessment library features JCAHO/OSHA Mandatory Modules, validated clinical specialty exams, and self-scoring skills checklists. All assessments generate quantitative results determining a nurse’s or health care professional’s skill and qualification in their specialty, and their capacity to utilize and apply their knowledge to deliver safe and effective patient care. Visit www.nursetesting.com for more information.

About Amistaff Healthcare Technology –
Amistaff Healthcare Technology was founded in 2004 as a healthcare staffing solutions provider. Amistaff creates products and services that help hospitals and healthcare staffing firms improve recruitment, retention and placement of caregivers. Amistaff includes a team of IT professionals, RN’s and former recruiters allowing Amistaff to base their products on an in-depth understanding of each client’s unique staffing requirements. All of the Amistaff products, including Prophecy Health, NurseTesting.com, and BlueSky Medical Staffing Software, are web-based solutions designed to simplify workflow and increase efficiency. Visit www.amistaff.com for additional information.

Visit Prophecy at the National Nursing Staff Development Organization Conference in San Diego July 9-11th.

Stop by the Prophecy Booth to meet our team and witness the most comprehensive employment predictor for the Healthcare industry!

• View the system,
• Qualify for a free trial,
• Try out an assessment!

Prophecy’s own CNO, Jim Ostmann, Sr, MBA and Senior Director of Client Experiences, Melissa Spangler are attending the conference.

So, keep your eyes peeled for the team – they look forward to meeting everyone attending NNSDO 2010 at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina!

July 8-11, 2010 | Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina

The goals of the 2010 NNSDO Convention are to…

• Promote patient safety, staff satisfaction, and quality care in all aspects of education
• Network with peers to function effectively as leader, educator, facilitator, consultant, change agent, and researcher
• Balance teaching, learning, and clinical practice in an environment of fiscal responsibility

A round of applause to everyone who completed the test engine survey – we received 115 responses!  Here is a brief synopsis of the enhancements for the new test engine that will practically eliminate “started/not completed” results:

• Caregivers ability to re-enter exams
• Limited Number of Re-Entry Attempts
• Linear Progression through Exams
• Better Tracking via Time Stamping
• No Software Downloads Needed

For an in-depth refresher on all of these topics, check out the article "Test Engine Survey – Read All About It!"

So, without further adieu, I present the results from our survey regarding development of a new test engine. 

Drum roll please……..

89% Yes, make the changes – 6% No, keep it the same – 5% Indifferent

93% Yes! – 7% No

94% Yes! – 6% No

With the overwhelming positive response we have begun the development phase of our new test engine.  However, we took into consideration the additional requests mentioned and made two appeasing modifications!

Limit re-entry attempts to 2 (instead of 3)

Some clients felt that 3 re-entry attempts were too many.  We agree.  Thus, caregivers will be given 2 additional times to login.  But remember that even if they choose to log off in the attempts to search for an answer, they will only have access to the last question they were working on!  Caregivers will not be able to return to any previously answered questions, or look at upcoming questions.

Caregiver’s Running Out of Time

A few clients mentioned the linear format of the exam causing caregivers to rush through the exam.  For this reason we are programming in a feature to allow each exam to have a unique amount of time for completion.

Currently, all of our exams allow 1 minute per question.  However, moving forward we will be able to allocate more time to exams requiring critical thinking (i.e. RN Pharmacology) while others keep the typical 1 minute per question (i.e. Color Vision Exam).

Wrap-Up

Keep a look out for more communication about the test engine’s progress in the future.  I am pleased to say that we have clients lined up for the test engine’s beta testing phase – but if you would like to be added to the list, please contact Meredith @ 336-802-1070 ext 122.

Happy testing!

After reading this communication piece from our Clinical Team, you will understand why the Med Surg/Tele Combo and Telemetry Exams will no longer be available within NurseTesting (as of 7/9/2010) and that your profiles must be updated to reflect the changes.

We are excited about being able to present you with new and expanded options regarding our latest releases!  This new option will affect how you currently administer Med Surg/Tele Combo and Telemetry Exams.

The current Med Surg/Tele Combo and Telemetry will be removed from your exam library effective July 9th due to the recent 2010 Exam Releases.  In order to prevent unnecessary duplication in exam administration, we want to provide information to assist you with new exam recommendations.

Cardiac Telemetry/Cardiac Step-Down Population

The 2010 Cardiac Progressive Care Exam is appropriate for determining competency for the cardiac telemetry/cardiac step-down patient population.  This population would include those patients with a primary cardiac diagnosis i.e.: chest pain/rule out MI, cardiac catheterization, post stent replacements, pacemaker, etc.

For determining competency in the Cardiac Telemetry and or cardiac step-down, it is our recommendation to administer the:

•    2010 Cardiac PCU Exam (includes Pharmacology component)
•    Dysrhythmia Exam

Med Surg/Telemetry Combo Population

The Med Surg/Telemetry Combo patient population would include patients with a secondary cardiac diagnosis. i.e.: diabetes with a history of A-fib, bowel resection with history of CHF.

For determining competency in the Med Surg/Telemetry Combo arena, it is our recommendation to administer:
 

•    2010 RN Med/Surg Form A or B
•    Dysrhythmia Exam
•    2010 RN Pharmacology

Important Reminder

Any older versions of these exams that have previously been sent to caregivers will remain in the caregiver accounts.  Caregivers will be able to complete these exams at their leisure.  And, of course, the exams that were already completed will remain in their exams for documentation!  However, you will no longer have the ability to administer the Med Surg/Tele Combo or Telemetry exams from the "Send Exams" screen***

************Many clients have the old Med Surg/Tele Combo and Telemetry exams included in Exam Profiles.  These must be changed by July 9th or an "error" message will appear for your staff members.  Only administrators can make these changes.*************

Your profiles can be modified by following a few simple steps. For step-by-step assistance, check out the training video – “Creating Profiles”

For your convenience, the “Creating Profiles” training video can also be found in your NurseTesting account under the Help tab! Remember that for the protection of your account, only admins have access to updating profiles!

As the leader in providing valid and reliable competency assessment tools for healthcare professionals, we want to provide you with a brief overview to assist with implementation of the 2010 Cardiac Progressive Care Unit Exam.

2010 Cardiac Progressive Care Unit Exam

The 2010 Cardiac Progressive Care Unit Exam determines clinician competency based on the sub-acute patient population inclusive of the progressive care or step-down phase. The Pharmacology component has been integrated into this exam; therefore you will not need to administer a separate Pharmacology Exam.

However, you will need to administer the Dysrhythmia Version 2.0 Exam to determine competency for rhythm recognition, as the new Progressive Care Unit exams do not contain rhythm strips. Attempting to include the Dysrhythmia strips in the newer exams would have created a very lengthy exam for the applicant.

**** The 2010 Cardiac Progressive Care Unit Exam is available and
ready for sending from your NurseTesting account ****

Please let us know if there are any questions.  As always – we are happy to help!
 

Thank you to everyone who participated in our first Customer Service feedback survey.  Some very interesting ideas were gleaned from your responses.  One of the hot topics was the elimination of caregivers receiving “Started/Not Completed” results.

Current Test Engine

As you are aware, when a caregiver looses internet connection, backs out of an exam, or closes the exam window they receive a “Started/Not Completed.”  All of their work put into the exam is erased and cannot be retrieved by the server.  In these instances a new exam must be sent out.

We heard your feedback on this process and have come up with ways to enhance NurseTesting’s test engine to make it more user-friendly.

Please note that the client survey deadline has already passed.

Caregivers Ability to Re-enter Exams

If a caregiver gets kicked out of an exam, they will be able to log back in to NurseTesting and start the exam where the left off.  This should drastically reduce, if not eliminate, the number of “Started/Not Completed” exams.

To make this possible, and minimize the ability to view questions from the exam and then log off the exam to search for the answers, caregivers will move linearly through the exam.  They are locked on question 1 until they answer it. Once answered, they move to Q 2, and are locked on question 2, etc. They cannot go back, only forward. Once they answer a question, they will not see the question again.

Should a caregiver lose internet connection or have an emergency to deal with at home or in the office, they will be able to re-enter the exam.  Upon re-entry, they will start the exam at the first unanswered question with only the balance of their time remaining.

Limit Re-Entry Attempts

Caregivers will only be allowed to re-enter exams 3 times.  On the last time allowed, the test warns them that they can’t re-open it again. In the event that the caregiver is trying to look at a question, do research, and then come back it will only work 3 times before they have to contact you to explain the situation.

Time Stamping Responses for Better Tracking

This new format will allow better tracking of a caregiver’s movement through the exam.  A time stamp will be recorded for each answered question and the cumulative time taken to complete the exam.  So, if you suspect someone of trying to ‘beat the system’ you will have back-end analytics to make a judgment call.

Enhanced tracking on the test is only available in this new format where the caregivers move linearly through the exam and see each question once.  This also creates a cleaner interface for the caregiver.  There will only be one button on the test to click.  Caregivers will select an answer and click "Submit Answer."

No Adobe Flash Player Needed

The new test engine will open the exam within the NurseTesting system.  This means pop-ups will not need to be allowed and Adobe Flash Player will no longer be needed! Caregivers typically do not feel comfortable, or have access, to download programs on their computers.  So, this will make the testing experience more user-friendly minimizing adverse effects of testing anxiety on overall results.

Also, opening the exams within the NurseTesting system will make the load virtually instantaneous!

These are just the tip of the iceberg!  However, we are soliciting your ideas, thoughts, questions, and concerns before we make any updates to the test engine.

We have decided to move forward in the development of the new test engine based on the overwhelming positive response from clients.  Thanks to all who voiced their opinions and helped us tweak the anticipated test engine.

****  For more detailed information on the survey results, check out the blog posting
And, the Survey Says….. ****

Meredith Juengel
Director of Relationship Management
Twitter: @amistaff

Financial incentives urging medical facilities to adopt Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) recently started flowing to qualified organizations.  Penalties for failing to adopt start in 2015.  So, over the next 4 ½ years, physicians and medical administration alike will be pushing forward in the quest for an EMR.

With incentives for adopting earlier rather than later offering extra financial advantages, current EMRs on the market seem to have the edge on competitors.  So, what types of products are flooding the market?

Historically a PC-saturated industry, the EMR market is PC-friendly rich in EMR options.  However, the adoption of EMRs may cause a shift in the market to a Mac standard. 

Chris Thorman of Software Advice’s article Mac EMR Software | A Guide to Medical Software for Apple Computers touches on this very subject.

Many providers, notably smaller offices, are choosing Apple computers over PC-based systems to run their practice. Their reasons are the same reasons consumers choose Mac products: stability, simplicity and ‘coolness’".   ~Chris Thorman, Software Advice

Will Apple take a large slice out of the PC’s medical industry?  Or, will a lack of available Mac options early on in this race minimize the potential effect of the market?

The market likes options, so more Apple-friendly EMRs are bound to spring up.  But, with incentives rewarding quick implementaiton, facilities may jump the gun instead of waiting for more products to surface.

For a succinct article outlining current Mac compatible products and web-based EMR check out Thorman’s article on Mac EMR Software.

Read more: http://www.softwareadvice.com/articles/medical/mac-emr-software-a-guide-to-medical-software-for-apple-computers-1051810/#ixzz0oaEFQ8NS