August 03, 2010 08:46 ET

VCA Animal Hospitals Says Meridian LMS Has Helped Promote Value of Training

CHANTILLY, VA--(Marketwire - August 3, 2010) -  After purchasing and launching Meridian Knowledge Solutions' flagship product, the Meridian Global LMS, in January, VCA Animal Hospitals is getting more requests for training from employees. From veterinary technicians to support-office staff, Los Angeles-based VCA Animal Hospitals says its employees increasingly want to learn new skills or brush up on the ones they've already learned. VCA operates more than 500 animal hospitals across 40 states, and its newly purchased LMS, nicknamed TRAX, delivers and tracks training over the Internet for up to 13,000 workers, including 2,000 veterinarians. 

"The LMS has allowed us to get more training, in a structured way, to employees," said Christy Ritchie, vice president of Training for VCA Animal Hospitals. "We can use a variety of training delivery systems now, too, which means the content we develop is more engaging; we're no longer relying on static images to instruct our workers on how best to advise customers or work with owners' pets."

The learning management system (LMS) that powers TRAX enables the use of video clips, simulations and even online collaboration to lend a hands-on feel to training at the company.

Ritchie says the LMS has allowed VCA to "create curricula to guide learning in its hospitals for the first time." By customizing the LMS, VCA can introduce safety inspection checklists, which give the company a better way to assist its hospitals in maintaining a safe work environment. VCA has also tapped TRAX to introduce videos of veterinarians discussing medical best practices. All of these initiatives, says VCA, allow the company to continue "providing the highest quality medical care for pets."

TRAX plays a dual role for Ritchie and her training team. First, she says, it has become the focal point for all training, whether delivering an online course or registering veterinarians for classroom instruction on topics ranging from anesthesiology to radiology. Second, it shoulders the burden of producing countless checklists and reports that tabulate who has taken training and how well they have scored as well as archiving the more than 200 online and classroom sessions the company offers workers. As VCA Animal Hospitals has grown, staying on top of the training activities (completed and planned) of workers fell largely to each hospital, says Ritchie.

Implementing TRAX has created a wheelhouse of sorts where VCA Animal Hospitals' training department could steer training to where it's needed and document what people are learning, including continuing education units (CEUs) for the hospitals' veterinarians. 

"Because TRAX is now managing VCA Animal Hospitals' training, the training department has the ability to spend that time designing better, more engaging courses," said Roy Haythorn, executive vice president of operations for Meridian.

VCA Animal Hospitals also anticipates its workers will turn to TRAX as a resource for learning more about their respective jobs and the veterinary industry in general.

"As the practice of veterinary medicine changes and finds new and better ways to treat animals, we'll be able to use TRAX to quickly distribute to each of our hospitals the training that reflects the latest thinking," added Ritchie.

Prior to implementing TRAX, VCA Animal Hospitals relied on software combining PowerPoint presentations and audio narration to deliver training to its hospital workforce. While that process worked for several years, the company's growth called for more training; a situation that strained resources. With the launch of TRAX, VCA Animal Hospitals has more bandwidth for developing and delivering training and, consequently, the ability to offer courses to not only its hospital staff but also its support-office employees.

As support-office workers along with the hospital workforce have become aware of the quality and quantity of online training now available, demand for education has grown, says Ritchie. According to VCA Animal Hospitals, employees are asking for customer service training, IT systems training and courses to complement company initiatives, such as marketing campaigns.

Employees at the company's support office access TRAX via a password-protected website. Hospital employees, including customer service representatives and hospital managers, rely on a shared computer in each hospital to tap into TRAX. 

About Meridian
Our flagship product, Meridian Global LMS, integrates learning content management, workforce analytics, knowledge management, and competency modeling in one learning management system (LMS). In addition to Meridian Global LMS, we provide professional services, courseware development and hosting services. We serve approximately 8 million users at more than 300 public- and private-sector employers. And our software is used by companies that range in size from 900,000 employees to less than 100 workers. Our clients include the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, AutoZone, Panera Bread, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, Whirlpool and more than 80 federal, state and local governments.

We are the number one ranked learning-technology company for customer loyalty. Our award-winning software aims to deliver learning, distribute knowledge and sharpen business skills, which will make you a leader in your industry. Our Chantilly, Va.-based company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Visionary Integration Professionals. To learn more, visit http://www.meridianksi.com, or follow Meridian on Twitter at http://twitter.com/meridianks