Measuring the ROI of a Healthcare Training Partnership

Healthcare leaders have no shortage of technology. The harder question is whether those investments are delivering measurable results. 

For an acute care organization, the return on a learning platform shouldn’t be measured simply by course completions or logins. The real measures of healthcare training ROI are outcomes:  

• Stronger retention 

• Lower administrative burden 

• Better-prepared clinicians 

• Improved compliance 

• Safer patient care 

That distinction matters. Technology can make learning available, but availability alone doesn’t change outcomes. Achieving sustainable results requires a partner that brings together technology, healthcare expertise, relevant content, implementation support, and a way to connect learning to organizational priorities. 

Start with the outcomes that matter to hospitals 

The financial case for improving workforce outcomes is significant. According to the 2026 NSI National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report, which includes data from 527 hospitals and more than 262,000 RNs, staff RN turnover increased to 17.6% in 2025. The average cost of turnover for a single staff RN was $60,090, while the average hospital lost approximately $5.19 million annually to RN turnover.  

Those figures put seemingly small improvements into perspective. Our modeling based on organizations using Relias Assessments indicates that a 1%-2% improvement in nurse retention can translate into meaningful savings: 

Depending on hospital size and investment, these estimates indicate potential ROI of more than 2× for small hospitals, up to 6× for mid-size hospitals, and more than 7× in many large hospitals. 

Workforce development can be one component of a broader retention strategy, and hospitals should expect their learning partner to help connect training investments with outcomes they can measure. 

Move beyond software to a learning partnership 

A learning partner should help an organization determine what employees need to know, identify competency gaps, provide appropriate education, and support leaders as they translate learning into practice. 

That approach is consistent with what we know about patient safety. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reports that TeamSTEPPS implementation can improve teamwork, communication, safety culture, and patient outcomes. Importantly, AHRQ also cautions that simply teaching TeamSTEPPS without effective implementation and sustained organizational commitment may produce no positive impact.  

Give clinicians content they can trust 

Partnership also means taking responsibility for what sits inside the platform. 

Relias offers more than 8,000 unique content assets, more than 7,000 hours of education, and more than 4,000 courses that provide continuing education. More than 1,000 accredited courses meet ANCC guidelines, and learners have completed more than 18 million CE courses through Relias since 1992. 

Behind that library is an in-house content organization composed of adult learning and healthcare education experts who work with healthcare professionals to assess, update, and create content. Collectively, internal staff contributing to content production bring more than 1,000 years of healthcare and segment-specific experience. 

Acute care training has to keep pace with changing clinical and regulatory expectations. 

For example, Joint Commission requires hospitals to provide workplace violence education and training at orientation, annually, and whenever changes occur to the workplace violence prevention program. Training must address areas such as prevention, recognition, response, reporting, and de-escalation.  

CMS is also increasing its focus on organizational structures that support safety. Its Patient Safety Structural Measure, adopted for 2025, evaluates whether hospitals have structures and cultures that prioritize patient safety.  

For hospital leaders, maintaining current, relevant learning content isn’t merely a content-management issue. It supports a larger strategy around readiness, competency, workforce safety, and quality. 

Connect learning with competency 

Completing a course is only one step. Leaders also need confidence that employees can apply what they learn. 

Research supports moving beyond manual, inconsistent competency processes. A 2024 study published in The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing found that a pediatric hospital’s traditional competency evaluations and manual tracking contributed to inconsistent recordkeeping, greater workload, and higher organizational costs. The study evaluated the implementation of a digital competency management system as an alternative. 

Patient safety research also reinforces the importance of building organizational systems around learning and improvement. AHRQ reports that studies have found relationships between stronger patient safety culture and outcomes such as fewer patient falls, hospital-acquired pressure injuries, and surgical-site infections.  

This is where the value of a broader learning partnership becomes clearer. Education, assessment, competency development, reporting, and improvement can work together instead of functioning as disconnected activities. 

Reduce the hidden costs of training 

ROI also comes from reducing the operational burden associated with healthcare training. 

Many organizations overlook administrative and operational costs when evaluating their learning programs, including staff time spent tracking and reporting training, course development, live instruction, travel, overtime, backfill, continuing education reimbursement, and managers’ time reinforcing training. 

Historical Relias customer results included reductions in staff time spent tracking and reporting training, course development time, live training delivery, travel expenses, overtime, and backfill costs.  

Make ROI something you can demonstrate 

The strongest proof comes when a hospital can connect its investment to outcomes its leaders already care about: 

• Retention improved 

• Administrative work decreased 

• Staff were better prepared 

• Compliance became easier to demonstrate 

• Competencies strengthened 

• Training became more consistent 

That requires organizations to establish baseline measures, determine which outcomes learning can reasonably influence, and track those measures over time. It also requires a partner willing to look beyond platform utilization and help connect learning to workforce and organizational priorities. 

For acute care organizations, that’s the difference between buying another technology and building a learning strategy. 

Technology gives you the tools. The right partnership helps turn those tools into results.