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NURS 6441 Project Management Healthcare Information Technology | Week 8

I am surrounded by people with good ideas. I need more people that implement them well.

—Will Weider, CIO, Ministry Health Care

The successful execution of a project requires continual control and monitoring to ensure that the project stays on schedule, on budget, and on specification. The ongoing collection, analysis, and reporting of project data is an essential project management tool for monitoring a project’s status throughout its execution; the information generated by this process can be used by the project team to determine appropriate actions to control the project by bringing its time, cost, and performance back in line with the project plan.

This week, you consider how to monitor and control a project throughout its execution.

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Learning Objectives for NURS 6441 Week 8 Project Execution and Control Part I

Students will:

• Apply principles of execution and control to a health information technology project
• Generate an MS Project plan

Learning Resources for NURS 6441 Week 8 Project Execution and Control Part I

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings for NURS 6441 Week 8 Project Execution and Control Part I

Coplan, S., & Masuda, D. (2011). Project management for healthcare information technology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

• Chapter 3, “Project Management”
  • • “Scope Control” (pp. 58)
    • “Control Schedule” (pp. 64–67)
    • “Control Costs” (pp. 71–75)

  These three areas of Chapter 3 focus on controlling scope, time, and cost, also referred to as the triple constraints.

Project Management Institute. (2017). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK® guide) (6th ed.). Newtown Square, PA: Author.

• Part 2. The Standard for Project Management
  • • Chapter 4, “Executing Process Group”
• These sections of Chapter 3 explore how to coordinate people and resources in accordance with the project management plan. These sections also cover the processes used to track, review, and regulate a project’s performance.
• Chapter 5, Section 5.6, “Control Scope”
  This section of Chapter 5 explains the process of monitoring a project’s status and scope. The text also describes how to manage changes to the scope baseline.
• Chapter 6, “Project Time Management”
  • • 6.6, “Control Schedule”

  In these pages of Chapter 6, the authors explain the process of monitoring a project’s status to update project progress and manage changes in a schedule baseline.

• Chapter 7, “Project Cost Management”
  • • 7.4, “Control Costs”

  This section of Chapter 7 reviews the processes used to update a project budget and manage changes to the cost baseline.

Cortelyou-Ward, K., & Yniguez, R. (2011). Using monitoring and controlling in an electronic health record module upgrade: A case study. The Health Care Manager, 30(3), 236–241.

This article examines the application of monitoring and controlling to an electronic health record module upgrade. The article makes recommendations related to flexibility, tracking changes, teams, milestones, and testing.

Noblin, A. M., Cortelyou-Ward, K., & Ton, S. (2011). Electronic health record implementations: Applying the principles of monitoring and controlling to achieve success. The Health Care Manager, 30(1), 45–50.

This article explores the principles of monitoring and controlling in the context of an electronic health record implementation. The article also examines issues such as project costs, project progress, schedule controls, quality management, and controlling risks.

Yin G.-L. (2010). Project time and budget monitor and control. Management Science and Engineering, 4(1), 56–61.

The author of this article describes how time and budget can be successfully controlled during a project’s implementation. The author presents techniques for accomplishing this, as well as describing potential pitfalls.

Document: Project Management Tools Available for Apple/Mac Computers (PDF)

This document contains a list of project management tools that are compatible with Apple/Mac computers.

Document: Team Project Overview (PDF)

This document provides an overview of the Team Project you will work on throughout this course.

Required Media – NURS 6441 Week 8 Project Execution and Control Part I

Laureate Education (Producer). (2013b). Executing, monitoring, and controlling [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 8 minutes.

In this presentation, roundtable participants Dr. Mimi Hassett, Dr. Judy Murphy, and Dr. Susan Newbold discuss the science of executing a project and the art that is involved in the continued monitoring and controlling of it. They talk about the triple constraint of cost, scope, and time and suggest some automated tools and skills that can help in tracking shifting components of a project.

NURS 6441 Week 8 Project Execution and Control Part I Discussion: Project Control

The actual implementation of a project occurs within the execution phase. During this phase, it is not uncommon for project managers to determine that projects have deviated from the original scope, time, or cost (the “triple constraint”), often due to unforeseen issues. When one element of this “triple constraint” changes, project managers must adjust the remaining two elements in order to satisfy project requirements. Maintaining this balance is one of the greatest challenges a project manager faces.

In this Discussion, you examine scenarios featuring issues that arise during the execution phase of a project. You analyze how you would modify the project in terms of scope, time, and cost in order to resolve the issues and fulfill project requirements. You also explain how you would communicate these modifications to key stakeholders.

Consider the following scenarios.

1. You are the lead project manager tasked with implementing a hospital’s new patient identification and tracking system. The currently planned system is designed to function using only barcodes, but many key stakeholders have called for the system to also include the use of radio-frequency identification (RFID) features. In order to meet the demands of the stakeholders, your project scope expands to include RFID technology. How will you modify your budget and schedule to accommodate this increased scope?
2. You are managing the development of a computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system in a hospital that caters to the suburban population of a major city. A much larger hospital that accommodates most of the city’s downtown residents has recently been severely damaged in a storm. As a result, the inner-city hospital is operating at a low level of capacity and diverts much of its patient flow to other hospitals. In order to help alleviate the strain caused by this new influx of patients, your hospital’s executives are requiring you to implement the CPOE system 2 weeks early. Your project team is currently composed of just enough individuals to complete the project on time using the originaltimeline. The planned CPOE system has many non-essential features that usually take two phases to implement. However, these features are currently planned to be incorporated during your single-phase CPOE implementation. How do you adjust the project’s scope and cost to meet the new schedule demands?
3. You are managing the implementation of an electronic medical record system in a small physician’s office. Due to much lower-than-expected profits in the fourth quarter, you have had a substantial cut in the amount of funding available for your project. The scope of the medical record system is more extensive than the bare minimum required for a practice of this size. In addition, the implementation schedule is as condensed as possible to reduce downtime in the office. This condensed schedule requires the use of expensive, high-quality resources. How can you adjust your plan to compensate for the project’s reduced budget?

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To prepare for NURS 6441 Week 8 Project Execution and Control Part I:

• By Day 1 of this week, your Instructor will assign you to a specific scenario. Review this week’s Learning Resources on controlling the elements of the “triple constraint,” and consider how they apply to the scenario to which you were assigned.
• Determine how you could modify the project in your assigned scenario in terms of scope, time, or cost in order to fulfill the project requirements.
• Consider how you would communicate the modifications you identified to key stakeholders.

By Day 3 of NURS 6441 Week 8 Project Execution and Control Part I

Post the number of your assigned scenario and a description of where and how you would adjust the plan in terms of budget, scope, and timeline. Explain how you would communicate modifications to key stakeholders. Provide rationale for your response.

By Day 6 of NURS 6441 Week 8 Project Execution and Control Part I

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days, using one or more of the following approaches:

• Critique your colleagues’ modifications.
• Suggest an alternative strategy for communicating the modifications to key stakeholders.
• Validate your colleagues’ chosen modifications or communication strategies with your own experience or additional research.