In healthcare facilities, the American Heart Association is the only organization who can claim their certification card will be accepted by any healthcare credentialing department. To help healthcare facilities and medical practices best meet the CPR, ACLS, and PALS credentialing needs, the American Heart Association (AHA) has developed two methods to complete these courses – classroom courses and online courses. Both methods yield the same result – an AHA course completion card. In this article healthcare leaders can learn a more about which method might best fit their needs.
As an AHA Training Provider we can confidently say that while both online and classroom course from the AHA yield the same result, there are some ideas to consider when choosing which method best fits your needs. Practice managers might also decide that a hybrid approach is best – some online courses and a classroom course.
Here is a breakdown of the advantages and disadvantages with Online AHA courses. The HeartCode® courses, distributed by American Heart Training Providers (i.e. Love Health Service), were developed by HealthStream. To learn more about all the online AHA courses please visit the Love Health Service website. This review will focus on the HeartCode® ACLS course.
HeartCode® Courses (AKA Online AHA)
HeartCode® uses online and simulation technology to present the same realistic patient scenarios found in the classroom based course. For example in HeartCode® ACLS students are presented with the same team dynamics lesson, the same 10 ACLS hospital-based case scenarios, and the same written exam. The same is true for HeartCode® PALS. Successful completion of online content (Part 1), skills practice (Part 2) and testing with an AHA ACLS or PALS Instructor meets the requirements for obtaining an AHA ACLS or PALS Provider course completion card.
Online American Heart Courses Advantages
· Offers the same AHA card as the AHA classroom course
· Offers CME/ANCC Credits (classroom course will not)
· Traditional classroom courses are 8 hours long while online ACLS is around 7 total hours - online and BLS takes up to 2 hours.
· Well suited for practices or staff members with time-management challenges
· Learner driven, allowing for more time to be spent on topics important to the student
· Start/stop and return to bookmarked content when desired
· Reduces scheduling issues since there’s no classroom segment eating away at productive hours or burning staff out after hours
· Train the entire location at the same time - making online AHA courses a cost-effective way to expand training.
· Great for experienced providers
· A skill check will fit in between patient visits
· Skill Checks take less classroom space
· Offers 2 years of ongoing access to course videos, student textbook, and ECC handbook
Online American Heart Courses Disadvantages
· Online key distribution requires a training provider who has distribution tools
· The online process can be frustrating – students cannot avoid hard topics while still passing
· Some training might occur after hours
We think the online method beats trying to find a way to schedule your staff into a 4+ hour classroom course. However we also know the online option is not for every provider and we are just as pleased to conduct a classroom course at your medical practice. Please contact us online for more information.
