News: Online Electrophysiology Education Launched to Fill Training Gap

Reacting to a critical shortage of electrophysiology (EP) lab technologists and nurses who treat heart arrhythmias, SpringBoard Healthcare, Phoenix, Arizona, in collaboration with Duke Heart Center, Durham, North Carolina, has launched an online education program to prepare EP workers for credentialing exams. 

“With only two accredited schools in the U.S. that graduate less than 20 students each year, there simply aren’t enough EP professionals entering the workforce,” Gavin Hays, CEO of SpringBoard Healthcare explained.

Springboard’s EP Academy offers a complete preparatory course for industry certification exams and provides continuing education credits. “We believe our training program will help hospitals across the nation improve knowledge and retain more of their EP lab employees,” Hays said.

With a drive to enhance EP staff knowledge and abilities, SpringBoard Healthcare and Duke Heart Center’s collaboration resulted in an innovative curriculum. Developed by leading cardiovascular experts, the curriculum can be obtained by hospitals, EP professionals and associated industry groups. The electrophysiology curriculum is available across multiple platforms, including web based and mobile applications.  Additional custom features are also available.

The program, said Hays, “gives professionals the opportunity to study at their own pace to prepare for the Registered Cardiac Electrophysiology Specialists (RCES) or International Board of Heart Rhythm Examiners (IBHRE) certification tests, while also earning up to 40 Continuing Education credits.” 

Duke chose to partner with Springboard Healthcare for this important innovation because of their training and educational expertise. As a result, Duke and Springboard signed a co-copyright agreement for the curriculum in July 2016.

“In addition to collaborating in the development of this online tool, we are also using it with our heart center staff,” said Greg Shelton, Director of Cardiovascular Invasive Labs at Duke. “We believe the training has been extremely beneficial to our staff and are confident that the enhanced knowledge and education will ultimately lead to better patient care nationwide.” 

Currently among those using the program are Providence Health System, a non-profit with over 34 hospitals serving the western U.S.  A training program for cardiovascular catheter lab professionals may be developed soon.

To learn more about the training visit, www.springboardhealthcare.com.