Interactive videoconferencing in the redesign of a health-care quality improvement workshop for the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic

The Blended Quality Improvement (QI) Workshop is a programme designed to provide learners with basic tools and techniques in QI using a combination of e-learning and face-to-face classroom interactions. To adapt to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation for safe social distancing since the end of January 2020, SingHealth Duke-NUS Institute for Patient Safety & Quality (IPSQ) suspended all face-to-face workshops. However, the need for effective QI training remains.Objective: The aim was to develop an effective virtual interactive Blended QI Workshop through videoconferencing.Methods: The workshop was redesigned by reviewing the curriculum and incorporating the use of interactive functions. The new workshop took place virtually via a video conferencing platform and incorporated the use of interactive polling, game, videos and case study. A total of 23 learners attended the two pilot runs that took place on 28 April 2020 and 22 May 2020. A survey assessed learners’ reactions and satisfaction with the training and preference in using video conferencing tools during disease and non-disease outbreak situations, while the quizzes assessed learners’ learning in QI knowledge. The results on the improvement in QI knowledge were compared to the original blended e-learning and face-to-face workshop ( n=63) that took place before the COVID-19 pandemic.Results: The gain in QI knowledge from virtual and from face-to-face Blended QI Workshops was statistically significant ( p<0.01, n=86). However, there was no statistically significant difference in the gain in QI knowledge with both content delivery approaches ( p=0.13). All 23 learners agreed that the video conferencing platform was convenient, 20 (87.0%) felt that the platform was effective in delivering content and 18 (78.3%) were keen to use video conferencing tools for QI workshops during disease outbreak situations. Remarkably, a substantial number of learners ( n=11; 47.8%) preferred the use of interactive video conferencing to supplement face-to-face classroom-based Blended QI Workshops for non-disease outbreak situations.Conclusion: The virtual interactive Blended QI Workshop was as effective as the face-to-face Blended QI Workshop based on learners’ views and gains in QI knowledge post workshop. The success of virtual QI workshops makes them a new norm in the post-COVID-19 environment.