Project management plays an important role in developing a strategic
plan. As described by Lucidchart (2020), there are five principles that
can help in project management. The first is address questions at the
start of the project. This was done by reviewing each hospital to see
their strengths and weaknesses. This helped develop questions on
productivity, cultural diversity, and compliance. The next step is to
develop goals. This was completed by building a unified mission,
vision statements and goals for the merging hospitals. The third step
build the team with expectations, objectives, and communication.
Setting standards for the coding department, creating policies and
procedures, having team discussions on how the changes will take
place and affect workflow, is completed at this step. The fourth step
is check progress and review roadblocks. Having an evaluation
process, such as reviewing productivity of the coding department two
months after starting a new coding standard. This can help find if the
change has been productive, or if there more changes that needs to
be made. The last step is finalizing the project and that goals have
been met. Depending on the project this may be short term or long
term. A goal of having staff trained in cultural diversity within 1
month can be measured at the end of the month to see if it has been
met. A goal of having a full staff of credentialed coders would need to
be longer term, such as two to three years. This is due that it takes
times to train current staff and to help with certification. There is the
occurrence of turnover and being competitive when hiring.
References
Grebner, L. A., & Mattingly, R. (2017). Management of Health Information Functions &
Applications. Cengage Learning.
Lucihart. (2020, January 14). 5 universal project management principles. Retrieved
August 16, 2022, from https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/5-Universal-Project-
Management-Principles
