Michael Kelly Nov 2005

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St Francis Xavier University Information
Systems 415

• Michael Kelly Nov 2005

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Agenda

• A little bit about you
• A little bit about me
• A little bit about my current project
• Overview
• Real life Complexities and management strategies
• Different skills required (career options)
• Employment advice
• Questions/Answers

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A little bit about you

• How many of you are planning a career in
  Information Systems?
• How many of you are planning no further than the
  next party?
• What careers interest you?
• Developer
• Analyst
• Project Management
• Business Consulting
• The one that pays the best
• What areas can I discuss that will be interesting
  and informative for you?

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A little bit about me

• Native of Antigonish
• Graduated from St. F.X. BBA Maj IS in 1987
• Mullets and Big Hair
• The Untouchables
• Joshua Tree
• Employment History
• Nova Scotia Govt 1987-1993
• Anderson Consulting (Accenture) 1993-1997
• Sierra Systems (Eastbridge) 1997-present
• Developer/Analyst/Project Manager/Business
  Consulting

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A Picture of Information Flow in Healthcare today
DrugsEquipmentPublic HealthPopulation Health
Administrative InfrastructureInformation
Management
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Future Vision of Information Flow in Healthcare
Electronic Health Record
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(No Transcript)
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NShIS Organizational Scope

• 8 Districts (DHA 1-8)
• 34 Hospitals
• 1800 Beds (for example, St. Marthas is approx
  70-75 beds)
• 6000 Users

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NShIS Functional Scope

• Admissions/Registration, Medical Records,
  Abstracting
• Appointment Scheduling
• Billing and Accounts Receivable
• Pharmacy
• Imaging and Therapeutic Services
• Laboratory
• Patient Care System
• Order Entry
• Results Reporting
• Data Repository
• Health Card Number
• Interoperability with existing systems

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NShIS Implemented so far

• 8 of 8 Districts (DHA 1/4/6/7/8)
• 34 of 34 Hospitals
• 5500 of 6000 Users
• First hospital went live Feb 03
• Final hospital complete by March 06
• 34 hospitals in 37 months

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Complexity - Planning

• Challenges
• Project size and complexity
• Majority of team are clinical or administrative
  professionals
• Getting the right level of detail for different
  audiences
• Many, many, many arm chair quarterbacks
• Managed Through
• Fully Integrated plan for all sub-teams/districts
• Mostly time-boxed tasks
• Hard and soft dependencies
• Maintenance of plans within PMO

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Complexity - Scope Management

• Challenges
• Extending functionality to a broader range of
  services
• Adding functionality
• Interoperability with Provincial Programs
• Explaining what were not doingyet
• Managed through
• Project Owner and Steering Committee
• Impact on budget and schedule determine
  flexibility
• Just say nobut in a nice way

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Complexity - Schedule Management

• Challenges
• End date is fixed
• Districts have additional initiatives and
  priorities
• Only 9 months in an implementation year
• Renovations are often the critical path
• Managed Through
• Acceptance that end date is fixed(just say yes)
• Time-box approach
• Move on if you have to, come back later

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Complexity - Cost Management

• Challenges
• District decisions can influence cost
• Multi-year project annual govt funding feel
  our pain?
• Complex funding and reimbursement process
• Managed Through
• Very detailed tracking of forecast, budget and
  actuals
• Contingency held at PMO level

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Complexity - Quality Management

• Challenges
• Dont like it, is different than, doesnt work
• Tolerance for imperfection varies by area
• Operating and Implementing at the same time
• Managed Through
• Develop then follow a proven process
• Parallel Runs
• Continuous Improvement
• Actively managing expectations

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Complexity - Risk (and Issue) Management

• Challenges
• Wide range of risk tolerance
• Many outside factors
• Implementing and Operating at the same time
• Managed Through
• Multiple levels
• Formal logging/tracking
• Favorite escalated issue
• Disagreement on expanding the list of standard
  descriptions for stool to include pencil like

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Team has many different skills (careers)

• Change Management
• Business Process Design
• Training
• Communication
• Org Change
• Technical
• Developers
• Analysts
• Application Architects
• Technical Architects
• Network Architects
• Management
• Project Management
• Project Administration
• Privacy Experts

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Employment Advice

• Have a plan
• Where do you want to be in 5, 10, 20 years (these
  will change as you go)
• Experience is key
• Dont focus on the (at least at first)
• Smaller organizations have advantages (less
  specialized gain broad skill set)
• Gain a healthy understanding of what you dont
  know
• Recongize the value in your degree
• Youve learned how to learn
• Youve learned how to think critically
• Youve learned how to apply yourself
• Youve learned how to work in a team
• Be Persistent
• Be Realistic

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Sierra Systems Locations
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