Medical Records Integration Plan: Project Management Plan - Term Paper Example

Medical Records Integration Plan Name Institution Date Medical Records Integration Plan: Project Management Plan Introduction Project Management Plan A project management plan captures the entire project and covers all phases of the project from the time the project will start, the planning, implementation, up to the end of the project (Roberts, 2011). The project management plan will be used to guide the implementation of the project as well as the project control. Basically, the primary use of the project plan is to keep record of planning propositions, and decisions, as well as ensure there is smooth communication between stakeholders. Additionally, the project management plan will also document endorsed project scope, budget and program baselines (Project Management Institute, 2010). Thesis The project management plan will document how and the time the objectives of the project will be accomplished, through illustrating the key project stakeholders, the project milestones and timeline, the project activities, and the necessary project resources. Project Life Cycle Initiation Phase Initiation phase will encompass endorsement of the project, commitment of the Armadale Health Service to the project, establishing project direction, defining objectives of top-level, procuring the necessary approvals and resources as well as assigning project manager for the project integration and management (Glaser, 2009). Planning Phase Objectives of the project and the crucial deliverables will be defined, project schedule and framework will be developed, platform to share information among team project members will be formed and also all fundamental project activities will be defined, required skilfulness and resources will be identified, risks and ways of alleviating risks will be identified and the project costs will be calculated, as well as devising a communication plan (Glaser, 2009). Executing Phase This phase will encompass coordination of the resources, team development, quality assurance, identification, information distributions and formulating a work plan. Controlling Phase This phase includes; team management which includes project stakeholders, evaluating project advancement and monitoring project performance, managing the risks as well as project performance reports and project communications. Closing Phase This will consist of finalizing project activities, and administrative project finishing following successful conclusion of the project (Glaser, 2009). What is Medical Records Integration Project? Medical Records integration project is a project aimed at integrating and correlating medical records from diverse departments within the hospital. Medical records integration will enable patient information from various sources to be integrated, accessed opportunely and to be shared by various hospital departments and hospital branches, and at the same time as maintain patient privacy and information security. By integrating the medical records in the institution, it will be possible to provide the patients with improved care, lowered costs, as well as more efficient utilization of medical records. Basically, the medical records integration project will involve information correlation from various sources in the hospital, correlation of patient information, correlation of drugs’ information and such (Joe, 2009). Importance of a Project Management Plan A project management plan is important because it saves time and finances and also assesses the unanticipated problems that might take place within a specific project activity. It is also essential in communicating the standing of the project to the project team (Project Management Institute, 2010). More importantly, a project management plan assists in organization of various plans that reside in the project plan. For example, the project scope provides the scale of the project and the scheduling plan indicates the length, the launch and the end of the project. Additionally, by indicating the cost estimates of the budget, the project management plan enables efficient and consistent use of money (Roberts, 2011). Background Armadale Hospital Armadale Health Service integrates the Armadale Hospital, Mental Health Services, Aged Care and Rehabilitation Services and Community Health Services. Previously, patients’ medical records in the Health Service were stored basing on the department which included records from; Allied Health Records, Mental Health Records and Hospital Records. Integration of Patient Information Service and Allied Health, along with other departmental records has been happening in the past. Strategic Context of Medical Record in the Hospital Hospital departments as well as Medical records in the hospital are aligned as follows: Medical Record Service: Medical record service supports the range of patient through provision of reachable, complete and precise health records, health statistics, health planning and medico-legal purposes at the same time as making sure that confidentiality of the records is maintained. The services the medical record service offers comprise of: Clinical Coding, Medical Records Form Design, Freedom of Information, TOPAS System Administration, Training and Information Integrity, Medical Record Movement and Tracking, in addition to protection of medical records and how the records are stored. Customer Service: This includes reception service on wards, clinics, laboratory, emergency and such. The customer service has the responsibility of welcoming clients of Armadale Health Service with a concerned and steadfast clerical service, building a professional, long-term impression within the community. Clerical Coordination: This provides fundamental synchronized direction, leadership, training as well as development of standards for supporting clerical workforce. In December 2012 Accreditation Surveyors proposed that Armadale Health Service was supposed to integrate Mental Health medical records for effective patient care within the hospital. Objectives To ensure Hospital and Mental Health medical records are integrated appropriately to ensure standardization of medical records systems across the health service. To make sure that there is no single Medical Record per patient for the Armadale Health Service. To modify the present organization of the Medical Record at the Health Service to take in Mental Health documentation To align Armadale Health Service records in accordance with Australian Standards. Project Scope The scope of Medical Records Integration Project encompasses planning, design, testing, implementation and transition of the current Medical Record structure at Armadale Health Service to include Mental Health documentation. The records will meet or exceed Australian record keeping standards and further requirements established within the project charter. The scope of this project also consists of completion of all documentations, manuals as well as training aids to be utilised during the entire duration of the project (Ho, 2008). Project completion will take place when the Medical Records Integration Project has been successfully implemented. All work involving the project will be done internally. The scope of this project exempts the changes in requirements to standards for the project implementation, project updates or revisions (Glaser, 2009). Project Team Organizational Structure Executive Sponsor Executive Steering Committee Project Director Business Operations Review Team Armadale Health Service Technical Review Project Managers Staff in record department Medical Records Integration Project Structure Mental Health medical records from 2011 to current will be integrated and the only present patient records that whose storage will be at individual clinical areas. Integration of records will also involve creating a key records storage region within Mead Centre for storing all Mental Health medical records (two years worth 2011-2013). The record storage locale within Mead will be evaluated and moved since it does not meet medical storage standards for OSH and Fire Safety. The external courier will be utilised in one delivery/work day for conveying Medical Record and the medical record clerks will have the responsibility of retrieving and delivering medical records. The conclusion of schedule 6 FTE for integration of records and training will be between July and August 2014. In July 2014 the MERITS tracking system for medical records will be implemented and then reviewing of viability of TOPAS execution will be accomplished within January 2015. The execution of the new Medical Records Structure will be done concurrently with records integration (Bates, 2008). Quality and Risk Identification A risks assessment will be carried out to identify and document a risk alleviation approach relative to the risks that are identifiable before the project starts. Monitoring of the risk assessment will be done constantly and updated throughout the project’s duration, where monthly assessment will also be included within the status report and open for any adjustment by the Project Manager (Roberts, 2011). Since risk the project leadership is supposed to agree on risk alleviation approaches, it is important to have time allocated into each steering committee meeting, devoted in the identification of new risks and discussing risk mitigation approaches. The Project Manager will communicate amendments and recommended incidents to the Steering Committee monthly or earlier if necessary (Project Management Institute, 2010). Communications Plan The communication plan will provide a structure for informing, involvement, and obtaining buy-in from all participants throughout the period of the project and will involve the following: Audience The audience for this communication plan include: steering committee, project manager, user group participants, along with the subject matter professionals. Communication Methodology The communications methodology will use the following directions for efficient communication: Top-Down: All project participants will have the executive support and guidance for their efforts. The executive leadership in Armadale Health Service is therefore supposed tp speak with the same voice regarding the project and the expectations of everybody involved in the project. The Armadale Health Service management ought to speak directly to all organisational levels as well as take opinions from all organisational levels (Project Management Institute, 2010). Bottom-up: To make sure there is confidence of all the staff and stakeholders involved in the implementation of the projected project to certainty, it is also advisory for the communication as per the project’s planning. In case the opinion of the organization is that the project steering committee projected the record integration at Armadale Health Service, there is a likelihood of conflict taking place. On the other hand, if all project participants comprehend and appreciate that they are involved in the project and are consulted, acceptance and efforts on the project will be more promising. Middle-out: Full support at all levels during the project’s implementation is crucial for sustainable improvement. Efforts are supposed to be made to find and communicate the specific benefits of the project to all levels because staff stake is essential for the achievement of the project management practices (Trish, 2011). Medical Records Integration Reporting The following mode of reporting will be used for the project: Monthly Status Reports: The project manager will provide monthly written status reports regarding the project development to the steering committee and the reports will consist of: outline of tasks finished in preceding month, outline of tasks planned for completion in the subsequent month and outline of issue status as well as resolutions. Steering Committee Meeting: The meetings will be held at least monthly and the project manager will coordinate them. All steering committee members will be present during the meeting and the project manager will send the condition of the report to all team members prior to the meeting to enable each and every member assesses the report in advance. Project Team Status Meeting: These meetings will be held monthly and all project team members will be obligated to take part during the meeting. The project manager is required to always be sending the status report to all members of the project team prior to the meeting as this will ensure that the project members will analyze the status report in advance (Trish, 2011). Medical Records Integration Project Working Group & Stakeholder identification The steering committee will provide strategic, top direction regarding the procedures, progress and risks. The committee has the responsibility of taking a departmental perception to make sure that the project supports the delivery of required record keeping. The project team will report the status and the progress of the project to the steering committee regularly. The management at Armadale Health Service will also review, and endorse deliverables, supervise the activities of the project team, ensure conformity to the project plan and make sure that all project stakeholders are involved for the project tasks to be attained timely. The project team will tackle daily tasks and decisions made by the steering committee (Bates, 2008). The project stakeholders will consist of the staff members from the various Armadale Health Service departments, project manager, team project and the required professionals. The record management department will provide more emphasis on strategic record keeping, planning and management as this will see to it that apt and efficient administration of all record management activities for the project is maintained (Rouf, 2008). Project Budget Project Phase Budgeted Total Project Planning $350,000 Project Design $250,000 Project Execution $200,000 Project Testing $175,000 Project Closeout $150,000 Medical Records Integration Project Governance & Program Medical Record Integration Project will necessitate all project team members for the entire project period even though levels of effort will vary as the project progresses. The Project is programmed to take up about 8 months with standard 30 hour works weeks. In case a member of the project team is not needed for the entire 30 hour work week at any point during the project, the efforts of such team members outside of the Medical Record Integration Project will be at the discretion of the project manager (Joe, 2009). Program Calendar Timeline: Gantt chart References Bates, D. (2008). The use of health information technology in seven nations. International Journal of Medical Informatics. 77 (12), 848–854. Joe, R. (2009). Bringing electronic patient records into health professional education: Software architecture and implementation. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics. 150, 888–892. Glaser, J. (2009). Health Care Information Systems: A Practical Approach for Health Care Management. New Jersey: Jossey-Bass. Project Management Institute (2010). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Project Management Institute. Rouf, E. (2008). Health records in outpatient clinics: Perspective of third year medical students. BMC Medical Education. 8 (13). Ho, K. (2008). Technology enabled knowledge translation: Using information and communication technologies to accelerate evidence based health practices. Human and social aspects of health information. Hershey: Idea Group. Roberts, P. (2011). Effective Project Management: Identify and Manage Risks Plan and Budget Keep Projects under Control. London: Kogan Page Publishers. Trish, M. (2011). Real Project Planning: Developing a Project Delivery Strategy: Developing a Project Delivery Strategy. Sydney: Butterworth-Heinemann. Medical Record Integration Project 2013 Armadale Health Service; Mental Health Medical Records Integration, Working Party Meeting. Appendix Read More