How to Make CME Registration Easy for Your Learners
Registering for a live CME activity might sound like a simple task, but that isn’t always the case. Depending on the software you use (or don’t use), CME registration can actually be confusing to learners. In some cases, it can be downright frustrating.
Thankfully, there are ways to improve the registration experience. You can also simplify administration for CME staff and exercise more flexibility when it comes to pricing, publicizing, and managing CME activities. You just have to start using the right tools.
Maybe your organization handles registration with software separate from your LMS or CME management application. Or maybe you still process some registration manually. Either way, transitioning to a single, automated CME platform that includes registration can transform how you do business.
Here’s how to make CME registration easier for your learners – and for yourself.
1. Publish live events to a calendar
A live CME event is a date and time-specific activity, so it makes sense to publicize it in a calendar format.
An event calendar interface makes it easy to view, at a glance, what events or meetings are available and the dates and times they will be held. A brief description helps learners decide whether a given event is right for them, and they can click through the calendar entry to begin the registration process.
An activity catalog can serve the same purpose for enduring content, recorded webinars, or other CME activities that require registration and payment. In the Rievent Platform, we use a continuing education (CE) catalog and an events calendar to help learners select the right activities.
2. Use a shopping cart interface
To this day, the shopping cart interface remains the ultimate eCommerce experience. It’s instantly recognizable, so learners are less likely to have questions about the registration process or experience confusion along the way.
They simply add CME activities to their cart, just as they do when they shop online.
A shopping cart interface also helps learners register for multiple events or online activities at once. The convenience saves time since they won’t have to go back and register for activities individually. It also offers CME providers an opportunity to “upsell” on additional activities and increase participation. If you offer discount codes or token-based transactions, the shopping cart interface should support those options.
Here’s the biggest thing to remember: The shopping cart interface, events calendar, and activity catalog are all part of an integrated CME registration experience. It’s just one software platform, and it all ties in to your learners’ online accounts.
3. Integrate CME registration with learner accounts
When learners log into your website, they should be able to quickly view the CME events calendar and activity catalog. That way, they can register for activities right away without using a separate software platform. It’s all part of a single, CME-focused LMS that includes registration and eCommerce tools.
In other words, it’s a 100% integrated experience:
- When learners register for an event, they pay right away and receive an automated confirmation of their registration.
- After the event is over, learners complete event evaluations and claim credit without leaving your website or logging into different software.
- Learners claim credit online after the event, eliminating all paperwork.
- Learners view registration and payment history alongside records of CME activities they completed (or activities that are still in progress).
4. Provide pre-tests or surveys during registration
Do you offer diagnostic surveys at the beginning of your CME activities? A pre-test or survey can be a valuable way to measure knowledge of the event topic or collect other learner information, but administering one is easier said than done – especially for learners at live events.
That’s why many CME providers are offering pre-tests or surveys during the registration process. When you integrate a diagnostic with registration, the entire process is taken care of before a learner attends an event or begins an activity. All learners are able to complete the evaluation, so you get a more representative sample of their familiarity with the subject matter.
It’s just a more efficient way to administer an evaluation. And if you’re not providing pre-tests or surveys now, it’s a great way to start using them.
All of this benefits CME providers, too.
When you opt for a learner-friendly registration process, you’ll field fewer questions from learners about registration and payments. That’s a given. But it’s far from the only advantage you gain.
By opting for a fully integrated LMS that includes a complete set of registration tools, you can start doing things like:
- Display different pricing for different participant types, like learners with different professional classifications, members/non-members, or subscribers/non-subscribers
- Set CME live events and activities to automatically expire on certain dates, eliminating the need to remove them manually
- View all survey and test responses in real time, so you can more effectively tailor content to learner needs going forward
- Highlight your organization’s commitment to an excellent learner experience
That last one is important. When learners see that you’ve made CME registration easy, they know that you’re committed to them. A better registration experience is a better learner experience.
And your learners will remember who gave it to them.