- As a CIO of a tribal organization, you have been asked to find an IT solution using an Resource and Patient Management System (RPMS) suite or module that improves tribal health care quality, enhances access to care, reduces medical errors, and modernizes administrative functions.
- Your tribe is currently using IHS’ RPMS healthcare services or system and is looking to renew its contract with IHS or replace the IHS RPMS system.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Stakeholders will want to have a starting point, or benchmark set of numbers and metrics, against which to measure the success of the project. Involve all project stakeholders early to identify and obtain historical or proposed healthcare usage, capacity, patterns, RPMS data, and metrics (even if manual).
- Perform a thorough tribal healthcare context analysis (including SWOT, envisioning, and metrics) and use these as inputs to develop business and technical requirements.
- Think strategically about the costs associated with the project. When you take the time to critically evaluate the costs associated with an alternative/"non-IHS (Indian Health Service)" RPMS version or module, don’t be surprised if the costs are the same as or very close to IHS’ RPMS. Don’t forget about modules and services that IHS does not provide or non-IT infrastructure items such as the need for barcode printers and scanners to track health services related inventories.
- Have an organization transition plan focused on people, processes, and technology. You want to make sure you reduce down-time, while leading your staff through role and accountability changes. Make sure to communicate these changes effectively because this is a stressful transition cycle.
Impact and Result
- Maximize your success and credibility by making a solid business case for your RPMS project by understanding the value it provides to the agency and community and be prepared to support it.
- Prepare for key objections and challenges by defining the tribal agency and community context for your RPMS deployment and making sure your technical requirements can satisfy your business requirements.
- Develop a comprehensive request for proposal based on your requirements and score your responses using a standard methodology.
- Effectively guide the organization through the healthcare services and RPMS project by carefully planning the change, communications, and your project timeline prior to implementation.
Workshop: Select, Implement, or Change a Resource & Patient Management System
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Evaluate Your Current State
The Purpose
- Understand your organization’s and environment’s current state.
- Assess your needs and requirements.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Understand where you are and where you want to go.
- Document your business needs to incorporate them in your business case.
Activities
Outputs
Assess your current state.
- SWOT Analysis
- Current State Assessment
Document challenges and opportunities.
- Stakeholder Vision
Evaluate and document your technical requirements.
- Baseline RPMS and project metrics and goals
- Business requirements
Module 2: Complete the Business Case
The Purpose
- Develop a business case that you will use to gain buy-in for your project.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Increase project traction through a well-thought-out business case.
- Gain a deeper understanding of your project’s ROI.
- Solidify your KPIs.
Activities
Outputs
Assess project financials.
- Financial Analysis
Develop your success metrics.
- List of KPIs
Complete your business case.
- Business Case
Module 3: Develop Your RFP
The Purpose
- Create an RFP for your RPMS solution.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Maximize the number of RFP responses that are relevant to your project and organizational needs.
- Improve the likelihood of selecting the right vendor and solution for your needs.
Activities
Outputs
Develop an RFP.
- RFP
Develop your RFP scoring methodology.
- RFP Scoring Tool
Module 4: Build Your RPMS Deployment Plan
The Purpose
- Create a strategy for deploying your RPMS solution.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Increase the likelihood of an effective project rollout.
- Reduce the probability of execution errors.
- Have an actionable plan with concrete timelines for your rollout.
- Drive organizational buy-in.
- Effectively communicate your rollout.
- Reduce employee stress associated with change management to increase productivity.
Activities
Outputs
Develop your organizational change management (OCM) plan.
- OCM Plan
Develop test and acceptance plans.
- Test Plan
Identify implementation/conversion risks.
Build a timeline.
- Implementation Plan