NuVasive Conquers Compliance Challenges with FlexTraining

Case Study - Nuvasive relies on FlexTraining to help meet regular compliance goals

About NuVasive

NuVasive is an innovations-based medical device company focusing on the design, development and marketing of products for the surgical treatment of spine disorders. NuVasive offers a unique and comprehensive solution for safe and reproducible minimally disruptive surgical treatments for the spine.

NuVasive's proprietary Maximum Access Surgery (MASTM) technology provides significant benefits to surgeons and patients including reduced surgery time, shorter hospital stays and significantly faster recovery times.

Online Training Needs Assessment

As a medical device company, NuVasive is responsible to deliver and track product certification training for governing agencies. Their aspiration for an online training program was precipitated by their on-going use of excel spreadsheets to track employee credentials and certification, which they identified as ineffective and inefficient. Thus, their search for E-Learning software began. A cross-functional team of key stakeholders was formed to discuss specific training needs, and after identifying their existing processes and challenges, they created a wish list that defined training and delivery requirements across the group.

Dawn Haake, Senior QA Compliance Manager, described the process. "No one knew anything about online training systems in general as it was not a core compentency in the organization. The team came up with a checklist of the things we needed a system to do."

The Search

The search for online training software was assigned to Haake, who searched the Internet armed with the team's list of criteria. She identified at least three vendors and was in pursuit of the best fit. Once the high level requirements were met, the IT Department was asked to evaluate the systems' overall functionality and assess security issues and access points. This was a critical step as there were no plans to increase resources to manage the new software. They needed technology that was easy to use and understand.

NuVasive is a growing company and wanted a training system that had the opportunity for future expansion. While they might not use all of the features right away, they wanted them for future use. Based upon NuVasive's training checklist, IT assessment and budgetary requirements, the team made its choice - FlexTraining.

Primary Training Objectives

NuVasive's primary training objectives were firmly in place as they had already been defined by the team. Their focus was the regulatory requirements, including training identification, execution, verification of effectiveness and documentation for all employees. Another key component was the educational requirements for individuals, including program completion and training effectiveness.

Launching FlexTraining

The online training implementation started out gradually. Everyone in the organization was notified that the new program was underway, and along with the original team members, a representative from every department was invited to participate in the initiative. The program drivers wanted everyone to know that the existing process was going to change, and excitement began to build as the new training program took shape.

A matrix of compliance requirements, by department, was created, and a training course was developed for each requirement. The program began with a core group of general training courses, which was launched to all learners. While the initial focus addressed compliance, the team quickly realized that FlexTraining could be used for all types of training throughout the organization, such as program development, procedures, systems, product knowledge and office policies.

Additional Implementation

The next wave of training brought the course totals to approximately 100, all built with the same components, style and cast. Haake describes this series of course development. "It was straightforward and not difficult to put together. We used the FlexAuthoring feature, with the same number of screens, images, text, the procedural document, and a brief five question quiz. We worked with our marketing group and got updated photos of products, which we incorporated into the training. All courses were assembled the same way and were a reflection of our training brand, with the same screen and font colors."

Haake adds "Our next focus is skills groups and enhanced student tracking." While online training has simplified their training process, they want to simplify further.

Product Versatility

From the beginning, Haake made an effort to pitch the versatility of FlexTraining, and during the second year of usage, she received many interesting requests for the software, many completely outside the realm of their early training focus. The corporate compliance group of the finance area requested online training for quarterly compliance regulators, business process service regulation, and SOX compliance.

With their E-Learning expertise, they were able to create courses that deployed the processes and information needed for the training, assessment and course evaluation. This resulted in standardized training templates, which were saved and stored with executive management sign-off.

The sales department, and others, use FlexTraining as a communication and training tool, which has increased employee interest in their message.

NuVasive believes their E-Learning initiatives are viewed as state-of-the-art and foster pioneering business practices, which enhances technology and systems, generates interest in the company and attracts talent. This translates to good news for product desirability and corporate and financial investors.

After introducing FlexTraining and rolling out their online training programs, Haake was named the "Employee of the Year." She notes that E-Learning changed the way they handle many important aspects of their business.

Number of Learners

More than 500 learners have participated in NuVasive's online training program. Data integrity and longetivity are two essential components of their E-Learning program. NuVasive is required to maintain student records for years, so they have made good use of the export feature to save student data and archive the information for validation and reference, if needed.

Overall benefits/

Haake says FlexTraining keeps training fresh and easy to use, and they are ready to take it to the next level. They plan to stay on their successful track and have no plans to change they way they're doing things. They want to assess new opportunities and will tap into Flextraining to make them happen. With new pieces of functionality for exploration and implementation, NuVasive is excited about the future.