Absorb LMS vs. HealthStream Learning & Performance

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Absorb LMS
Score 8.8 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
Absorb LMS aims to empower organizations to train employees with the skills needed to stay modern and relevant in today's fast-paced world. The LMS software focuses on aligning learning needs with business demands.N/A
HealthStream Learning & Performance
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
HealthStream is a cloud-based Talent Management Suite specifically designed for the healthcare sector. Focused on training (LMS), the suite also includes performance management, competency, simulation and credentialing. HealthStream also provides research services to healthcare organizations.N/A
Pricing
Absorb LMSHealthStream Learning & Performance
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Absorb LMSHealthStream Learning & Performance
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional Details——
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Absorb LMSHealthStream Learning & Performance
Considered Both Products
Absorb LMS
HealthStream Learning & Performance

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Absorb LMSHealthStream Learning & Performance
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
8.6
48 Ratings
5% above category average
HealthStream Learning & Performance
-
Ratings
Course authoring9.236 Ratings00 Ratings
Course catalog or library9.242 Ratings00 Ratings
Player/Portal9.243 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning content8.132 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile friendly7.929 Ratings00 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications9.244 Ratings00 Ratings
Assignments8.538 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance management9.035 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning administration9.646 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics9.143 Ratings00 Ratings
Social learning6.916 Ratings00 Ratings
Gamification6.716 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning8.528 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
-
Ratings
HealthStream Learning & Performance
6.0
8 Ratings
28% below category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings5.86 Ratings
Subordinate goal setting00 Ratings5.05 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings5.86 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings6.86 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings6.88 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
-
Ratings
HealthStream Learning & Performance
6.8
9 Ratings
20% below category average
Performance plans00 Ratings6.24 Ratings
Plan weighting00 Ratings5.03 Ratings
Manager note taking00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings7.05 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings8.08 Ratings
Rater nomination workflow00 Ratings7.03 Ratings
Review reminders00 Ratings9.04 Ratings
Workflow restrictions00 Ratings5.02 Ratings
Multiple review frequency00 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Reporting00 Ratings7.78 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Absorb LMSHealthStream Learning & Performance
Small Businesses
Tovuti LMS
Tovuti LMS
Score 9.4 out of 10
15Five
15Five
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Tovuti LMS
Tovuti LMS
Score 9.4 out of 10
Reviewsnap
Reviewsnap
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Pluralsight Skills
Pluralsight Skills
Score 9.1 out of 10
Predictive Index Behavioral Assessment
Predictive Index Behavioral Assessment
Score 9.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Absorb LMSHealthStream Learning & Performance
Likelihood to Recommend
9.2
(50 ratings)
7.3
(21 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.9
(5 ratings)
9.0
(12 ratings)
Usability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.9
(37 ratings)
6.9
(5 ratings)
Online Training
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Absorb LMSHealthStream Learning & Performance
Likelihood to Recommend
Absorb Software Inc.
For our organization, Absorb is a fantastic choice. We are able to offer comprehensive learning opportunities for users and to do so in a system that is user-friendly, attractive, modern, and robust in its reporting capabilities. The fact that Absorb has the capability to manage communication with users surrounding expiry dates and outstanding elements to be completed is life-changing for our team.
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HealthStream
HealthStream is a wonderful tool for assigning assessments and evaluating knowledge. The assessments have a large pool of questions to pull from. The exams are timed and will generate a test report at the end of the exam so the clinical team can see what tests were passed and failed. These are helpful in ensuring we know what the nurse needs extra education on. HealthStream would be less suited for education items that would need to be validated in person...skills such as CPR.
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Pros
Absorb Software Inc.
  • Usability - Both the User and Admin Experience is so simple and intuitive. The admin tools are clearly defined and laid out, yet the functionality makes it still powerful.
  • Integration - We used the Scheduled Data Imports and Exports to connect with our HRIS tool. After the initial configuration, it has worked reliably and gives me all the custom data I need to make assignments and reporting a breeze.
  • Design - I know it's covered a little bit in the Usability above, but the site just looks fantastic. There are a lot of options to customize and fit your branding requirements and all of the thumbnails/posters/billboards/etc give a very visual and appealing look to the LMS. Much better than I've seen in other products.
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HealthStream
  • Reporting. Having the ability to track compliance (and non-compliance) at our fingertips ensures that we are up-to-date with Federal, State, Local and internal policies, requirements and educational initiatives
  • Customization. Developing in-house materials, specific to our variable training needs is a huge plus - HealthStream's commitment to SCORM-ready content since 2011 has made it simple for us to connect, engage and interact with all of our staff and providers.
  • Integration. Allowing us to interface with our HRM/HRIS systems is invaluable. Keeping up with a dynamic workforce, both in terms of retention and attrition, would not be possible without our current interface structures.
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Cons
Absorb Software Inc.
  • The manager experience needs further development, including how access the manager experience from the user experience
  • There needs to be an easier search feature to find a course without having to use the filter option.
  • There seems to be a slight delay when completing a course before it shows as completed in the transcript.
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HealthStream
  • Embedding elearning tutorials into HealthStream can be a bit complicated, and even slow down the site for the end user. In my experience, I found it much easier to just offer a link to the tutorial through the assessment portion.
  • Keeping users synced into the most up-to-date user groups can be a bit tricky. If you create your own student groups, and then these students transfer to a different job role or department, you will manually have to make these changes yourself. A more automated process would be great.
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Likelihood to Renew
Absorb Software Inc.
We have no plans to move away from Absorb at this time. It has all of the functionality we are looking for in a learning management system and we have a lot of info stored in our LMS system for trainings including all of our current and past employee transcripts. It is also getting easier to manager with being able to connect the LMS to ADP to update employee reporting/department/location/etc. We don't have a need or reason to move away from Absorb at this time.
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HealthStream
We just can't imagine NOT having HealthStream as it has become such a part of our training system. The per user cost has actually gone down from 3 years ago. However, we are using more courses we have purchased. This allows us to be more efficient with our time and more convenient for the end users. We are considering purchasing other aspects of the system.
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Usability
Absorb Software Inc.
It's a great place to house our trainings and keep things interesting for our associates.
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HealthStream
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Absorb Software Inc.
We cannot speak highly enough for the Elite Support service. Having a dedicated partner to help us through multiple projects, multiple upgrades, and multiple custom configurations has been absolutely key. Our CSM really has been like an extra team member and we know we can rely on him for anything we need. His product expertise and friendly professionalism is unrivaled!
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HealthStream
I only used HealthStream for a short time, but it wasn’t overly user-friendly or pretty. There were some quirks that I didn’t like, like the quiz builder or uploading lists. Whenever you assigned a group it was difficult to tell and confirm that the assignment went out. Overall I like other systems better.
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Online Training
Absorb Software Inc.
I meet and do training with my absorb support every week. and I have all my questions answered! it's great
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HealthStream
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Absorb Software Inc.
We were very disappointed with D2L and Workday's ability to customize what or how content is shown to users. The platforms can be robust but the onboarding time for new administrators is much longer than Absorb. Workday's current offering (2023) for external learners is unacceptable for our use case and much more manual then Absorb's solutions. Workday does not have the ability to create engaging content or notifications to the user and the UI is pulled directly from the HCM with very little flexibility between the modules on look, feel or layout. While Thinkific was good for external users and monetization, it also lacked flexibility for multiple different demographics. EdApp while having a good mobile presence and quick turnaround for course creation, it's offerings for other engagement factors fell short of Absorb. Moodle can be a great LMS, but all of the features require you to plan and (potentially)code your requirements into the platform. This required time that we didn't have and to administrate the platform required additional personnel and resources for any changes we wanted to have after go live. We didn't have the time nor other organization resources available when launching so it couldn't be considered.
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HealthStream
The interface for HealthStream is 1000x better than My Learning. I still struggle to find my assignments and upcoming in person training on My Learning. It is not intuitive and doesn't have a dashboard when you sign on to see everything at once. HealthStream lets me easily see my assignments, their due dates, and any upcoming dates
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Return on Investment
Absorb Software Inc.
  • Course enrollments and completions have increased by 500% since implementation
  • Employee visits to our learning centre have increased by 300% since implementation
  • Cost saving from a time perspective as we can automate a lot of the admin work we used to do.
  • Pre Absorb we had about 3 or 4 e-learnings that were available. We now have over 100 that are accessible to all employees
  • Ability to seamlessly integrate with Workday and Udemy allowing all learning to be in one place, people data to be imported from WD, and very comprehensive reporting
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HealthStream
  • More efficiency. Easy way to implement training to a larger group of people.
  • Helps to orientate new hires to our organization quicker.
  • Consistency with training messages. We can communicate a method that can be easily adopted and implement across the organization.
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ScreenShots

Absorb LMS Screenshots

Screenshot of a company's unique identity with a training interface that is custom-designed for the brand.Screenshot of A company's image and values with a training interface that is tailored to the brand's specific needs.Screenshot of Assembling courses that offer a diverse set of formats, including instructional videos, quizzes, and assessments.Screenshot of Gives Learners a thorough understanding of the course material using Absorb's rich course details page, accessible from the course catalog dashboard.Screenshot of Learners' progress insights to make data-driven decisions with the advanced reporting capabilities of Absorb LMS.