Evaluation of online training on the prevention of venous thromboembolism

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.