New York Presbyterian
Optimizing event technology for powerful continuing education experiences.
New York Presbyterian is one of the nation’s most comprehensive, integrated academic health care delivery systems. Employing over 11,000 nurses across seven campuses and four regional centers, the Nursing Professional Development – Continuing Education department provides professional development courses throughout the healthcare system.
As New York Presbyterian provides continuing education credits, Program Director Laarni Florencio fosters quality learning experiences for the network’s nurses. When she first joined the organization, Laarni saw an opportunity to optimize the existing technology suite available through their Cvent partnership. Using these tools, she sought to strategically grow the program’s success through event technology.
Capitalizing on Cvent Event Technology
Upon joining New York Presbyterian in 2017, Laarni observed limited usage of their existing Cvent product suite. She explains, “At that time, they had Cvent but it was underutilized. Cvent was strictly used for registration purposes at that point.” Course management processes were outdated, creating considerable roadblocks for administrators and learners. Paper receipts were printed though registration was online. Printed course evaluations and certificates were mailed through the post office, and pre-printed course materials were often thrown away. A fairly chaotic registration system garnered significant complaints from attendees, prompting Laarni to search for a streamlined solution to these manual processes.
Laarni believed Cvent that could help alleviate many of these pain points. “I felt that there was more that Cvent can offer and do for us,” she explains. Her Cvent account team provided valuable insights into the technology already available to her organization within their existing agreement. Using guided training in adopting the Event Marketing and Management platform, Laarni soon transitioned into being a technology leader at New York Presbyterian. Designing an effective registration site allowed her team to better capture attendee data and automate online payment structures. She also created electronic meeting request forms, certificates, and surveys to benchmark key data points for leadership. “With the optimal use of Cvent, we were able to effectively meet the stringent guidelines as continuing education providers as well,” she adds.
Building a Strategic Plan for Success
Optimizing their use of Cvent tools meant implementing meeting request forms, course notifications and reminders, online payment processing, automated check-in, course certificate distribution, and reporting structures to meet their guidelines for continuing education. The effects of using these integrated tools were immediate. “Once I understood the programs that Cvent offers and that were already part of our account, we were able to actually streamline the course process from requisition to course develop to registration,” Laarni says.
Laarni’s team became early adopters of Cvent’s New Standard Registration (Flex) tool. With the intuitive drag-and-drop site designer, they were able to create modern registration sites with integrated functionalities. Payment processing and course evaluation were automated through the Cvent platform, allowing her to eliminate wasteful printing costs and hundreds of hours of manual printing and shipping processes.
To create a seamless onsite experience, Laarni incorporated OnArrival into the broader events program. “I was told in our account we have OnArrival, but we were only using it for our one-day events. So I figured, let me trial this and see if our attendees would love it,” she notes. After implementing OnArrival for their multi-day events, she saw immediate results. Speedy check-in meant on-time program execution, creating a seamless attendee experience. “They came back to me saying the event was seamless, there was no line, and it was the quickest registration they’ve ever had,” she adds.
Ensuring Satisfaction for All Stakeholders
To create actionable insights that would improve the course experience for attendees, Laarni knew she needed more than anecdotal feedback. By utilizing Cvent’s survey tool, the team could gather key data points that would help optimize their program offerings. “We were able to extract reports from Cvent, track feedback afterwards, and provide the continuing education,” she explains. “It’s all through Cvent, and that makes it a lot easier for us to actually do instead of having to have multiple processes in place.” Internal administrators appreciated improved payment processing, course cancelation, refund processing, and accurate revenue reporting. Ease of registration resonated with attendees, increasing attendance by more than 30%. As a result, revenue grew from $77,000 in 2017 to over $130,000 in 2018. Laarni adds, “Before I came, we had no record as to collectively how many people attended our courses. Now, we have a more concrete way of actually tracking these data points so we can make them our benchmarks and reasons for return on investment.”
Laarni notes that the department has doubled their efficiencies in managing these programs, saving time and resources while expanding course offerings. With automated processes and integrated platforms in place, they have increased course offerings by an impressive 25%. Not only did attendee satisfaction increase, but the overall quality of the learning experience improved for both attendees and course administrators. “Our course feedback reveals better and improved learning experiences for our learners with ease in registration and remarkable customer satisfaction,” she notes.
Curating a Renowned Reputation of Excellence
The success of these advancements is extending the reach of the New York Presbyterian’s programs at both the national and international level. “We’ve maximized the functional use of Cvent for our organization to actually see the turnaround of increasing your attendance, increasing your revenue, positive feedback for the great learning experience that they're getting,” Laarni insists. She looks forward to a continued partnership with Cvent in supporting program growth. “We wanted to make sure that the growth is sustained, it's maintained, and it's fully supported. And Cvent understood that, and personally, I thought that was satisfying,” she says.
Laarni explains that her position as a technology leader was developed not only through her own efforts, but also through the support of her Cvent team. To meet stakeholder expectations across Finance, Marketing, and Nursing Leadership departments, Laarni knew she needed to quantify the success of her efforts. Data-backed reporting helps drive the value of the learning experience for the attendees. “It is remarkable how we’ve gained the trust and support of our attendees and course planning committee members, who are now convinced that Cvent is the way to go,” she adds. “We’re able to pull those records and say to our main stakeholders this is the amount of effort, money and time we’ve invested in these programs. Here’s the return, and it’s concrete, visible, measurable, and tangible.”
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