THE PROJECT ASSESSMENT -
SANITY CHECK FOR SUCCESS!
By Janice Macdonald, MS, PT
We all know implementing a McKesson project is complex. Any project in a hospital can be a difficult endeavor
to achieve depending on its size and user impact. Information Technology projects are especially so. A
successful healthcare IT project, large or small, requires involvement and support at all levels of the
organization. Senior management, clinical care providers, business staff, information systems, and system
vendors must work as a team to ensure positive outcomes.
A Project Assessment is a valuable tool to guide a project in the planning stages, validate the organization
is ready to begin a project, or provide course correction and guidance to a project that has gone off track.
An effective project assessment begins with an introduction to the organization including a facility tour
and meeting with the project steering committee to establish the scope and goals of the project at hand. Any
existing documentation will be reviewed by the assessment consultants. A key component of the project
assessment consists of a series of interviews. The interview consists of several individual 20-30 minute
structured conversations which allow for candid interaction of the project and a better sense of current state
of the initiative and the desired outcomes. Interviews are conducted with:
- Project Steering Committee
- Executives
- Department Head Interviews
- Select key users
- Current Project Manager
- McKesson Representative (Vendor)
Critical to the value of these interviews is to get a representative cross-section of the departments that
will be impacted by the new system and a cross-section of the build team members.
Findings are categorized in three major areas:
- Project Management
- Project Documentation (Ex: Charter, Scope, Approach and Assumptions)
- Project Governance and Organizational Structure
- Vendor Relationships and Contract
- Current State
- Review of all project activities to date via workplan (if available)
- Application Build/Conversions/Interfaces (if in progress)
- Testing approach & planning
- Training
- Culture Relevant to Project
- Project Teams
- Capacity
- Vendor relationship
- Communication
Comprehensive report cards are then developed for each of the areas assessed. Areas of strength and of
concern are identified and documented. Based on the findings of the project assessment, recommendations are
developed to provide the organization with a higher probability of success. To the right is a sample dashboard
that illustrates an example of a report card that is generated from the assessments.
If you would like more information on our McKesson practice or assistance with upcoming IT enabled projects,
please feel free to contact me at vcs@getvitalized.com. You can also reach me at (610) 444 1233. Our website
has additional newsletter and articles that may be helpful. Visit our site at
www.getvitalized.com.
The Dashboard provides a high level view of the general conditions and risk levels associated with the
individual categories/areas of the Paragon System Project Assessment. For each category, a brief condition
summary and overall health indicator are provided. More detailed findings and recommendations can be found in
our PMO JumpStart Solutions.
