Mobile Telemedicine Project Clinic for Statoil in Angola - Assignment Example

MOBILE TELEMEDICINE PROJECT CLINIC FOR STATOIL IN ANGOLA Introduction A project is usually a one-shot, time-limited, goal-directed, major undertaking, requiring the commitment of varied skills and resources. It is thus a combination of human and non-human resources pooled together in a temporary organization to achieve a specific purpose. Projects are of many different types. The purpose and set of activities which can achieve that purpose distinguish one project from another. Project management on the other hand, is the set of activities that involve fast-tracking the project activities to ensure that everything goes on as planned. It is the application of knowledge, skills and techniques to effectively and efficiently carry out a project. Project management can be strategic competency of an organization which enables it to compete effectively in the market. Project Summary Angola is one of the many African countries highly hit by the shortage of proper healthcare. The population has put up with poor healthcare facilities over the decades which can be attributed to political instability and massive brain drain (). Some of the people are forced to travel long distances to access healthcare. Many others end up losing their lives due to the inability to have timely access to the health facilities while others are totally unable to afford the cost of healthcare in the country. Statoil has thus decided to come up with this project to alleviate the society from the suffering they have undergone for many decades past. This project aims at establishing a fully equipped telemedicine facility with a customized common bus which can be used to access the more remote areas. The bus will have within it installed sophisticated medical equipment which can be used as a mini hospital in case the patient cannot be moved to the medical premises. Scope Angola is an African country which has one of the most acute shortages of healthcare facilities in the world. A civil war which occurred between the year 1975 and 2002 led to the collapse of healthcare in Angola with medical professionals fleeing the country and destruction of medical facilities. The government of Angola has over the years struggled to rebuild health facilities and recruiting doctors to work in those medical centres and hospitals. Many people fled to the capital city, Luanda, where slums have come up leading to overcrowding. The slum areas are highly infested with diseases owing to the fact that the conditions there are very unsanitary. Diarrheal diseases are common and in 2009, more than two thousand cases were reported (WHO, 2009) Healthcare conditions outside the capital are not good either, with immunization being almost impossible. Immunization recently got a boost with funds from international health organizations being used to drive campaign against polio. Malaria presents a major challenge with over 2.2 million cases reported in 2009 alone (WHO, 2009) Additionally, Angola is highly infected with sickle cell anemia, where more than a thousand infants are born with the condition annually (WHO, 2009) It is against this background that this project was hatched. The project aims at establishing a mobile telemedicine where the health facility is established inside a bus which can be used to move from one place to another. This will make it easy to reach the patients and save them the agony of walking hundreds of kilometres in search of health services. It would also make it possible to educate the population on disease prevention practices. This is because majority of these diseases can be prevented through their daily practice. Project Proposal Envisaged starting date: July 16, 2014 Envisaged completion date: March 27, 2014 Duration: 8½ months Total cost of project: $984,140 Amount available: $1,000,000 Problem statement Many healthcare projects in Angola have failed sustainability test. The proposed project is highly sustainable due to the overwhelming need for improved health services. The society is expected to be fully supportive of the project since it aims at making their lives better. Feasibility Study The government of Angola has faced immense challenge when improving the health sector in Angola. The improvement of health facilities in Angola has since received immense political goodwill. However, the health facilities are still in a woeful condition and the few which exist are highly inaccessible to majority of the Angolan public. Major improvements are ongoing but all indicators show that it would require the collective efforts of both the government and international donors to elevate the condition of the health facilities to a level which is easily accessible to the population. The life expectancy is pegged at forty seven years with one in every five children die before their fifth birthday. Malaria is the most common disease among the population. Majority of the people of Angola can hardly access safe drinking water. The number of doctors is very low and the ratio stands at one doctor attending to 100,000 people. Angolan people however find reprieve in that the prevalence of HIV is relatively low. Priority areas have been identified through the extensive data collected. This project therefore will mainly be established in the hot spot areas to enhance efficiency. The project will not focus much on establishment of new infrastructure since most of the activities will be conducted by use of the mobile bus which will be acquired specifically for the purpose. The existence of basic infrastructure such as roads will come in handy during the execution of the project. The execution of the project will however face challenges in some parts of the country where accessibility is hindered by the poor state of roads. The government of Angola has however undertaken substantial development of roads in several parts of the country. The foreign doctors working in Angola are mainly from Cuba while the country’s medical students acquire further training in Cuba. There is a challenge in the availability of higher education institutions, though five universities have already been established and numerous specialized training schools are coming up. Healthcare in Angola is divided into three levels; primary, secondary and tertiary which correspond to the three levels of government; district, provincial and national. Primary healthcare has in recent times improved significantly with the increased accessibility of the previously remote areas. Almost all of the health funding in Angola comes from the private sector, though healthcare spending as a percentage of the GDP still remains at a paltry two per cent in the year 2007. As earlier stated, Angola has been faced with massive brain drain where majority of the doctors working in foreign countries. The prevalence of private health facilities is rife in Luanda and other urban centres in Angola. Statoil aims at adding to the already established health facilities in the urban areas as well as areas away from the urban centres. Majority of these private health centres have been established by companies to serve their employees. To date, majority of the Angolan urban population use private health facilities through private health insurance. The National Insurance Company of Angola (ENSA S.A) has been able to offer comprehensive health insurance packages. In this plan are six private hospitals contracted to offer these services. The government of Angola has in recent times come under pressure to make health services available to majority of the population. This led to the adoption of the pro-poor approach to the offering of health services. The massive investment in the health sector by the government coupled with the unrelenting investment from the international front, the betterment of the health service in Angola has entered the homestretch. Many Angolans however feel these developments are long overdue. Statoil will join the many private international companies which have already established health facilities in Angola. Though this may seem like any other health investment, Statoil with be operating with very few parties in the field. Mobile telemedicine facilities are uncommon undertakings in Angola, probably due to the poor state of roads. It however will come with many benefits to the Angolan population. This project is not centered on the income that Statoil will get from the services it will be offering to the people; rather it will be an undertaking centered on saving lives and taking health services to the doorsteps of the patients. Cost Feasibility Since there will not be any physical infrastructure established on a certain piece of land, the cost of land will not be factored in in the cost feasibility study. The project will require the acquisition of an operating licence for the facility and its staff. The cost that will be incurred in the establishment of the facility will mainly be on the equipment that will be required in the operations. Budget The following are the equipment and their costs: Medical Equipment Equipment Cost 2 X-Ray scanners @ $50,000 2 pathological microscope @ $10,000 1 bed $500 2 digital 12 lead ECG @ $200 2 digital BP @ $150 2 digital glucometer @ $240 2 electronic stethoscope @ $250 2 digital microscope @ $8,000 2 digital PFT @ $5,000 2 pulseoxymeter @ $4,000 2 electronic ENT and fundoscope @ $12,000 2 skin camera @ $9,500 2 multiple parameter monitors @ $6,000 2 doppler ultrasound @ $20,000 2 CT scanner @ $120,000 2 MRI @ $140,000 Total $770,000 Room Facilities Facility cost Lighting equipment $400 2 audio microphones @ $30 1 telephone facility $200 2 fax machines @ $220 6 chairs @ $40 2 tables @ $55 Documentation rack $55 Air con $120 5 15-amp sockets and 5 5-amp sockets @ $10 3 KVA capacity UPS @ $180 Sound absorbing panels $200 White light facilities $150 VCE expo $6,000 Network equipment $40,000 Daughter boards $5,000 VSAT connectivity $2,500 2 routers @ $200 1 common bus $150,000 Total $206,515 Project Administration Cost Administration allowance – 8.5 months $5,000 Accounting fee $180 Audit fees $200 Stationary $145 Internet services $200 Sitting allowance – 5 members $150 Monitoring and evaluation – 4 members $50 Transport $1,500 Miscellaneous expenses $200 Total $7,625 Grand Total $984,140 In addition to the above requirements, three trained assistant will be recruited help with guiding the patients during the tele-consultation and perform maintenance. The cost of paying these assistants will be treated as recurrent cost and thus will be computed as wage to be paid at the end of the week, month or even as a lump sum. Network Diagram Slack Critical Path Gantt Chart 2014 2015 July Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Order Construction materials Deliver materials Construct facility Equipment list Order equipment Deliver equipment Arrange equipment/commence operations Project implementation plan The project is expected to run for eight and half months right from procurement of materials and equipment to the final facility. Deliverables This project is expected to produce a fully equipped telemedicine bus and a station with sophisticated medical equipment which is capable of handling over hundred patients a day. Sustainability The government of Angola has for a long time struggled with the challenge of offering reliable health services to its citizens. The government is thus fully supportive of the project and has pledge its unrelenting support to the project from construction, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Monitoring and Evaluation Participatory monitoring and evaluation is provided for in this project. Those involved in this process will be the minister of health and officials from Statoil Company. Accounting and Auditing As usual, proper books of accounts will be maintained for easy auditing. Procurement of the equipment will be done competitively so that the best equipment can be obtained. References Rase, H., and Barrow M., Project Management Institute, U.S.A, August, 2004 Stuckenbruck, L., The Implementation of Project Management, Addison Wesley, Reading, Mass., 1998 Choudhury, S., Project Scheduling and Monitoring in Practice, South Asian Publishers, New Delhi, 2003 Choudhury, S., Managing by Project Management, Lok Udyog, BPE, COG Complex, New Delhi, November, 1984 International Project Management Year Book, Butterworth, London, 1985 Project Management Journal, Project Management Institute, USA, August 1984 Project Management Institute, What is Project Management? Available at: http://www.pmi.org/About-Us/About-Us-What-is-Project-Management.aspx [Accessed: July 17, 2014] Expatarrivals, Healthcare in Angola, Available at: http://www.expatarrivals.com/angola/healthcare-in-angola [Accessed: July 17, 2014] Angola-Today, Health, Available at: http://www.angola-today.com/society/health/ [Accessed: July 17, 2014] Our Africa, Rebuilding Healthcare, Available at: http://www.our-africa.org/angola/poverty-healthcare [Accessed: July 17, 2014] Read More