DrivingNew procedures for patient Discharge — Project Management PlanUsing Telemedicine to Shorten Patient Discharge Time
Part1: Service Level Agreement
ProjectDescription, Purpose, and Justification
Theproject of interest for implementation is Telemedicine in the NewYork Hospital to reduce the time taken to discharge patients.Telemedicine is emerging as a new, effective strategy for enhancingthe equitability of healthcare delivery, but it is yet to be fullyimplemented in various healthcare facilities such as the New YorkHospital. Therefore, execution of telemedicine serves as apotentially viable project to benefit the healthcare system of NewYork Hospital and reduce the patient discharge time.
Goalsand Objectives
Theprimary goal of the proposed project is to achieve fullimplementation of Telemedicine at the New York hospital by March2017. The project is planned to begin on 3rdOctober 2016. Therefore, the task is to prepare, mobilize resources,support, and get set for the implementation of the project.
Describethe requirements for the project
Locatedin New York City and surrounded by a large, growing population, thehealthcare facility is certainly under pressure to improve itsservices to be able to satisfy the needs of patients across theregion. As a nurse who has been working in the facility for over 30years, I assert that this project is justifiable and will be pivotalin increasing the capacity to enable the hospital to realize itsgoals.
Indeed,the criticality of Telemedicine in the current healthcare practicesis beyond reproach. The evolution of the world has been accompaniedby the call for healthcare reforms for sustainable development. Thiscall is driven by the concern that, while healthcare development apillar of sustainability, current healthcare practices cannot deliverthe sustainable goals unless they are reformed. Telemedicine entailsthe use of information and communication technologies to providehealthcare from a distance, which creates the allowance to shortenpatient discharge time for them to be attended through telemedicine(Baruth,Bopp, Webb & Peterson, 2015).Therefore, Telemedicine is advantageous because it enables theplayers to overcome the distance barriers and reach people in remoteareas while reducing the discharge time because patients can alwaysseek telemedicine while home.
Thetangible measures for acceptance criteria used to achieve projectsuccess
Thetangible measures for acceptance criteria used to achieve the projectsuccess will be consumer satisfaction, project owner satisfaction,and cost involved and time taken for completion.
ProjectScope
Whilethere is a great potential in applying Telemedicine to serve thegrowing interests of the surrounding community, the hospital is yetto implement the project. Therefore, the proposed Telemedicineproject would be a new venture. The process of implementation isexpected to bring together different players within organization andhealthcare. The players within the organization include doctors,nurses, managers, and social workers, among others. The playersoutside the organization will include healthcare agencies, governmentagencies, and nongovernmental organizations. Considering theexistence of advocacies for patient-centered care, it will also becrucial to engage the surrounding communities to understand theirinterests. These welfares will then be incorporated in Telemedicineproject. This step is critical to enable the project to be tailoredto their needs.
Theacceptance criteria for the project
Theacceptance criteria for the project are its ability to meet theintended outcomes — supporting healthcare by improving thedischarge process through enhanced telemedicine practices.
Theproject assumptions, risks, and constraints
Theassumption is that there will be no project success factors beyondmanagement intervention. As with any project, some potential riskswill need to be addressed. Five major risks and constrains couldaffect the project success. These risks and constraints areidentified as follows.
1.StartDelay:If the project delays to start, the completion of the entire projectwill take longer than scheduled. The delay will also escalate costoverruns, for instance, all the individuals involved in implementingthe project will need to be compensated for the long durations.
2.FundingProblems:The project implementation is costly and relies heavily on funding.For instance, a delay in funding could lead to the delay in the startof the project, resulting in associated cost overruns. Inadequate orthe lack of funding will result in failure of the project because itwill mean the employees will not be paid, while necessary types ofequipment will not be procured. Funding problems could also lead tolegal suits over delayed employee or supplier compensations.
3.Marketdynamics: Themarket of Telemedicine equipment is a dynamic one. It is primarilycharacterized by fluctuating prices. If the price of the equipmentgoes up over the course of the implementation process, the cost ofthe whole project will increase, creating cost complexitiesassociated with project implementation.
4. Shareholderdisagreements:There are chances for hospitalists to differ over how the entireproject should be implemented. These disagreements might result inproject delay or even project implementation failure.
5.GovernmentBureaucracy:Regulations touching on healthcare projects are stringent and obligesimplementers to fulfill all the necessities before they can beaccorded the license. Since Telemedicine is a new healthcareinnovation and some of the relevant requirements are underdevelopment. This implies that the project implementation will needto be aware and conform to new policies, as they arise, to secure, aswell as maintain licensure.
Rolesand Responsibility of Stakeholders
Thetable below summarizes the key individuals and roles that willunderpin the project implementation process.
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Roles
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Responsibilities
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Project manager
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Liaising with the project sponsor to define project goals, drawing budget and outlining the goals, managing consultants, and allocating resources
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Team leadership and management Project monitoring and evaluation and Reporting
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Project Sponsor
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Commissioning the project liaising with the project manager to define project goals
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Championing the projects Accountability for planned benefits of the project Communication sponsorship
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Project board
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Overseeing project progress Resolving strategic problems Controlling project
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Change management Drawing priorities for project goals Communicating with key players
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Senior Consultant or Supplier-
side Project Manager
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Management of the supplies
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Change management Drawing priorities for project goals Communicating with key players
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Project Team Members
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Implement different project implementation roles
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Working with the users to ensure the project fulfills the user interests and providing expertise.
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Project Administrator or
Co-coordinator
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Main the plan for the project, make updates on the project websites and provide administrative supports
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Testing documentation, and documenting and addressing quality issues
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Systems Developer
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Liaising with project managers to define and execute project requirements
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Reporting progress and dealing with technical documentation
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Systems administrators
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Providing support and managing the IT systems
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Managing and updating IT systems
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Themode of communication with stakeholders
Themode of communication with the stakeholders will be throughcirculars, letters, and face-to-face meetings.
Part2: Project Schedule
Ganttchart
Activities involved
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Duration
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2017
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2018
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Jun
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Jul
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Aug
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Sep
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Oct
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Nov
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Dec
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Jan
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Feb
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Resource identification
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1 month
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Pre-implementation meetings
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2 months
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Recruitment of players
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1 month
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Recruitment of participants
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1 month
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Educational talk sessions
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1 month
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Enforcement Training workshops
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1 month
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Public workshops
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1 month
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Follow-up interviews
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2 months
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Techniquesused to develop the project schedule (Project Schedule)
Twoestimation techniques will be employed in developing the projectschedule. These include expert judgment and comparative estimation.
Rationalefor why these techniques will be effective
Expertjudgment and comparative estimation have various advantages. Theexpert judgment is perhaps the most common approach for schedulingand involves consulting people who have an experience in implementingsimilar project. The derivative information is reliable because it isobtained from experts. Comparative estimation entails relating theproposed project to similar past projects. This technique is alsoimportant because it generates the allowance to create knowledge frompast experiences concerning what worked and what did not work.
Part3: Strategies for Maintaining the Project Budget and discussion ofkey success factors (600 words)
Strategiesthat can be applied for due diligence and maintaining oversight ofthe project budget
Thethree strategies that would be applied to maintain oversight ofproject budget include continual budget focus, regular resource usageforecast and scope management (Koskela,2012).
Theessence of continual budget focus rests on the view that if a projectruns without frequent management of budget and re-forecasting, it hashigh chances of failure. Indeed, continual budget focus is crucialbecause it prevents costs overruns. Therefore, continual budget focusand re-focusing creates the allowance to control minor projectoverruns before they escalate, and maintain the project on track.
Regularresource usage forecast describes the process of re-vesting the useof resources to ensure that it is in tandem with the budgetaryallocations by correcting deviations. Like continual budgetrefocusing, Regular resource usage forecast aims at preventinganomalies. According to Brydeand Robinson (2015),adopting such a strategy will ensure that the project utilizes theresources optimally to meet the intended functions.
Scopemanagement describes the process of ensuring that the activities arein line with the project track events. In other words, scopemanagement strives to ensure that only critical and necessarycomponents of a project are executed, thereby avoiding the costs ofdedicating resources to noncore processes.
Challengeseach of these strategies might present and opportunities forimprovement
Continualbudget focus can be potentially constrained by market dynamics andcost of the re-budgeting processes. The success of this process canbe assured by anticipating such challenges.
Regularresource usage forecast can be constrained by fallacy planning andleadership commitment problems. The success of the outcome relies onthe ability of the project teams to anticipate these challenges andstrive to engage all the stakeholders to avoid the problems.
Scopemanagement may be impeded by changein task requirements and shifting in stakeholder demands. Thisproblem could also be addressed byanticipatingthe challenges and engaging all the stakeholders to avoid theproblems.
Thepositive outcomes that might result from each strategy
Allthe three processes are aimed at addressing different criticalsuccess factors. These processes can be easily achieved by having theright information that can be derived from different forms ofsources. The information needed for implementation of the projectwill be obtained from various sources. One of the sources is thepublications on similar projects implemented in various healthcarecontexts across the states, as well as across the world. Anothersource of information is from experts who have ever been involved inthe implementation of similar projects. It is also possible to findother forms of relevant information from libraries and governmentagencies on the requirements for successful implementation oftelemedicine. Such forms of information include laws and regulations,the standards, the findings, and future directions and guidelines.
Part4: Risk Management, Quality Management, and Sustainability
Theplan to manage project risks
First,as noted by Burke (2016), the process of risk management depends onvarious organizational factors. These include having clearly definedroles and responsibilities, technical analysis, resource equipmentand management, and leadership commitment. Therefore, part of thefocus for the present project risk management will be these areas. Using a whole system approach, all the organization processes will bealigned with project requirements.
Nevertheless,it will also be of particular interest for risk management of thecurrent project to begin by identifying different potential risks,and then devising relevant strategies to address them (Heathcote,2013). In light of this view, different risks that warrant specialattention have been identified for the present project. These includestart delay, funding problems, stakeholder disagreements, marketdynamics, and government bureaucracy. These different risks warrantdeployment of varied risk management methodologies. For instance,start delay can be addressed by agreeing on substantive issues,securing funding, and recruiting on time. Besides, stakeholderdisagreements can be addressed through improved levels ofcommunication and negotiations.
Strategiesfor managing quality within the project
Accordingto Rogove,McArthur, Demaerschalk, Vespa (2012),an elaborate quality management process should be hinged on threecore strategies: customer satisfaction, continuous improvement, andprevention-over-inspection. In light of this viewpoint, the qualitymanagement process of the current project is hinged on the threeprocesses.
CustomerSatisfaction: Customer satisfaction is lauded as the key measure of quality ofproject outcome (Association for project management, 2014). In thisregard, it is imperative for the present project management tointegrate it in the quality management process. To be able to satisfythe customers, the process of quality management will focus on theproduct and management process. In this case, the customers are thepatients using the services, while the management are the owners ofthe project. In essence, as far as customer satisfaction isconcerned, the project will be said to have satisfied the qualitycriterion if it does not only meet the needs of the patients, butalso the hospital management.
ContinuousImprovement: Asnoted by Association for project management (2014), continuousimprovement is a pivotal tenet of total quality management. Thisconcept essentially refers to the process of striving to improve theoutcomes as an ongoing measure. Although such improvements can besmall, they play a crucial role in improving the overall qualityoutcomes in an incremental basis. Continuous improvement begins byassessing emerging issues encountered in the course of the projectmanagement and then devising strategies to overcome the challenges.For the proposed project, the essence of continuous improvement is toavoid a repeat of mistakes that can potentially compromise projectquality.
Prevention-over-inspection:Thecost of quality is concerned with striving to avoid failure inoutcomes and also to prevent further unplanned expenditure such asthe costs of non-conformance and conformance.
Strategiesfor sustainability of Project
Theproposed project shall strive to realize sustainability by focusingon three factors: Economic sustainability, environmentalsustainability and social sustainability. Economic sustainabilitywill be addressed by ensuring the project does not cost too much tocompromise the ability of the organization to meet other obligations,and this will be effectively accomplished through proper budgeting.Environmental sustainability is concerned with limiting harm on theenvironment associated with project management activities. Thisprocess will be assured by conducting an environment impactassessment and taking appropriate measures to limit environmentalpollution. Lastly, social sustainability will be concerned aboutlimiting the impact of project implementation on the surroundingcommunities, a process that would be fulfilled by considering all thesocial concerns in project planning and implementation. It is hopedthat these three processes are adequate in assuring the neededsustainability (Brenner,2013).
Toolsand/or techniques for managing quality
Qualitymanagement will be guaranteed by exercising three main strategies.They include quality planning, quality assurance and quality control(Allan, 2014). Quality planning entails identifying the qualityrequirements of the project, and devising steps to achieve thoserequirements. This strategy is crucial because it serves a frameworkfor quality delivery. Quality assurance describes the stepsundertaken by project teams to ensure the project delivers qualityoutput, while quality assurance is focused on verifying the qualityof project outcome. Both quality assurance and control are crucialbecause they define the means and end processes oriented towardssatisfying project quality (AmericanProductivity & Quality Center, 2014).
References
Allan,B. (2014). Projectmanagement.London: Facet.
AmericanProductivity & Quality Center (APQC). (2014). Transformationalchange: Making it last. Houston, TX: Author.
Associationfor project management. (2014). ABM body of knowledge. 5th ed.Buckinghamshire: High Wycombe.Associationfor project management.2008. ABM body of knowledge. 6thed.Buckinghamshire:High Wycombe.
Baruth,M. Bopp, M, Webb, B. & Peterson, J. (2015). The Role andInfluence of Faith Leaders on Health- Related Issues and Programs intheir Congregation. JRelig Health(2015) 54:1747–1759
Brenner,S.N., (2013). The stakeholder theory of the firm and organizationaldecision making: Some propositions and a model. In: Pasquero, J.,Collins. D., (Eds.), Proceedingsof the Fourth Annual Meeting of the International Association forBusiness and Society,San Diego, 205-210. 108
Bryde,D.J.& Robinson, L., (2015). Client versuscontractor perspectiveson project success criteria. InternationalJournal of Project Management,23(8), 622-629.
Burke,R. (2016). Projectmanagement, Planning and control techniques.5th ed. Burke Publishing.
Heathcote,J. (2013). Contemporaryissue and project future module,Lecture note distributed in stakeholder management,at School of the Built Environment & Engineering, LeedsMetropolitan University, on Dec 2013.
Koskela,L. (2012). Theunderlying theory of project management is obsolete.IEEE Engineering Management Review, Vol. 36 (Issue 2).
Rogove, J. McArthur, D. Demaerschalk, M. Vespa, M. (2012). "Barriersto Telemedicine: Survey of Current Users in Acute Care Units".Telemedicine and e-Health. 18(1): 48–53.