3 Ways to Use a CME Course Hosting Provider to Your Advantage

You’ve chosen your course provider, but when you envision your courses, they look much different than what you currently see on your screen. It’s a learning curve to build courses that realize your vision, but when there’s trouble, your hosting provider should help you get over those hurdles.

If you’re having problems building, delivering, and maintaining your courses, there’s a good chance that you’re trying to do too much on your own. Your hosting provider isn’t just the real estate where your course lives. It’s a supportive ecosystem designed to provide the expertise that you need to build and maintain your course.

Here are a few common obstacles that you might be facing. Take a moment to find out how your hosting provider can provide solutions and help you get back to what you do best: teaching.

Obstacle #1 — My course doesn’t match the institution branding

If you’ve spent a great deal of time and money building a reputation around recognizable branding for your healthcare institution or organization, you want learners to see that reflected in your course branding.

Solution: A suitable hosting provider can help you make a seamless transition from your website to the course. The first thing to do is check on what options your course hosting provider has.

• Utilize drag-and-drop design. You shouldn’t need a background in coding to create a cohesive website. A drag-and-drop design is a no-code option for creating and designing your course to match your branding.
• Use provider expertise for back-end building. If you still have trouble, moving to the next phase could help. Many course hosting providers offer staff members ready to advise you with design and builds.
• Look for designers on the provider team for advice and continuity. If this is well beyond your wheelhouse, you may be able to turn to full-service design options located within your service agreement. This removes the stress from your shoulders completely.

The most important thing to remember is that you don’t need to let a few design obstacles hold up your course creation. Take full advantage of the team of experts in your course hosting system to smooth the design process and ensure the continuity that your brand requires.

Obstacle #2 — I’m spending too much time troubleshooting

The host teacher or trainer shouldn’t have to perform double duty as the IT person. It can slow learners down if they’re having trouble with courses and waiting on the healthcare institution or organization to find answers. They also become a liability waiting for security patches.

Solution: Your course hosting provider should have these troubleshooting channels available to you before your first course ever launches:

• Customer service access through multiple channels. Both you and your learners need 24/7 chat support, phone technical support with clear hours, and email channels.
• Website monitoring from the provider. When deadlines are due and important discussions are about to happen, the last thing you want is a dead website. Your course provider should monitor your website to ensure that it’s always accessible.
• Web-based training for administrators and employees. You and your staff need training for operating the course, and your hosting provider should have comprehensive options to suit your needs.
• Full documentation. If you or a member of your staff leaves the organization, handing over course responsibilities should be seamless.
• Automatic security updates. In addition to website monitoring, hosting providers should update your security proactively, never reactively.

Obstacle #3 — I’m losing track of my learners

Part of delivering your course requires administration and employees to manage learners. This can include many moving parts.

Solution: Online CME has long-term benefits for learners and institutions. Assist administration with these back-office tasks to prevent learner discontent and staff frustration.

• Bulk import/export with manual update options. No one wants to import or export large swaths of standard information by hand. Provide the opportunity for bulk actions and manual actions to streamline repetitive tasks.
• Set parameters (enrollment restrictions, payments, etc.). You can’t expect the administration to monitor each enrollment individually. Parameters make quick work of monitoring with easy follow-ups.
• Single user sign-on. With users taking multiple courses, take advantage of single-user sign-on to help prevent lost passwords, username requests, and duplicate accounts that affect reporting.
• Concierge services. If you truly want to spoil administration, use a hosting provider’s concierge services to support your staff during busy times. Outsource data entry during sign-ups, access project managers for building new courses, and provide support for overwhelmed staff in administrative tasks.

Taking Full Advantage of Hosting Features

A hosting provider is more than your course address. It provides you with expertise for web course management and logistics, whether you have a team of one or 100. Taking full advantage of these deep-level features helps ensure that your course won’t lose steam, so your only worry will be the course content itself.

To learn how EthosCE can enhance the continuing education of your medical professionals, request a free 1-on-1 demo with one of our specialists today!