Challenge

In 2020 a new contact from LivaNova USA reached out to DDA Medical to develop a new eLearning website. This time the cardiac division wanted to create a new multi-module eLearning platform that would host a number of planned eLearning modules on the recertification of medical professionals in the use and maintenance of LivaNova cardiac interventional equipment. The new platform would be branded for general cardiac topics, and the initial module build would be for recertification of the S5 heart and lung machine. The timing for the new module was especially good, as the reductions in in-person training afforded by the previous LivaNova XTRA eLearning platform was sure to benefit the company by keeping medical professionals in hospitals and clinics throughout the world certified in S5 system maintenance during the COVID-19 pandemic without the need to send LivaNova representatives for in-person training during a heightened period of risk.

Objectives

The new eLearning platform would leverage the existing assets that were developed for the LivaNova Xtra ATS eLearning platform, rebranded for the cardiac division and the S5 recertification module. The course would be based on an existing slide presentation that would be redesigned and rewritten for clarity and engagement, with scripts written by DDA's professional scriptwriters based upon the core slide content. The course would also begin with a whiteboard animation that reviews the S5 heart-lung machine, which is used for extracardiopulminary circulation during cardiac procedures in which the patient cannot use their own heart and lungs for circulation.

Solution

DDA began by gathering the original slide deck and creating a new slide template that would present both text and graphics in a cleaner, bolder, and more comprehensible way, using four different styles that would accommodate the various different layouts of the slides and their varying mixes of text and image content (including title slides introducing each major section and chapter of the eLearning course). DDA then reviewed all slide content and rewrote for optimal understanding, then wrote new scripts from this slide content that would communicate everything that the learner needs to know about the technology of the S5 ECC Perfusion suite. DDA worked with the client to ensure the final scripts and slide content would be both technically accurate and successful in adding to the learner's understanding of the technology and maintenance of the S5 medical suite.

DDA then worked with the client to create a roughly 4-minute-long whiteboard animation that would present the S5 in the context of its use in extracorporeal circculation during surgeries. DDA Medical's whiteboard animation is especially suited to breaking down complex systems into their individual components and demonstrate how those components function to allow for the operation of the system as a whole. The whiteboard animation shows and identifies each component with a hand illustrating each in real time as voice-over narration describes how that component works in the larger ECC circuit to take blood from the patient's body, oxygenate the blood, and return it to its source to allow for surgical procedures on the heart and/or lungs.

The rest of the course content details all the parts of each component of the S5 interventional suite, how to check for proper functioning, differences in design from the previous S3 system, and how to maintain parts and components for proper functioning over time. The highly technical nature of the course content, intended to refresh the understanding of those that have already been certified in S5 maintenance, is made clearer through the generous use of photos and diagrams that break down each part of each component, specify exactly how they work together, and show how to identify and rectify any problems that may come up.

Like the LivaNova XTRA ATS eLearning platform, the S5 eLearning module is followed by a 15-question multiple choice test on the content, with the test questions randomized from a larger pool of over 30 questions to ensure no two users take the same test, or no user takes the same test twice. If users fail, they will see feedback on each wrong answer instructing them to review a specific section of the course content where the answer can be found, so they can improve in their weak areas and try again. Upon successful completion, users are awarded a personalized certificate of completion that indicates their name, their hospital or clinic, and the date they were recertified.

The LivaNova recertification eLearning website also includes extensive user metrics, including global performance metrics on both customers and LivaNova employees, along with individual metrics that cam be filtered by time, medical specialty, main function, location, and more. The platform also includes the capacity to create teams that allow administrators at the clinic or hospital level to review performance on only those users from their hospital or clinic. Master administrators can also create the registration codes that allow users to access the platform. The administrative area also allows LivaNova administrators to change and add to documents and files in the library, as well as to update the meta data on each video used for the content search that allows users to find specific course content using keywords.