Workforce Validate: A Smarter, Safer Way to Monitor Your Workforce

This blog is taken from a recent HealthStream webinar entitled Workforce Validate: A Smarter, Safer Way to Monitor Your Workforce. The webinar was focused on HealthStream’s Workforce Validate, a one-stop shop for license monitoring and verification. 

The webinar featured Daniel Pawlus, HealthStream’s Senior Manager of Digital Events, Tom Emberson, Vice President of Sales, Channel Development and Jackson Warrick, Regional Account Manager.

Workforce Validate – Overview 

Emerson began with an overview of Workforce Validate. He encouraged HealthStream customers to unlock all of the power of hStream – the platform that is the foundation for HealthStream solutions. Being an hStream subscriber comes with many benefits, one of which is Workforce Validate. Emberson explained that Workforce Validate is an automated, ongoing license verification, certification verification, and exclusion monitoring solution. HealthStream has offered this validation solution for more than 20 years. While it began with physicians, the solution has now expanded to include nurses and other healthcare providers which has resulted in HealthStream completing 200 million verifications each year. 

He went on to explain that Workforce Validate incorporates primary source verification, but that it also integrates seamlessly with other HealthStream solutions. It also leverages data that customers are already providing, including the demographic files that are essential to license verification. “The implementation process for Workforce Validate is expedited simply by leveraging the data that is already provided to HealthStream,” said Emberson. He encouraged hStream subscribers to take advantage of Workforce Validate as license verification is free to those users.  

Workforce Validate – Key Features for Compliance

Warrick shared Workforce Validates’ automated process scours hundreds of boards across all 50 states and across 50 disciplines. The verifications are essential for regulatory purposes and Workforce Validate provides an accurate and efficient means of documenting those verifications for regulators and accrediting bodies. Warrick explained that the solution provides an electronic verification record for each verification performed. It includes key data points that are essential to surveyors including:

• Query date: Provides a precise audited, timestamp of when the search occurred for each individual at that board.
• Data source: Identifies the primary source site for the verification.
• Verification record: The verification includes a word-for-word documentation of what was found on that board site.

Warrick also explained that if a surveyor is concerned that the verification was done electronically rather than by using paper, HealthStream is standing by to walk that surveyor through the process of electronic verification to ensure they feel confident in the process.

He went on to explain that the monitoring process is continuous. It includes alerts and notifications that help leaders to focus on licenses that need immediate attention.

Workforce Validate is also able to integrate seamlessly with other HealthStream solutions. HealthStream customers will have already created a demographic file that includes names, email addresses, key demographics, and supervisory information, making implementation efficient and painless. In addition, HealthStream can help assess the organization’s demographic file to determine what, if any, additional information would be needed to implement Workforce Validate.

Workforce Validate – User-Friendly Dashboards and Reporting

At least part of unlocking the power of hStream means unlocking the kind of reporting that serves to inform a culture of compliance. Users will find an interactive dashboard right on the homepage for Workforce Validate. It includes data on how many people are actually being tracked in the tool and also includes some pre-built, live reports that can be accessed at any time. Users will find three key reporting features:

• License widget: This report will document which licenses are still valid, which licenses are valid, but expiring soon and which licenses are already expired.
• Flags review: This will identify any item that is flagged on which no action has been taken. Warrick explained that this acts as the immediate to-do list as this feature will surface newly identified sanctions.
• Recent changes widget: This will identify changes in records that may not require immediate action, such as a change of address or other updates.

In addition, there are many other reporting features – some reports are pre-populated and ready to use and others are configurable by the user to address areas of specific or unique concern.

Reports can be prepared at the global level, but they can also drill down to specific disciplines, states, etc. They can also drill down to the individual level. The reports are prepared on a regular cadence, but users may create reports on a cadence of their choosing as well. In addition, users may create their own templates to easily export data to other leaders.

Workforce Validate – Supporting Your Culture of Compliance

Awareness is key to a culture of compliance and HealthStream has created email alerts that provide high-level summaries of licensing status including those that are expiring in the next 90 days, those that have already expired, and any sanctions. This email will arrive each Monday morning. These weekly reports can also be emailed to leaders that do not already have access to Workforce Validate. 

In addition, staff members with licenses due to expire soon will receive an email 45 days prior to expiration. That same notification can go to supervisors. Workforce Validate can also integrate with the My Team application. In addition to tracking learning assignments and other tasks, this dashboard is also able to report employees with expiring licenses and continue to update that information in real time.