PHA Direct is a new, online platform for instruction, coaching and community building that adds the convenience and flexibility of online training to PHA's Lean First program. Initial certification course offerings feature a blended approach (online and in-person) with access to an online community of practice and cutting-edge, soft-skill building tool. Lean health care training equips professionals with the knowledge and skills to improve patient flow, reduce hospital-acquired conditions, enhance patient satisfaction and reduce preventable readmissions, among other goals. The online platform provides students with flexible access to the instruction and tools required to complete assignments accompanied by the coaching they need to succeed in creating real-world process improvement.

In addition to the curriculum, the platform includes membership in Connect, a new community of practice devoted to operational excellence in health care that provides for ongoing professional collaboration and direct access to Purdue experts. 

"All lean certification and training programs will include membership in Connect, which is something we’ve wanted to offer the health care industry for a very long time," said Paul Griffin, Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering (RCHE) director and the St. Vincent Health Chair and professor in the schools of Industrial Engineering and Biomedical Engineering. "From our pilot program alone, we’re seeing Connect grow into an active community with more than 300 members from 27 different organizations who have shared 100+ reusable lean solutions. This will provide us with rich data to better understand what works, help practitioners expedite solutions and provide a rich dataset of real-life, research-worthy implementation improvements." 

"PHA Direct is a direct response to increasing demand from hospitals and health care organizations for ways to boost quality, drive down costs and accelerate dissemination of successful improvements," said PHA director Randy Hountz. 

Purdue Healthcare Advisors (PHA) is a not-for-profit outreach initiative for the health care industry. PHA is part of the Purdue University-based RCHE, which serves as a national nucleus for driving high-impact improvement in health care delivery by mobilizing the intellectual strengths of Purdue faculty and partners. Created in 2005 by a partnership among Purdue University, RCHE and the Indiana Hospital Association, PHA serves the training, project facilitation and assessment needs of thousands of independent practices as well as hundreds of hospitals/health care systems striving to increase cost savings as they better the patient-care environment. 

(Summarized from Purdue News, April 26, 2018)