Tracking Issues in Your Project

Tracking project issues properly and diligently is one of the most important things you can do for your project. One of the first things we do when joining a project is to assess the manner in which issues are being tracked, and the tool that is being used to track them. We should define an issue first. An issue should …

Simplifying Your Post Activation Audit

Shortly after your project goes live, you’ll want to determine if your activation was a success.  The overall value of a new system is measured by the sum of its parts.  There are ways to quantify “success” objectively and subjectively.  Both can be used to your advantage if done properly.

Objective measurements of your success may consist of the following:…

Assigning Ownership in Your Project

Have you ever learned a lesson the hard way?  Those lessons seem to stick, and I’d like to share one of my own, courtesy of the first project I ever managed.  They don’t teach this stuff in textbooks – or if they do, they don’t highlight it enough.

I was managing the install of a large HIS.  My project plan was in …

More Through Motivation

Have you ever been part of a phenomenal project team?  You feel that together you can accomplish anything.  Everyone has a “can do” attitude, each team lead takes ownership of his/her assignments, and teammates jump in to help when a colleague is in trouble. 

While these projects leave a wonderful, lasting impression, not all projects enjoy the same dynamics.  Occasionally, Atlanticon …

Setting an Activation Date

In the recent past, Atlanticon has consulted with many different hospitals, all asking us to help them determine an activation date.  Setting an activation date is an extremely important and sensitive subject.

Setting a date is important for the obvious reason—you need a target to drive toward.  But what drives the setting of a date?  Many things:

• You must shut

…

Project Readiness—Signing Off In Style

After many, many months of very hard work, you turn on your new system,  All goes well – patient care picks up where it left off, new registrations start flowing, bills drop, meds are charted, and you find yourself standing with a large group of happy colleagues.  It’s the dream of every project manager.  But if things don’t go so …

Project Liaisons—Gaining Commitment

HIS projects require dedicated effort and involvement from each and every department that will utilize the system.  Most hospitals do a fairly good job of obtaining representatives or “subject matter experts” from the larger departments, radiology, lab, nursing.  But is it enough?

In order for a project to be most successful, every department needs to be involved in the decisions, …

Vendor Contracts—Keeping Control

For those of you who are about to initiate a vendor contract for a major HIS project, your time to clarify some basic expectations is now.  In addition to the legal review required of all contracts, you as an IT or Project person will be living with the contract throughout the entire life cycle.  You can benefit by adding some …

When to Boost Your Staff with Consulting Help

Many CIOs and Directors have faced an identical dilemma: “How do I install a new HIS with my current staff so busy? And if I choose to use consultants, how do I utilize them?”

The best answer is, “Use consulting help where you will get the most benefit.”  Each site is different, and before coming up with the right answer, …

Making the Project Scope Useful, not Useless

Many years ago, we noticed that most sites develop Charters and Scopes and Implementation Visions – nicely bound and impressive to view from a distance.  But once they were written, they collected dust and were never referenced again – certainly not what most would consider useful project documents.  The problem was that very few people ever referenced these items, and …