Corporate Trainer
How long have you been working at Heartland?
I have been with Heartland for almost 15 years.
How long were you a PCAT Manager?
I was the PCAT Manager in Idaho Falls for 11 years.
What made the corporate trainer position become a job?
In the healthcare industry, we have seen and continue to see staff shortages and turnover in each of our pharmacy locations and staff in the communities we serve. We recognize the necessity to get our employees trained quickly and efficiently, with the ability to provide reliable service. We also want to be able to provide our communities with the resources to train their staff on our pharmacy’s policies and procedures. We want our communities to know they can depend on us to provide a high level of customer service. Having someone who can focus on these training needs full-time creates more frequent opportunities that allow us to work together as partners in coordinating the medication needs for our residents.
What do you do as a corporate trainer?
I am responsible for all community training for the company, including pharmacy training for new and existing communities we serve. I also take care of community training on Heartland Connect and Serenity Engage. Once training is complete, my goal is to keep the lines of communication open. That way, the pharmacy is confident in knowing what content was used to train the prospective employees and provide any follow-up items that need to be addressed. They also need to know training has been completed.
I maintain existing outlines and create new training material for the PCAT departments.
I start the training with all new PCATs, company-wide, to provide them with the foundation of what they will need to learn to be a PCAT. They are with me for the first two weeks of training. After that, the pharmacies take care of the remainder of the training. I really enjoy meeting PCATs from other locations and getting to know them.
I provide internal in-service training for the PCAT departments for all locations, including one-on-one coaching as the need arises.
I also work to understand, develop, and train our pharmacy teams in multiple departments on implementing better processes so they are more efficient in their day-to-day workflow. Working smarter, not harder, is our motto!
How have you seen communities impacted by your training sessions?
We have been able to train more communities in a timely manner. We provide better follow-up in getting the training scheduled and are better able to ensure follow-up items are addressed. All this keeps everyone on the same page, and things tend to run smoother when we all understand the processes in place to best meet needs.
Anything else you would like to add about your new position and our community partner’s benefit?
I have loved having more interaction with our community partners. It has been fun to meet and talk with them. We all gain a new perspective when we do this, and I have understood their needs better. If a community has had staff turnover or would like additional training, they can let their account tech know, or they can reach out to me directly. Our training is virtual so we can schedule them at your convenience. I would be happy to help! My email is lacied@pharmeasellc.com.
