Instructions: As the new Director of Information Management, you have been tasked with implementing a new clinical information system for pharmacy services at the hospital. 

The hospital would like to purchase a pharmacy system that will enable physicians to automate orders through Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) in hopes of reducing order delays, improving the legibility of orders, streamlining operations, and ultimately improving patient safety by reducing medication errors. 

In spite of previous efforts, there has been little movement towards the implementation of the CPOE, and selecting and putting the CPOE into operation are main reasons that you have been hired. 

The organization has competent and dedicated hospital leaders who are strongly supportive of the CPOE concept, demonstrating a sound commitment to its implementation.  There are also physician champions dedicated to implementing the CPOE and actively involved in influencing other staff physicians to accept the CPOE.  These physicians are also ready to facilitate workflow issues involved in using the new system.

This project is comprised of five (5) parts.  Refer to the following guidelines, notes, and summaries as you prepare your response.  Your Stand-Alone Project responses should be both grammatically and mechanically correct and formatted in the same fashion as the project itself. 

If there is a Part A, your response should identify a Part A, etc.  In addition, you must appropriately cite all resources used in your response and document them in a bibliography using APA style. (3 graphical displays, a 15-slide presentation, and a 10-page response are required for the combinations of parts A, B, C, D, and E.)

Part A   SWOT Analysis

You begin your selection and implementation process by calling a project planning meeting.  You take scrupulous notes during the meeting. (A copy of your notes is located at the end of these instructions).

1.   Based on the discussion during the meeting, perform a SWOT Analysis to define organizational efforts and needs.  Create a SWOT matrix.

2. Next, provide a written summary of the SWOT results; be sure to address areas that could pose as risk issues for a successful implementation.

Part B    Request for Proposal

The hospital requirements and needs were also discussed during the meeting. Your next step will be to create a generic request for proposal (RFP) that will be sent to all the vendors. Your RFP should consist of the following information.

1.   Cover Letter

2.   Proposal Information

3.   A list of questions for vendors. Make sure to include the following topics.

a.   Functional Specifications

b.   Technical Requirements

c.   Implementation Requirements

d.   Systems Costs

Part C    Vendor Comparison

You have now received information from several vendors. You have selected the two top vendors, and a summary of their information is provided at the end of these instructions. 

1.   First, create a matrix to compare the vendors aligned with your organizational needs and your RFP questions.

2.   Based on your matrix, select a vendor for implementation and prepare a proposal for the chief information officer (CIO). Your proposal should discuss the following information.

a.   The matrix comparing the two vendors against RFP questions

b.   Your methodology for choosing the vendor and a justification of your decision

Part D    Executive Presentation

The CIO has approved your proposal and has confidence in your selection of the vendor.  Now you are required to present the project information to the executive team for their final approval.  Your PowerPoint presentation should be at least 15 slides in length and include the following topics.

1.   SWOT Summary and Analysis

2.   Vendor Comparison Matrix and Analysis

3.   Top Five RFP Questions and Vendor Response

4.   Financial Impact for Each Vendor

5.   Methodology for Vendor Selection and Chosen Vendor

Part E     Implementation Plan

The executive team appreciated your presentation and thoroughly agrees with your decision. You must now develop an implementation plan to further move the project along. Below are the implementation plan requirements.

1.   Develop a project timeline. The entire project will require a two-year installation, and will be rolled-out in phases.

a.   Phase I:  Planning

b.   Phase II:  Design, Development, and Building

c.   Phase III:  Implementation (within hospital)

d.   Phase IV:  Implementation (outside physician offices)

2.   Develop a training plan for the following staff.

a.   Physician Staff

b.   Nursing Staff

c.   Pharmacy Staff

d.   Other Clinical Staff

e.   Pertinent Managers and Leaders

f.    Database Manager

g.   Data Quality Manager

3.   Develop a data quality plan.

a.   As part of the new implementation, two new positions will be needed: Database Manager and Data Quality Manager. Develop job descriptions for each new position.

b.    Outline data characteristics and requirements.

c.    Outline tracking systems that will be used.

d.    Outline procedures for analyzing data and information.

e.    Outline procedures for ongoing improvements.

Project Planning Meeting Notes

I.  Positives/Advantages for New Information System Implementation

A.    Strong leadership and executive support

B.    Focus on improved clinical practice

C.    Physician support

D.    Leading technological hospital in the metropolitan area

II. Key Issues Discussed

A.    Current hospital focus on patient safety

B.    Desire to significantly reduce medication errors

C.    Interest in standardizing medication ordering processes

D.    Need for improved workflow processes in pharmacy services

E.    Must have a positive impact on hospital efficiency

III. Staffing Issues

A.    Wide-ranging; various professional groups will be impacted

B.    Highly knowledgeable information system staff

C.    Currently a pleasant and comfortable work environment for staff

D.    Concerns of adequate training and assistance available for all involved clinical staff

IV. Possible Disadvantages or Obstacles

A. Rising costs of resources

B. Limited budget constraints due to previous commitments

C. Lack of time for user training 

D. Knowledge base within nursing and allied health professions

E. New technology and staff attitude towards changes

F. Physician and clinical staff level of comfort with technology

G. Some area hospitals already have CPOE

V. Vendor Requirements

A. Must be committed to the CPOE market

B. Commitment to a long-term relationship with the hospital

C. Product maturity - time vendor has been developing CPOE products

D. Ability to measure hospital efficiency through CPOE data

E. Costs for implementing the system

Vendor Summaries

Vendor #1:  MedSafe Implementations

• Headquartered in Lamply, NY
• First introduced in 1998
• $38 billion in annualized operating revenue
• Serving over 23,000 customers
• Data analysis for improved outcomes - enable health care providers to mine data collected via CPOE software
• Recognized for technology in health care to reduce medication errors
• Initial implementation costs of $1.2 million with $25,000 per year maintenance
• Average implementation 1.5 years
• Local customers include, Children's Hospital of Lamply, Sacred Holy Christian Hospital of Lamply
• Provide on-site staff training

Vendor #2:  StartRight Technologies

• National office in Sacro, SC
• A leading software vendor in the health care informatics industry for 15 years
• Serve many organizations to include hospitals, ambulatory care centers, physicians' offices, and long term care facilities
• $42 billion in annual operating revenue
• Automatically transmit orders to the pharmacy and patient's medical record
• Software provides alerts to allergies and other potential dangers during the ordering process
• Electronic Signature capability - physicians can sign verbal orders and view results from any computer
• Order process is integrated to instantly compare formulary data against a patient's record
• Patient and drug information is presented to the physician at the time of ordering
• Order sets can be based upon physician preferences
• Software provides dose checking, calculator, and other conflict checking
• Historical patient information is displayed when ordering new medications
• Staff-intensive training, off-site
• Initial implementation costs are $1.8 million with minimal yearly maintenance costs