Podcast 93: Inside a Thriving Certification Training Business

EPISODE 93: Certification Training Success

Craig Sprinkle, CEO, MedCerts

What does it take for a modern certification training company to flourish?

With so many continuing education options available these days, this is an important question to answer. That’s why I’ve turned to someone who knows first-hand about the challenges and rewards of running an online certification training company.

Today, I’m fortunate to talk with Craig Sprinkle, CEO of MedCerts, a large-scale certification training provider specializing in allied health and IT professions.

After 8 years at MedCerts, Craig has a strong understanding of the continuing education market and innovative ideas for capitalizing on key trends. So join us as we dig deeper on this episode of the Talented Learning Show…

CERTIFICATION TRAINING SUCCESS — KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Allied health professionals are the backbone of modern medical delivery systems, representing over 60% of the healthcare workforce. Yet, talent is in seriously short supply. Research says 85% of health facilities struggle with staffing shortages. And the gap only continues to grow, as our aging population demands more care.

• This crisis has sparked a variety of creative solutions. One involves alternative paths to credentials that qualify students for in-demand roles. For example, certification training providers like MedCerts partner with healthcare employers, academic institutions and other allies to help promising students obtain the credentials they need to find a better job, faster. 

• As a leading-edge certification training company, MedCerts not only provides highly immersive online education programs that prepare students for required exams, but also helps them find available positions and develop long-term career paths. This commitment to ongoing occupational success benefits everyone in the company’s value chain.

CERTIFICATION TRAINING SUCCESS – Q&A HIGHLIGHTS

Welcome, Craig. MedCerts is not a typical certification training company. Could you start by telling us a bit about it?

Sure. We’ve been in business now for just over 15 years. So, if you wind all the way back to 2009, we found an opportunity to bring healthcare training online, which was the first time that had been done.

We started very simply with front office medical assistance and medical coding and billing. And we’ve always geared our content has towards preparing individuals to sit for a nationally recognized certification exam. So, the end goal is a credential. And for each person who earns a credential, the ultimate goal is a job.

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How is your approach to certification training different?

Way back in 2009, this type of training was based on very traditional methods. Think of a typical one-to-many classroom setting with an instructor lecturing in front of everyone. We simply replicated that online.

Now, fast-forward 15-years. We’ve invested heavily in our learning platform, in rebuilding our content and in retooling to deliver a very dynamic digital experience.

So today, instead of someone talking to you on-screen in standard instructor-led setting, you find deeply immersive hands-on certification training, delivered online. This includes simulations and assessments. All of this is built into our content, and our students find it very engaging.

Excellent. Are all your programs tied to necessary certifications?

Yes, all of our programs lead to some level of certification. That’s right.

Great…

As you mentioned, we focus primarily on allied health careers, where we offer about 45 programs. Think of medical and dental assistants, EKG and phlebotomy technicians and so forth. In addition, we have a catalog of 15 training programs for entry-level IT occupations.

Keep in mind that, although we don’t certify students directly, our certification training prepares individuals to sit for required exams. And employers recognize those credentials as a key to placing our students in jobs.

Tell me more about the employer side of this? What are their challenges? Do you see fierce competition for talent?

Our business was originally built on a sort of direct-to-consumer model, where we capitalized on federal funding and some private pay models.

But then we saw a much greater opportunity to make a bigger impact through partnerships with employers to fill the vacancy gap in high-demand healthcare occupations. So, we’ve been building out that part of the business over the past few years.

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I see…

Healthcare employers face numerous challenges these days. Above all they need to fill vacant positions. But much of it is tied to an inability to access qualified talent and place those people properly in available jobs. We help solve that problem in multiple ways.

In part, we help partners or employers in reskilling and upskilling their existing workforce. Also, in some cases, we proactively source individual learners and train them in programs aligned with jobs the employer needs to fill. In those situations, candidates are hired after they complete their training and get certified.

Makes sense…

This issue is almost never-ending. The press is constantly talking about the ongoing gap in qualified people to fill jobs in critical healthcare occupations. That’s a reality today, and it will continue for at least the next decade. I don’t see it decreasing. It will remain at this level or even increase.

And although many people think the vacancies are for doctors and nurses. That’s not true. About 60% of all open healthcare jobs today are for frontline allied healthcare roles. In other words, most of the vacancies are for people who provide critical patient care, whether it is in an elderly care setting, a hospital or elsewhere.

And that’s where we come into play with certification training and placement support for people for in those types of roles.

In the past, how would people develop these skills? By obtaining an associate’s degree?

You’re absolutely right. To qualify for one of these roles after high school, students would either go to a community college or a four-year-degree institution for a bachelor’s or associate’s degree.

That is still an option. But today, it’s a much more expensive option. So, we offer an alternative approach.

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Right…

What we provide is much cheaper for learners. Plus, it is faster. Here, a person completes training in about 4-6 months. They step out of training ready to sit for the national certification exam, which is the prerequisite for job placement.

So that is really what has changed.

We provide a viable alternative path. A student makes that choice coming out of high school. They may choose college. Or they may be looking for a faster path into a career. We serve that fast-path purpose.

Mmhmm…

By the way, we partner with academic institutions, too. They have their own set of issues they’re trying to solve.

In the face of sagging enrollments, they’re looking for ways to bring more people into their institutions. So, we help them do that by repurposing a lot of our content to build into an undergrad program or an associate’s program.

Excellent. So, how do you choose programs to expand your healthcare catalog?

With 45 programs, we have a fairly deep penetration within the allied health space. But our strategy is about market demand. We let the market and our employers inform the roadmap. And when something new arises, we typically develop a program for it.

That could be a full-blown certification training program. Or it could take the form of a specialization course or continuing education for those who already have a credential or certification.

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Is recertification typically required for allied health professionals?

No. But by stacking more credentials on top an existing certification, people can build a career path that qualifies them for higher-paying jobs.

For example, you may be a certified medical assistant, but you want a specialization in geriatrics. We have courses tailored for that. So, you can stack that on top of your core certification program and become more specialized as you grow in your career.

Cool. So, tell me about your “Train-and-Hire” program. How does that help veterans, unemployed and underemployed people reenter the workforce or transition to a more promising career? …

…For complete answers to this and more questions about how to run a successful certification training business, listen to this entire podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, on Amazon, or right here on our site.

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Need an LMS to Drive Certification Training? Let’s Talk

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