Introduction of Project

Currently, Hospital Management System handle and maintain crucial data manually. The existing method necessitates several paper forms and data storage across the hospital administration. Form data is often incomplete or does not meet managerial requirements. Forms are often lost in transit between departments, necessitating a thorough auditing procedure. The hospital has many copies of the same data, causing errors in numerous data storage (Duke, 1996). Managing and retrieving large amounts of data is critical to any hospital’s functioning, including personal and medical histories of patients, staff information, room and ward scheduling, staffing of operating theatres, and different facility waiting lists. This data must be handled efficiently and economically to maximize an institution’s resources. HMS will streamline hospital administration and eliminate errors. Inconsistencies in data are reduced by standardizing and consolidating data.

Project Business Case

Any hospital may use the Hospital Management System (HMS) to replace its traditional paper-based system.

Aim of Project

The new system will govern patient data, room availability, staff and operating room scheduling, and patient billing (Duke, 1996). These services will be supplied efficiently and effectively, minimizing the time and resources now needed. Managing and retrieving large amounts of data is critical to any hospital’s functioning, including personal and medical histories of patients, staff information, room and ward scheduling, staffing of operating theatres, and different facility waiting lists. This data must be handled efficiently and economically to maximize an institution’s resources. HMS will streamline hospital administration and eliminate errors. Inconsistencies in data are reduced by standardizing and consolidating data.

Value and benefit of different modules of a project

A short description of each module along with its is cost discussed below.

Reception Module

The reception module manages patient admission, discharge, bed census, and patient mobility within the hospital (Lium, Laerum, Schulz and Faxvaag, 2006). Moreover, the System can also manage patient fixed-cost packages, doctor consultation and scheduling, time allocation, patient enquiry, doctor visits, and appointment details. It will cost around €50,000 for Implementation and other services. The duration of this module will take 5 months to implement the module completely.

Administration Module

Doctor speciality, consulting fee, and service costs are handled by this module. Therefore, It includes Employee Detail Recording, Doctor Details and Referral Doctors instructions (Chan, 2000). This module will cost around €30,000 for Implementation. The duration of this module will take 3 months to implement the module completely.

Pharmacy Module:

This section is all about medicine. It Keeps track of drug/ consumable receipts, returns, and stock management (Smith and Joseph, 2003). Additionally, It also aids with IPD and OPD Pharmacy needs. This module will cost around €20,000 for Implementation. The duration of this module will take 2 months to implement the module completely.

Laboratory Module:

This module manages patient investigation requests, generates test results for services, including clinical pathology, X-rays, and ultrasounds (Gascón et al., 2013). Modules are linked to the registration, wards, and payment modules. This module will cost around €20,000 for Implementation. The duration of this module will take 2 months to implement the module completely.

Registration Module:

This module assists in enrolling patients and managing IPD and OPD queries. After registration, each patient gets a unique ID. This procedure helps with customer relationship management and patient medical history (Ahmed and Zeebaree, 2017). Furthermore, this module will cost around €30,000 for Implementation. The duration of this module will take 3 months to implement the module completely.

Challenges faced during the project

Human Challenges

Three vital human barriers prevent the healthcare industry from implementing the HMS.

• There is a shortage of qualified healthcare instructors who thoroughly understand HMS and other related technologies (Berg, 2001).
• HMS Software has had poor reception.
• Lack of health informatics specialists who are competent in creating and applying the methods.

In addition, many additional issues might lead to the failure of an HMS implementation.

• Nature of healthcare professionals
• HMS training and learning was hindered by a shortage of time
• The absence of support and encouragement from healthcare professionals, among other things.

Technical Challenges

HMS implementation in the healthcare industry has also been hampered by a lack of data entry and retrieval standards and difficulties in technically training users to use the system (Ash, 2003). 

Directing the Project

The Project Manager for Hospital Management System (HMS) is not an easy task to complete. It entails a great deal of responsibility. In a project with so many moving Hospital Management System (HMS) modules and so many individuals engaged in the project’s success, Project Managers need to keep one step ahead of the competition (Jugdev et al., 2013). The output produced determines whether a project succeeds or fails to keep the scope, personnel, and timelines on track. Keeping one step ahead of the competition has become even more critical during the global pandemic since many project teams are now operating from distant locations. Such distance location working will cover ideas on communication, effective management, organization, and employee perks. The six actions outlined below may assist in making a project a success.

Hire the most qualified candidate for the position.

Typically, while a project is just getting started at a hospital location, the aim is to locate the most qualified people to do the duties at hand. Finding the most qualified Project Manager is equally vital. This should be someone with sufficient expertise and training to properly manage the project, rather than just someone who happens to be available at that time. The most qualified Project Manager is the one whose skill set is a good fit for the project’s needs (Joslin and Müller, 2016). The preference for implementing the Hospital Management System (HMS) will be given to a medical background with sufficient knowledge to deal with project management agile skills. It is also critical that the project manager adapt to the ever-changing environment of remote teams and lead a virtual project execution team with efficiency and effectiveness.

Obtain whole consent team

Consent is the beginning of the Hospital Management System (HMS) process. The project manager or the Project Team frequently decides the scope, estimates, expenditures, and timetables of a project in cooperation with project participants. A distinct group of people often develops business cases and proposals (Saarinen and Saarinen, 1990). Making the project execution team part of developing the project plan and schedule is critical in ensuring team buy-in. The following are critical issues on which to reach an agreement:

• Describe the scope of the project and identify the individuals who will be responsible for each component.
• What skills are required for all of the project work, and whether or not they are readily available when needed?
• Exactly how will we know when each package of work is completed?
• When will the project be finished successfully, and when will we have to achieve technical or functional objectives?
• What are the potential hazards that may surface throughout the project, and how will the team deal with them if they occur?
• This is a subset of elements that need to be agreed upon by the whole Project Team before a project can begin.

Make sure that the executive team is on board.

It is not enough to have team buy-in to make a project successful. If the Executive supporting the initiative related to Hospital Management System (HMS) is not fully committed to the project, all of the team players in the world will not be of assistance. At the organization’s top, a particular individual must assume responsibility for the project and demonstrate its support.

Projects sometimes need the assistance of a project manager to overcome opposition, acquire restricted resources, or handle scope concerns with internal or external customers (Munns and Bjeirmi, 1996). The ability of a project sponsor to deal with these issues is critical to the project’s success.

• Achieving the project’s objectives while keeping the company’s vision and strategy in mind
• Use power to get obstacles out of the way throughout the project’s lifespan.
• Act as a project champion.

Decrease the amount of work in progress

A large number of projects in production at the same time will strain the hospital, leading all projects to suffer as a result of the pressure. It is usual for folks to feel that if they are presently doing something for one project, it would be easy to do it for many others concurrently. Multitasking has been proved to slow individuals down, thus encouraging  Project Managers and team members to concentrate on just a limited number of activities and projects at a time. Efficiencies will increase, as will the quality of work produced; delays will be avoided, which will benefit the whole business.

Schedule regular meetings and make sure they are held.

Many excellent Project Teams have brief daily meetings to keep their momentum going. It is not sufficient to send sporadic emails or to wait until there is a problem before communicating. Communication is essential to the success of a project as well as the continuity of the project. Find a time that works for everyone. OrganizeOrganize a daily stand-up or weekly update meeting that everyone must attend in person or by videoconference. This attendance will guarantee that everyone is on the same page, as opposed to presuming that an essential piece of information has been distributed to everyone, and it will aid in the detection of issues before they become significant problems.

Communication has become even more critical for many firms as they make a move to a remote workforce. It is necessary to examine tools that allow for more efficient communication when teams are not physically present with one another. In order to remain alert in adjusting to the new normal, a Project Manager must consider what works for one team and what does not work for another.

Clearly define the scope of the project.

Before doing any further work on the project, outline its scope. If a different team created the project, revise the scope to reflect specific tasks, deadlines, and the project’s ultimate goal. So the Project Manager can battle scope creep and unrealistic timescales, two project killers. A well-defined scope helps to keep everyone on the same page and working toward the same end goal (Davis, 2014). The scope, timeline, and budget of a project are all well-known yardsticks for determining whether or not a project is on track. Over time, these different processes will make the Project Manager’s work more straightforward and enable him to manage all aspects of the project to a successful, on-time, and within budget project completion.

Planning  with Gantt Chart

A Gantt chart depicts a timeline that helps plan, manage, and monitor project activity. Gantt charts are vital for project planning. They help determine project duration, resource requirements, and activity sequencing. They assist manager job dependency. Gantt charts are vital for project tracking (Maylor, 2001). Corrective actions may be taken to bring the project back on track. These measurements may be critical to the project’s success. To create a Gantt chart, follow these steps:

List all actions in the plan.

Show the earliest start date, projected duration, and whether the activities are parallel or sequential. Suggest which steps tasks depend on.

Preparation of Graph

Head up graph paper with the days or weeks through to job completion.

Plot the tasks onto the graph paper.

Next, create a rough Gantt Chart. Plot each task on the graph paper, starting as soon as feasible. Draw it as a bar, the length of which represents the assignment. Indicate the time necessary to complete each assignment.

Schedule activities.

Now use the draught Gantt Chart to arrange your activities. Plan them so that subsequent actions are completed in the correct sequence. Ensure that dependent actions do not start until dependent activities are done. When scheduling, make the most use of existing resources and avoid over-committing.

Presenting the analysis.

The last step in this process is to create the Gantt chart. This stage should combine the above draught analysis with the scheduling and resource analysis. This chart will show when chores should be started and finished. Limit the jobs (no more than 15 or 20) to keep the Gantt chart on one page. More complex projects may need subordinate charts detailing the time spent on each subtask. An additional column with numbers or initials designating who is responsible for each task is beneficial for collaborative projects.

Project Closure

Upon conclusion of a project, a Project Closure Report is generated. Project stakeholders often utilize the project report to evaluate its progress since it contains all relevant information (Bengtson, Havila and Åberg, 2018). Additionally, the paper serves as a helpful resource for identifying best practices that may be applied to future projects to make them even more successful.

It is not as easy as it seems to write a Project Closure Report. Several critical measures must be taken. It is critical to follow each stage of the letter to get the best possible outcome from the project. To assist in completing Project Closure Report, below are the procedures that should follow.

A Summary Statement.

Currently, hospitals handle and maintain crucial data manually. The existing method necessitates several paper forms and data storage across the hospital administration. Form data is often incomplete or does not meet managerial requirements. Forms are often lost in transit between departments, necessitating a thorough auditing procedure. The hospital has many copies of the same data, causing errors in numerous data storage.

Results and Outcomes Of The Project

The new system has to manage patient data, room availability, staffing, and invoicing. These services have been delivered efficiently, saving time and resources. Data management and retrieval are crucial in hospitals, including patients’ personal and medical history, personnel information; room and ward scheduling; and operating theatre staffing. Healthcare Management System has improved hospital efficiency and reduced mistakes. Standardizing and consolidating data reduces data inconsistency.

Project Scope, Project Schedule, And Project Cost

The project scope covered the 5 segments of the Health care centre, which included a reception, administration, pharmacy, laboratory and registration. Such coverage will cover the entire operation of the hospital from customer admission to discharge cycle. The project was decided to complete in 1 year time. However, the Implementation of modules was scheduled as follow.

Project Highlights

An easy-to-modify package has been created for the future of the product. According to the progress of the project, the following may be concluded.

• A fully automated system increases productivity.
• Compared to the current system, it has a more user-friendly graphical user interface.
• It allows authorized users to access the information they are entitled to based on their permissions.
• Using this method significantly reduces the time it takes to communicate.
• It has never been simpler to keep information current.
• There is much emphasis on security, data security, and dependability.
• If required, the system will be able to accommodate future changes.

Benefits of Health Care project

• Communication in the health care system has been greatly facilitated by integrating software into the system. As a consequence, approved logins provide access to all data from anywhere in the globe. The cost of using this kind of communication has decreased (Arah, Westert, Hurst and Klazinga, 2006).
• As a result of technological advancements, numerous restrictions have been removed. Geographical limitations are regarded to be a significant problem in the health care system. With the help of the hospital administration system, this issue has been resolved.
• The information in the hospital management system is accessible every day of the week, 24 hours a day. In this case, the reports may be sent at any moment of the day. As a result, there is no chance of a delay in receiving therapy. As a result, the form of communication has grown less expensive overall. As a result, there will be no delays in the delivery of any reports to the authorities.
• Another benefit of the hospital management system is that it increases efficiency and reduces costs. Automated systems have shown to be more efficient than manual systems in the current day and age.
• In recent days, most of the changes have been made to a single system. Changes in the school system are seen as one of the most critical aspects of the project. As a result, a whole new system has emerged.

Disadvantages of Health Care project

• Security is one of the most significant drawbacks of the hospital management system. Security concerns arise if they go online without enough protection, leading to severe issues (Floyd and Sakellariou, 2017).
• The healthcare business is plagued by another significant issue: data breaches. Not only that but the issue is also acknowledged to be a complex one.
• Another example is a lack of work. Automated systems tend to reduce work opportunities. In addition, the requirement for manual data drafting is gradually becoming obsolete.

References

Ahmed, M. and Zeebaree, S., 2017. Design and Implementation of an e-Hospital System at Kurdistan. Kurdistan Journal of Applied Research, [online] 2(3), pp.80-86. Available at: http://www.spu.edu.iq/kjar/index.php/kjar/article/view/101.

Arah, O., Westert, G., Hurst, J. and Klazinga, N., 2006. A conceptual framework for the OECD Health Care Quality Indicators Project. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, [online] 18(suppl_1), pp.5-13. Available at: https://academic.oup.com/intqhc/article/18/suppl_1/5/1798473?login=true.

Ash, J., 2003. Some Unintended Consequences of Information Technology in Health Care: The Nature of Patient Care Information System-related Errors. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, [online] 11(2), pp.104-112. Available at: https://academic.oup.com/jamia/article/11/2/104/882373?login=true.

Bengtson, A., Havila, V. and Åberg, S., 2018. Beyond Project Closure: Why Some Business Relationships Recur in Subsequent Projects. Project Management Journal, [online] 49(2), pp.89-104. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/875697281804900206.

Berg, M., 2001. Implementing information systems in health care organizations: myths and challenges. International Journal of Medical Informatics, [online] 64(2-3), 143-156. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1386505601002003.

Chan, A., 2000. WWW+smart card: towards a mobile health care management system. International Journal of Medical Informatics, [online] 57(2-3), pp.127-137. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1386505600000617.

Dahlgaard, J., Pettersen, J. and Dahlgaard-Park, S., 2011. Quality and lean health care: A system for assessing and improving the health of healthcare organizations. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, [online] 22(6), pp.673-689. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14783363.2011.580651.