MANAGING CLINICAL EXPECTATIONS
As a project manager, one of your many responsibilities is to manage the project scope in order to deliver
the project on time and control project related expenses. However, for those who have worked in the clinical
area you may realize that this is often one of the more challenging aspects of managing clinical projects.
A key to managing requests and therefore managing project expectations is to understand the mindset of the
clinician and altering your approach. The primary focus of clinicians is and will always be patient care.
Anything that appears to be a “threat” to the delivery of care will be perceived poorly. This “threat” can
appear in the form of an IT project or may be a new procedure or piece of equipment. With so many things to do
and often very little time and staff to do it, clinicians are under a great deal of pressure. Needing to take
time to learn new equipment or software is yet another burden to bear in an already overtaxed schedule.
Conversely when clinicians do become actively involved in a clinical IT project, their requests may seem more
like demands. Every request may be prefaced with a sense of urgency and the need to have the request delivered
immediately. Some of the request urgency results from the fast-paced, demand oriented world in which they
operate, the need to be immediately responsive to every situation and some of it may stem from requests gone
undelivered. It is our job as the PM to manage these requests and to understand the motivation behind the
request and its urgency.
If you are not aware of the clinical initiatives underway or being planned, educate yourself. You may be able
to obtain a copy of the clinical strategic plan which outlines the activities planned for the next year/s. You
may also need to find out whether or not the hospital is attempting to obtain Magnet status. Understanding what
the clinical initiatives are within the organization will help you manage the expectations of the current
project and proactively address the scope of work for upcoming projects. Additionally, inquire about the
regulatory or compliance mandates of the hospital. If the hospital is currently out of compliance or can not
achieve compliance without automating a component of their data collection, you may need to accept the request
into the current project and not defer to a future project phase.
It’s important to understand the motivation behind a clinician’s urgency. This may be as simple as a
conversation about the request and what the scope of the current project will address. You may have to address
future state work flow and why this request may not be necessary due to changes in work flow. In essence,
clinicians need to be comfortable with the reality that the delay of their request will not interfere with the
appropriate and safe delivery of care.
If you would like to discuss this article or other Project Management issues, please contact Joan Greising
at jgreising@getvitalized.com