5 Steps to Operationalize a Transition to Practice Program

You did it! You’ve overcome organizational barriers to gain the support needed to move forward with a transition to practice (TTP) program for your APPs… but, now what? 

Operationalizing a TTP program at your organization may seem like a challenging feat, but it doesn’t have to be. In this 2-part series we will seek to answer the “now what?” question and help you implement with ease. These 5 steps will help you implement your program and start accelerating your providers into clinical practice. This post will delineate Step 1: Announce Program Internally, Step 2: Select Your Participants, and Step 3: Commitments: Provider, Organization, & Managerial.

(Take me to Part Two)

Step One: Announce Program Internally

You’ve completed the due diligence required to carefully select the right transition to practice program for your organization’s needs, now it’s time to internally announce the exciting news. No matter the vehicle you choose for your announcement (landing page, email, departmental memos, newsletter, etc) there are key items you will want to ensure are included.

It is important to focus on the structural elements and success factors you intend to achieve:

• What is the program?
• When will the program begin?
• Who will be eligible to participate in the program?
• How can interested APPs inquire about enrolling in the program? 
• What is required for participation in the program? (from provider and their manager)
•  What are the program goals?

Communicating the values of the transition to practice resource and the perceived outcomes will help garner organization-wide enthusiasm. Include this information in your announcement making it easy to identify how the program will be structured, how APPs can participate, and lastly, how they will benefit. If this step is done thoroughly, and with enthusiasm, it will help drive compliance and APP enrollments as you scale.

Step Two: Select Your Participants

Now that you have begun to build excitement around the transition to practice program and communicated your motivations, it is time to decide on who your inaugural participants will be. Some items to consider:

• Will you automatically enroll participants with 5 or less years of practice?
• Will you ask providers to apply for the program?
• How will you handle enrollment for more seasoned providers that will also benefit from the program? or providers switching specialties? 
• How will you maintain the volume of participants to ensure you are transitioning your APPs into practice in a consistent and effective manner after your inaugural group?

Developing the enrollment process early will help maintain structure, and influence future best practices. If you intend on asking providers to apply you will want to streamline the process. ThriveAP has worked with numerous organizations during this critical time and many have leveraged free or low-cost survey tools that allow for easy application tracking and response review. 

Step Three: Commitments – Provider, Organization, & Organization 

It is equally important during this time to define provider and organizational commitments and expectations. Keeping APPs on track and accountable will play a large role in the overall success of the program. 

For instance, your organization has committed to make this investment in your APPs in order to foster skill development, build connections, and increase overall satisfaction, while accelerating transition to practice. For the providers to gain the most value from this experience and achieve organizational goals, they need to be present and able to participate. This requires the organization to block time off of their calendars to facilitate engagement. Ensuring the collaborating manager is willing to accommodate and enforce this time commitment of their APP will be critical. 

Provider commitments might look different at each organization and will depend on organizational structure. For example, your organization may already have a mentorship program that your new TTP program is enhancing, meaning, you may require providers to participate in office hours or mentor meetings to achieve and track their continuous improvement. The organization may also ask provider’s to invest their CME credits to internally fund the program. You will want to identify what commitments you feel will directly influence success in the program and develop measurable requirements from there. 

In the final installment in this 2-part series we will explore the remaining steps needed to operationalize a transition to practice program: Tracking Provider Progress & Success, and Ongoing Program Awareness & Recruitment.

🚀 Free Employer Workshop Series

Register for our Employer Workshop Series – the second in the three-part series will explore how to operationalize a transition to practice program and feature a 20+ year NP expert with direct experience in this area.

Part 1 : Evolution of Transition to Practice: Developing Confident APPs (WATCH NOW)

Part 2: How to Operationalize Your Transition to Practice Program (WATCH NOW)

Part 3: Show Me the Results! Transition to Practice Outcomes You Can Take to the Bank (WATCH NOW)