HIT Project Planning

1. Health Information
Technology
Project Management solutions
Renee Singleton-Bell
IT Consultant

2. “The Best Health IT Project won’t fix a Broken
Process” according to Amantayakul (2007)
IT projects can be difficult and impacts the whole
healthcare organization and its operations. Health IT
Projects are expensive and “between 50 and 80 percent
of electronic health record projects fail--and the larger
the project, the more likely it is to fail," (Manos,2011)

3. Reasons For Project
FaiLure
• Poorly Articulated Goals - Ex: Improve patient
safety or increase productivity
• Lack of Stakeholder Endorsement- lack of
leadership involvement
• Lack of Participation Incentives - gives no reason
for personnel involvement
• The Level of Difficulty of the Project - the number
of people and processes impacted
• Lack of proven Technology - using new glitzy
technology that has many kinks

4. Preventing Project Failure
• Establish measurable goals and set expectations- Ex:
“Reducing lost charges by 20 percent or Reduce
duplicate test by 10 percent by ensuring all lab
results are available online” (Amantayakul (2007)
• Encourage leadership participation, input and
debate
• Create Incentives
• Break the project into small phases
• Avoid the newest technology

5. The use of standards will reduce
overlooked tensions in the
planning and implementation
phases of projects as well as the
use of standards.

6. Project Management
Standards
 Organize a Project Team-define roles and expectations of each
member
 Define the Scope of the project with clear objectives
 Determine the resources, time requirements, and budget of the project
 Complete a signed Project Charter
 Conduct Analysis- evaluate current work flow and business processes
 Create an approved Project timeline with phases and task
 Develop a Preliminary Plan-combine all phases ,task , resources, cost
and risk into the plan for review
 Establish stakeholders and obtain buy-in
 Establish the Project Plan- establish after adjustments have been made
 Report Progress Monthly- provides issues, milestones, and upcoming
activities
 Close the Project

7. STEPS
TO
Implementing Technologies
System Implementation begins after an organization has acquired the
technology to be used. It then requires extensive project planning. One must:
• Organize a team - to include a vendor representative, an office
administrator, a project manager, nursing staff, clerical staff and a
physician super user.
• Establish goals of implementing the technology - what is the desired effect
of implementing the technology
• Analyze the current work flow - determine need for space, know
everyone’s role, and opportunities for improvement
• System Installation - prepare room, install software, test and retest, pilot the
system prior to roll out
• Staff Training - update policies, training materials and train staff by
training super users first
• Conversion – convert data from the current system to the new system
• Communications - address problems and communicate updates and
progress
• Go Live Date- ensure staff availability and a disaster recovery plan

8. Success or Failure
Once the system is implemented and fully integrated,
determining if the project is a success or a failure
can be difficult.
Cost vs. Benefit is one measure of success
(Egeland,2009)
Cost vs. Benefit = Return on Investment (ROI)

9. Measuring Return on Investment
“Healthcare leadership needs to ensure that IT system investments are well
thought out, first, and second, measured in terms of overall benefits to the
organization.” (Morrisette, 2011)
Identifying cost and benefits that contribute to ROI should begin with :
• Defining measurable goals and setting expectations
• Cost and expenses going out compared to hard and soft saving coming in
• Cost going out include the initial investment amount in addition to any
ongoing, upgrade, maintenance, and implementation cost
• Savings coming in would include expenses that are replaced (hard
savings) an patient satisfaction (soft savings)

10. Examples of ROI
Patient Related ROI - includes processes required
to provide patient care
• Reduction in medication errors
• Increase in processing time of lab results
Financial and Operational ROI
• Reducing payroll errors
• Capturing revenue through coding improvement
• Reduction in personnel formerly used to file and
retrieve paper charts

11. Process
Improvement
creates
a
Successful
Project Plan

12. References
• Amatayakul, M. (2007). Do you plan not to achieve your EHR ROI? Healthcare
Financial Management, 61(11), 146-146-7. Retrieved
from http://ezproxylocal.library.nova.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/doc
view/196380602?accountid=6579
• Egeland, B. (2009, November 21). Defining Implementation Success or Failure |
Project Management Tips || Project Management, Collaboration and Knowledge
Management Blog. Project Management Tips. Retrieved August 1, 2011, from
http://pmtips.net/defining-implementation-success-failure/
• Manos, D. (2009, December 14). Electronic health records not a panacea,
researchers say | Healthcare IT News. Healthcare IT News. Retrieved August 5,
2011, from http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/electronic-health-records-not-
panacea-researchers-say
• Morissette, D. (2011, March 8). Measuring Return on Investment for Technology
Initiatives on Executive Insight . Executive Insight . Retrieved August 3, 2011,
from http://healthcare-executive-insight.advanceweb.com/Archives/Article-
Archives/Measuring-Return-on-Investment-for-Technology-Initiatives.aspx
• Wager, K. A., Lee, F. W., & Glaser, J. (2009). Organizing Information Technology
Services. Health care information systems: a practical approach for health care
management (2nd ed., pp. 306-307). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.