Company News / 1.22.2024
Welcome to a New Era in POCUS Training with EMsono: Introducing Our Cutting-Edge Platform for 2024
Exciting News for POCUS Educators
Happy 2024 to all residency program coordinators, clerkship directors, ultrasound directors, and residency clients! At EMsono, we’re ringing in the new year with big news: we’re migrating to a brand new online POCUS training platform.
In this blog post, we share why we’re making the switch to a new platform, reveal the perks and improvements of the new platform, and explain what this transition means for you and your group when you renew with us or create an account with us in 2024.
Why We're Switching POCUS Platforms
We’ve hosted our POCUS training content on a wonderful platform over the past few years, however, it came with a few challenges. We received common feedback from program coordinators wishing they had more freedom and flexibility in the platform. Specifically, here are frequent feature requests we received:
- "I wish there was a way to assign specific POCUS content based on our program’s syllabus and deadlines."
- "I’m confused whether my residents have been invited to the platform."
- "It would be easier if I could import my residents myself instead of relying on EMsono to import my learners for me."
We appreciate all the feedback you sent us—and we agree! We want your experience with EMsono’s POCUS training to be as simple and streamlined as possible. So we went hunting for a new platform that would simplify your experience, and we're confident we’ve found it. When you renew your group in 2024, your learners will now access their POCUS content on the new platform.
Three Improvements You'll Find in the POCUS Training Platform
We’re thrilled to unveil the improvements you’ll see in this new platform:
#1. Tailored Learning: You can now assign your residents specific modules based on your program’s syllabus and deadlines.
All your residents will have the ability to access all the content in our Core and Advanced modules, but as the group’s reporter (now called Seat Manager in the new platform) YOU will be able to enroll and unenroll your learners from specific content at any time.
This will make it easier for your learners to understand what modules are due and when. With this freedom, you can now match EMsono’s content with your program’s unique syllabus and deadlines.
Wondering what content the Core and Advanced courses include? Take a look below!
Core: 13 Courses
- Aorta Ultrasound
- First Trimester Ultrasound
- Focused Echo Introductory Module
- Focused Renal Ultrasound
- Gallbladder Sonography
- Lower Extremity DVT Ultrasound
- Ocular Ultrasound
- Practical Scanning
- Soft Tissue Ultrasound
- Tendon Ultrasound
- The eFAST Exam
- The RUSH Exam
- Vascular Access
Advanced: 10 Courses
- Adult Abdomen
- Advanced Cardiac Ultrasound
- Doppler Ultrasound
- GYN & Ectopic Pregnancy
- Pediatric Abdomen
- Practical Scanning
- Second and Third Trimester Ultrasound
- Soft Tissue MSK
- Testicular Ultrasound
- Thoracic Ultrasound
Here's what the learner's profile looks like in the new platform.
#2. Improved Tracking and Analytics: You can now know for certain whether your learners have been invited to the platform—and if they've activated their profile.
Now you can track each learner's activity log to confirm what emails they’ve received from the platform, see when they last logged in, and monitor what actions they took inside the platform. Here are just two of many types of reports you can run that you might find useful:
Emails Log
In the old platform, it was difficult to see whether your learners had been invited to the platform. Now, as the Seat Manager, you have exclusive access to the Email Log to confirm whether or not your learners were sent their activation email.
Events Log
Additionally, you can track specific data for each learner, including their activity within the platform. This tells you what actions they’ve taken on the platform, as well as the last time they logged in. No more confusion about whether your learners have activated their accounts!
#3. Direct Import and Management: You can now import your learners directly to the platform instead of relying on us to import your learners for you.
No more waiting for EMsono to invite your learners! You now have the ability to invite your learners individually or in bulk. What’s even better? You can invite learners at any time, which is especially helpful if you have residents or medical students on various rotations throughout the year.
BONUS #4. Easier Renewals: No more sending EMsono spreadsheets of your learners!
When you created or renewed your group with us in the past, we asked you to fill out an Excel spreadsheet with your learners’ names, emails, and other information. We understand this was time-consuming, so we’re excited to share that renewing your groups is now simplified!
Now, when you start or renew your account with us, you only need to email us the total number of members in your group and their provider types (ie. residents, medical students, Seat Managers, etc). This will allow us to set the number of seats you’ll need for the year. No need to send us a spreadsheet with their emails and rotation dates!
The only individuals EMsono will import to the platform are the group’s Seat Managers; once you’re imported, you'll import your residents and students directly into the platform.
BONUS #5. Academic Reviewers: A Manager Account Specifically for Tracking Grades
If you have several faculty members who want to track your learners' grades and course progress but who do not need full management privelages, we now offer seats for Academic Reviewers!
Academic Reviewers can do the following:
• View the learners' profiles, grades, and certificates of completion earned
• View the learners' progress in the courses by seeing their study time, courses complete and incomplete, and activity history within the platform
• Use filtering criteria to search for learner data (ie. average quiz scores, progress over 50% complete, etc).
• Export user analytics
Seat Managers can do all the above AND:
• Import your group members to the platform
• Assign or unassign our POCUS training to each learner based on your group's syllabus and deadlines
• Create scheduled reports that run automatically for streamlined analytics tracking
Ultimately, Academic Reviewers' privelages involve viewing and tracking, while Seat Managers are more hands-on with managing learners and assigning training.
Sneak peek into the new platform's course player.
What This Transition Means for You
Right now, there’s nothing you need to do! As your group’s 2024 renewal date approaches, we'll email you to begin your renewal process. We typically email you around thirty days before your group’s renewal. When we do, we’ll ask for the total number of learners, provide a quote, and answer any questions you might have. All groups who renew or start with us in 2024 will join in this new and improved platform!
Below, we answer some questions you might have about this platform change.
What Will Happen to My Group in the Old Platform?
If your group currently still has access to the old platform, your learners will continue to access their content there at emsono.rise.com. When your group renews in 2024, you will import all your learners into the new platform. We plan to sunset the old platform on September 30, 2024.
Before this date, we encourage you to log into your reporter account to download any data you want to keep, such as your learners' course progress, grades, or certificates of completion earned. We also encourage you to contact your learners and alert them to download their certificates.
As September 30th, 2024 approaches, we’ll send you reminder emails. We don’t want you to lose any data because data will not transfer from one platform to the other.
Will There Be a Price Increase?
Because of the upgrade in reporting privileges in the new platform, there will be a slight price adjustment for Seat Managers. The fee for the first Seat Manager will remain at $20/year, and each additional Seat Manager will be $100/year. The fee for the first Academic Reviewers is $10/year for the first, and $50/year for each additional Academic Reviewer.
All other fees will remain the same, including the annual $995 institutional site fee, $20/resident, and $5/month/rotating residents or medical students.
If your group consists of attendings, fellows, or APPs who want a CME subscription with us, we're thrilled to let you know we offer volume discounts! Check out our group pricing page for full details and group pricing and discounts.
How Can I Get Support to Prepare for the New Platform?
We hope you’re as excited as we are to get started with this new platform! Even so, we understand that there may be a learning curve whenever switching to a new technology. We sincerely hope that the transition will be smooth, but we’re creating additional instructions and support to help guide you through.
1. Access Your Complimentary Instructional Video Course
All Seat Managers will automatically receive a free instructions course complete with screenshots and video demos. We hope this will guide you through any questions or intricacies of the new platform! You will have access to this when your group renews in 2024.
2. Check Out Our FAQ Page
3. Email Us at Any Time
You can always contact us at any time. You can email Jenna Ziegler (that’s me!) at jenna@emsono.com if you have any questions about the new platform or your renewal. Don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions, concerns, or feedback.
Or, if you have general questions about EMsono and our POCUS training content, email us at support@emsono.com.
Your Next Steps
As a friendly reminder, here’s what’s required of you at this time:
• Sit back and wait for emails from us reminding you to download/export any data from the old platform (emsono.rise.com). This old platform will officially close on September 30, 2024.
• Be on the lookout for emails from me (Jenna Ziegler) about thirty days before your group renews in 2024. At that time, I’ll send you details on how to get your group renewed for the 2024 academic year. Once your group is renewed, your group's Seat Managers will have access to the complimentary instructional course. Until then, feel free to peruse our FAQ page.
• Email me at jenna@emsono.com at any time with questions, concerns, or feedback. We’re constantly looking for your thoughts on what worked or didn’t work in the old platform because we’re always striving to improve!
Recap and Conclusion
We appreciate you for joining us in this exciting platform unveiling for 2024! We’re thrilled to welcome you to a POCUS platform that we believe will make your experience with EMsono full of simplicity, flexibility, and freedom.
Thank you for being a part of EMsono. Here's to achieving even greater excellence in the year ahead!