The Challenges of Online Education

Online degree programs are continuing to grow in popularity with the help of open-minded employers who recognize their worth as credible sources of education and training. Wholly online universities that cater to the busy schedules of working adults with professional or family commitments are also becoming commonplace.

To stay competitive, more brick-and-mortar institutions are increasing their online course offerings or adding electronic aspects to classroom-based curricula.

Online Education

As a result, distance education companies and schools alike are collaborating with one another to instill regulations to foster and preserve the opportunities offered by online learning.

Earlier this month, Excelsior College used a ,500 grant it received from the Lumina Foundation for Education to convene a session of the President's Forum, a collaboration of distance education proponents from across the country. The council, which includes college presidents, campus leaders, more than 150 colleges, organizations and policymakers met in Washington DC to discuss options for multi-state regulation of distance learning and online degree programs.

John F. Ebersole, president of Excelsior College, said the conference was called to address "an increase in concern for protecting the public interest from illegitimate programs" and foster "the growth of online learning" through accredited schools.

The Sloan Consortium, an organization that aims to integrate online education initiatives into the mainstream of higher education, has also announced it will hold a conference intended to improve communication between online course providers and promoters.

The Sloan-C International Conference on Learning, which was held between October 23 and 28 in Orlando, featured programs and speeches on the latest trends, research, technology and practices in partially or completely online coursework.

Craig Pines, CEO and president of Deltak - an online learning consulting company that will present at the conference - said the event provides "a wonderful opportunity to meet faculty and administrators" and show them how online education can "help their institution[s] achieve a high return with minimal financial investment."

Researchers, educational administrators, instructors, faculty developers, librarians and students from the higher and secondary education, business, government, healthcare, and nonprofit sectors were all expected to attend.

Such efforts to improve the quality of online education and improve communication between schools, lawmakers, companies and students may ensure online degree programs offer working adults convenient and credible means to enhance their qualifications.

Current medical profession challenges that hinder patient education:

time constraints
insurance carriers
low reimbursement rates
medical malpractice risk
need to market
growing competition
time consuming education seminars
heavy schedules
increasing demand on staff


and more.

Online Education

These pressures affect patient care and treatment outcomes. Patient Education Systems were developed to overcome these challenges and help health care specialists provide better care for their patients.

Research studies assert the need of convenient and effective web-based educational platforms for patients

Health specialists need methods to provide education to their patients. The best proven solution is a web-based educational platform that produces consistently high levels of learning retention. Listed below are just a few research excerpts that demonstrate the advantages of using this advanced educational approach.

Computer-based patient education has been shown to be very effective in improving knowledge and clinical outcomes.

Lewis, D. Computers in Patient Education, Computers , Informatics, Nursing 21(2):88-96, 2003

50% of research participants reported that using the internet made them feel more satisfied with their treatments.

Leaffer, T, Gonda, B. The Internet: An underutilized tool in patient education. Comput Nurs 1996; 14:235-238

69% of patients admitted to not reading the consent form before signing it.

Lavelle-Jones, C. Factors affecting quality of informed consent. BMJ 1993;306:885-890

50% of U.S. adults or 90 million Americans have difficulty understanding health information.

The Institute of Health's statistics

Four rock solid benefits of online patient education

Save money and time: requires minimal staff time, allows reallocation of valuable resources, reduces the frequency of marketing seminars, decreases the first office visit length, reduces the number of patient revisits
Enhance patient satisfaction: serves your patients well, engages your patients into the health process, provides tailored, comprehensive educational courses, better manages your rapidly increasing number of patient records
Improve risk management: reduces exposure to frivolous litigation, assesses patient comprehension, tracks patient participation, enhances informed consent process
Expand business reach: captures new patients from a wider geographic area, qualifies your prospective patients, personalizes and deliver your marketing messages, promotes your services online, optimizes the competitiveness of your website

Who can benefit?

Surgical practices of single and multiple surgeons, medical groups, hospitals, insurance carriers, and other entities in the medical field.