Conference Room Pilot – Your Application Functions, but is it Functional?

I will admit that I didn’t make up the name “Conference Room Pilot.”  But I sure love the concept.  For those of you who don’t know about a CRP, it is a concept where you simulate how the system will function.  It’s a very useful phase of testing that most hospitals never take advantage of.  Why?  They don’t have the time, they don’t understand the value, or they think it’s too difficult to coordinate. 

So basically, you design your system, build it, and put it through all the functional testing you want.  Perhaps you even make it through Integration Testing.  Is that enough testing?  No, not in my opinion.  I always believe that your rounds of scripted testing should be done by skilled analysts.  I’ve seen some hospitals try and use end users to help with integration testing, and it doesn’t always come out well.  End users don’t necessarily understand the importance of documenting steps used to recreate issues, and sometimes they can overlook problems that a skilled IT person might spot.  A good rule of thumb to remember with testing: The IT department is responsible for making sure the application FUNCTIONS, while your end users need to make sure the application is FUNCTIONAL.  And this is where a CRP comes in.

I would encourage you to set aside a couple of two day periods where you can execute a CRP, after you are confident you have worked all the bugs out of the system.  Set up a room with various stations to simulate a day in the life of a patient.  You can even enlist the help of a colleague to act the part of the patient.  Get your end users to man their stations, and go through the paces, using only a general guideline of what the patient will encounter, i.e., no detailed scripts.  Your patient will walk to the terminal that is designated as “Registration.”  Let the end user do their thing!  Then move your “patient” to the next station – perhaps it’s the lab, radiology, or even the nursing unit you have simulated in the room.  Give each end user the opportunity to simulate their normal workflow.  Make sure that printouts are routed to a handful of printers right there in the room, and that the equipment you intend to use, WOWs, monitors, laptops, etc., are all in use.

Allow your end user “testers” to spend as much time as needed and collect their feedback.  Was the workflow acceptable?  Did the printout provide them with enough information to do their job?  Was the data they needed accessible and easy to read?  By scheduling two sessions, you can have time to make adjustments and give it a second go.