Introduction:
A medium sized hospital, Community Memorial Hospital (CMH), is finally transitioning from paper medical records to an electronic health record. This has been in the planning stages for over 5 years but due to budget restrictions and lack of leadership, the plans have been stalled multiple times. Of the staff of 12 in the Health Information Management department and a team of 4 in the IT department, 5 have been selected to participate on the project team along with the CEO, CFO, Lab Manager, Clinic Manager, Nursing Supervisor, and Chief of Staff. This team of 12 has had an initial planning meeting and they know they have a deadline of 6 months. The Director of IT, and you, the Director of HIM, are going to be co-managing the project.
Purpose:
The case study is designed to support a course in basic Project Management. The project manager is responsible for managing a complete EHR planning lifecycle with a go-live date of 6 months from now. This entails activities and tasks for initiation, planning, executing, controlling and closing the project.
This integrated exercise requires considerable teamwork and successful application of the learning acquired through the study of the Basic Project management course content.
Background:
The Community Memorial Hospital has suffered several business setbacks in the past five years and has been downsizing and reducing staff, though business now appears to be stabilizing and there has even been signs of growth over the past year. Due to industry standards and Meaningful Use laws, the hospital must move to an EHR or suffer from inefficiencies as well as loss of revenue from Medicare due to the lack of technology.
The EHR software vendor has already been selected because two years ago this process was in place to go-live but financial setbacks and leadership changes forced the team to halt the project.
Current Situation:
Budget has now been allocated again for the EHR project and new leadership has put an EHR at the top of the list for strategic planning. The hospital is going with Cerner PowerChart and the Cerner representatives are ready with the previous plans and are ready to begin the process.
The Director of IT is responsible for the technical specifications and timeline while you, the Director of HIM is responsible for the work flow and the preparations necessary for moving from the paper record to the EHR.
For the first meeting, you have been tasked with making a general list of things that have to be completed as part of the project, or basically a simple to-do list just to get the brainstorming started. Include concepts of the EHR lifecycle. You know from your research and experience that the transition to the EHR does not stop with the go-live day. Don’t forget to bring up the continued maintenance, training, and updates that must happen in the years to follow.
Project Team Meeting:
The team had their second meeting. Your to-do list was appreciated at the meeting and you felt that you earned the respect of the team because you understand what has to happen for this project. The team elected you to create a first draft of the Gantt Chart that the team will then revise and adapt as needed. The Project Team will be meeting twice a week for the next 3 months (2 hours on Tuesdays and one hour on Fridays).
Deliverables:
- General to-do list of tasks that must be considered or completed as part of an EHR implementation
- Gantt Chart
NOTE: Although your instructor is an expert in Project Management, they are NOT an expert in health care or HIM topics. If you are stuck, you may consider contacting the HIM Program Director here at Charter Oak for some guidance.
Resources:
You are using the following resources for guidance:
Shepherd, A. The EHR Life Cycle — HIM’s Role in the Metamorphosis From Paper. For The Record. Vol. 22 No. 13 p.10. Retrieved from http://www.fortherecordmag.com/archives/071910p10.shtml
Duckert, Jane; Rose, Angela Dinh. “Embracing the EHR’s Challenges and Benefits: Grace Award Winner Reviews EHR Implementation Best Practices.” Journal of AHIMA 84, no.2 (February 2013): 42-43.
King, Elaine; Perry, Denise. “HIM Role in EHR Implementation.” 2009 AHIMA Convention Proceedings, October 2009.
Hall, Terri. “EHR Implementation.” Journal of AHIMA 76, no.10 (November/December 2005): 59,61.
