Johnson & Johnson has formed the Johnson & Johnson Institute, bringing together 26 professional educational facilities across four continents.
The Johnson & Johnson Institute also includes “a network of online education and partnerships across multiple specialties,” says Ian Davies, vice president, Global Professional Education and Development at Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Companies. “The JJI provides access to education that’s focused on improving outcomes, increasing patient satisfaction and reducing costs to help meet the evolving needs of HCPs in a value based care environment.”
Diana Bacci-Walsh, vice president of North America Education Solutions at J&J Medical Devices, told Spinal News International that the newly united Institute will allow the company to offer comprehensive solutions and take advantage of the wealth of experience across the previously disparate sites.
“This has allowed us to take a more holistic approach to education,” Bacci-Walsh said.
The Institute is focused on helping healthcare professionals at a range of experience levels and in a range of primary and support roles to “improve outcomes, increase patient satisfaction and reduce costs in a value-based care environment,” the company says.
Currently, the Institute offers training in orthopaedic spine areas such as adult and adolescent deformity correction, minimally invasive techniques, and anterior approaches, among others. According to Bacci-Walsh, future topics may include focuses on spine trauma and the outpatient setting.
Bacci-Walsh described the programme offering as being “designed to enhance and expand upon what [medical professionals] learnt in medical school.” However, the Institute also offers education in a range of general medical areas and key support fields, including, for example, education for early-career nurses and surgeons, surgical oncology, value-based care, cardiovascular, and future leaders programmes.
The courses are a mix of classroom and online—the intention is, Bacci-Walsh says, to provide information and digital education to all. They want to focus, she adds, on “harnessing technology to ensure all professionals have access to tools that will improve their practice.”
“The curriculum includes on-site classes, virtual reality and app-based surgical simulation training to help clinical and non-clinical healthcare professionals address the demands of today’s health care delivery system in developed as well as emerging markets,” says Johnson & Johnson. This includes “around-the-clock access to online courses and education to help reduce the need to travel,” especially for those in remote geographies.
Spinal training and education multimedia, available online at no cost for medical professionals, include topics as diverse as “Procedural Solutions for Spinal Deformity”, “Sagittal Plane: Balance vs. Alignment”, and “Minimising the Risk of Neurologic Injury”.
The programmes are primarily designed by J&J experts, and are run and refined by those experts, plus a faculty that includes an “extensive network of renowned experts who have a passion for teaching,” said Bacci-Walsh.
“Around the world, significant disparities in healthcare professional education and training, coupled with a shortage of health workers, means that some patients and consumers are unable to benefit from the latest medical knowledge and expertise,” said Sandra Humbles, vice president, Global Education Solutions for Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies. “Globally, healthcare systems face resource challenges, increasing [the] numbers of patients that lack access to quality healthcare and the continuous need for professional training on new technologies and procedures.”
“Increasing access to healthcare education to improve outcomes and enhance the patient experience—while also reducing costs—is crucial. The Johnson & Johnson Institute will harness the breadth, reach, resources and collective passion of the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies to address these needs,” adds Humbles.
