Communication, Risk, and Human Resources.

Running head: INITIAL PLAN DEVELOPMENT 1

INITIAL PLAN DEVELOPMENT 2

Initial Plan Development

Nicholas Calhoun

Foundations of Project Management

South University

January 28, 2020

Initial Plan Development

The statement of need: Write a brief description of the chosen organization and discuss the background information associated with the problems that need to be solved.

Due to the passing of the Affordable Care Act ten years ago, there has been an increased demand for medical services in the United States. This has led to medical institutions serving increased patient numbers. Consequently, physicians, clinical staff and healthcare providers have had difficulties in managing the medical records of patients manually. This created the need for organization in the process of documentation and retrieval of patient records. The Electronic Medical Record, EMR, system comes in and its implementation and acquisitions would facilitate the following. The retrieval, management and capturing of patient data such as medical history, lab results, and demographic data (Jawhari, Keenan, Zakus, Ludwick, Isaac, Saleh, Hayward, 2016). Research indicates that an effective EMR system can centralize and acquire crucial patient information efficiently leading to enhanced service delivery.

EMR offers the ability to incur improvements on patient safety through the provision of timely and consistent care to patients in performance and through compliance with clinical regulations and standards, and the avoidance of duplicates. It can also lead to lower health care costs and improved efficiencies by promoting single patient records entailing integrated information. This would ensure improved coordination and continuity of care by reducing redundant tests and waste.

The goals and objectives of the project: Identify project goals and the underlying objectives. Quantify the measurable performance expectations of the project plan to determine whether it meets the planned objectives. Performance should be defined in terms of:

· The product or process specification

An EMR is an electronic version of a paper-based record-keeping system. It is a computer-based system for retrieving, organizing and storing patient information and is expected to improve the safety and quality of healthcare tremendously. An EMR can entail information such as the following. Research and education that would be accessible from various departments of a hospital institution under confidentiality, patient privacy and the protection of security. A plan of care, vital signs, patient progress assessment, hospitalization, surgical and medical history, test and laboratory results, allergies, past and present medication history (Morris, Sheehan, Lamichahane, Zimbro, Morgan, Bharadwaj, 2019). Others include insurance information, person to be notified in case of an emergency, gender, date of birth, complete address and full names.

· The total budget at completion of the plan

The budget for the acquisition and implementation of the EMR is estimated as follows.

· The time frame for completion of the plan

The estimated timeframe for the completion of the project is as follows.

Stakeholders and project requirements: Identify the project’s stakeholders. Analyze their needs and wants and create a list of project requirements derived from the inputs provided by the stakeholders.

The adoption of EMR technology requires administrative technological capabilities. This means that there will be the need for a system administrator and IT administration team who would be responsible for access control, maintenance and security (Yuan, Kane, Fletcher, Nembhard, 2019). Additionally, there will be a need for collaboration with hospital administrators to ensure that the system is contextually viable for the specific hospital environment as a way to gain effective implementation.

General practitioners will also need to be involved and offered financial support to help in offering incentives for use of the EMR technology, supporting system implementation as needed, and to purchase additional equipment or gadgets needed to allow the seamless implementation of the new system.

The users and patients are the other stakeholders and are the most vital ones when it comes to EMR implementation. The institution needs to educate them on the system and its benefits (Pandya, Clarke, Scarsella, Alongi, Amport, Hamel, Dougherty, 2019). This would also allow for consent according to the regulations in place for information sharing. The need for EMR is mainly driven by its promise of improving patient safety and care. As such it is mainly addressed to patients as a way to increase safety, accessibility, accuracy, and efficiency.

The project requirements are as follows.

Training and quality management where EMR acts as an enabling system that inculcates focus on improvement in information processing and quality management. This entails the legibility of records, reduction in errors, improved results management, and streamlining accountability and work processes. Research indicates that with effective training, the use of EMR can reduce up to two-thirds of medication problems when implemented.

Compliance with regulations where the EMR deals with medical records that are legal documents. This means that these records are the property of the healthcare providers in the facility or institution produced. As such, access and retrieval should be done in accordance with specific state or federal information and data regulations. Moreover, the information within these medical records is owned by the patients who have the right to obtain copies of these records and to view them (Mashoka, Murray, George, Lobue, Mfinanga, Sawe, White, 2019). As such, it is crucial that all the records captured in the system are authenticated and stored unaltered by those who create or access the records.

Project scope development: Identify the scope of the project to define the work that needs to be performed to meet the project objectives.

Research defines project scope as a component of project planning that entails documenting and determining deadlines, costs, tasks, deliverables, and specific project goals. As such, project scope is crucial to the success of any project. It also allows the project manager and his team to set the project timeline as assign the needed resources. For the acquisition and implementation of the EMR project, the anticipated scope entails the following. Adoption of changes that are in-line with stakeholder needs. Identification of likely challenges, problems, and risks that may curtail implementation. Listing the project expectations and success factors. Acquisition of resources to ensure successful project implementation. Confirmation of project objectives and goals. Lastly, identification of the needs of the project and those behind the need for the project.

This project is expected to be implemented in a hospital setting. This creates the need for training for the medical staff on how to use the system. Moreover, there needs to be system development that factors in the needs of the particular hospital and the specific hospital environment. The equipment and hardware needed should be provided and the project manager is to oversee the utilization of the resources provided. The estimated time for the completion of this project is estimated to be twenty-four weeks and its implementation will be done through piloting. This entails rolling out the system in specific departments and subsequently rolling it out in other departments. Project success factors include effective implementation, adequate training for the staff and effective education of the patients on consent and the need for the system (Othman et al., 2019). The project will be termed successful if it increases accuracy, reduces documentation errors and organizes documentation in a way that is accessible and informative.

References

Jawhari, B., Keenan, L., Zakus, D., Ludwick, D., Isaac, A., Saleh, A., & Hayward, R. (2016). Barriers and facilitators to Electronic Medical Record (EMR) use in an urban slum. International journal of medical informatics, 94, 246-254. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1386505616301769

Mashoka, R. J., Murray, B., George, U., Lobue, N., Mfinanga, J., Sawe, H., & White, L. (2019). Implementation of electronic medical records at an Emergency Medicine Department in Tanzania: The information technology perspective. African Journal of Emergency Medicine, 9(4), 165-171. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211419X18301587

Morris, D., Sheehan, B., Lamichahane, R., Zimbro, K., Morgan, M. K., & Bharadwaj, P. (2019). Validation of an automated mortality index using the electronic medical record system in a network of acute care hospitals. Journal of Hospital Administration, 8(3). Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/bc02/98d12b73ac95c22f60fcf554f73af1a68461.pdf

Othman, K., Bashir, O., & Arabi, M. (2019). Implementation of Electronic Medical Record in Vascular and Interventional Radiology. Journal of Radiology Nursing, 38(3), 201-209. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1546084318302232

Pandya, C., Clarke, T., Scarsella, E., Alongi, A., Amport, S. B., Hamel, L., & Dougherty, D. (2019). Ensuring Effective Care Transition Communication: Implementation of an Electronic Medical Record–Based Tool for Improved Cancer Treatment Handoffs Between Clinic and Infusion Nurses. Journal of Oncology Practice, 15(5), e480-e489. Retrieved from https://ascopubs.org/doi/abs/10.1200/JOP.18.00245

Yuan, C. T., Kane, G. C., Fletcher, J. M., & Nembhard, I. M. (2019). The role of social influence and network churn in beliefs about electronic medical record technology. Journal of Social Structure, 20(3), 29-49. Retrieved from https://jhu.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/the-role-of-social-influence-and-network-churn-in-beliefs-about-e