In a well documented information technology project management failure, Island Health
was forced to suspend the roll out of iHealth, an integrated electronic medical records
(EMR) system that was supposed to become the ‘gold standard’ for EMR systems in the
province of B.C. The first site to roll out the software system was at the Nanaimo General
Hospital.
Some of the challenges are well covered by Paul Ramsey’s blog:
http://blog.cleverelephant.ca/2017/02/nanaimo-ihealth.html
There are many news articles you can find the educate yourself on the intricacies of this
project, including why they project did not succeed:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/island-health-ihealth-nanaimo-1.399
5300
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/nanaimo-hospital-island-health-ihealt
h-mediator-vch-dix-1.4488318
https://vancouversun.com/news/politics/vancouver-island-ihealth-project-should-not-ex
pand-until-problems-fixed-says-report
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/canadian-cerner-ehr-investigation-finds-install
-was-mismanaged-underfunded
https://www.health.gov.bc.ca/library/publications/year/2017/review-of-Island-Health-I
Health-electronic-health-record-system.pdf
Note: A basic search of “Island Health iHealth” or related search term will yield more than
enough results to be successful in your submission:
Assignment Instructions:
● In any format you like, so long as it follows APA referencing criteria, answer the
following questions within the word count range provided to each question.
● Think outside the box, think critically, and be creative in your responses – there are
numerous approaches to successfully answering each question!
Questions:
- Within the first few weeks after activation, physicians and other end users began
to express concerns about the iHealth functionality. In particular, users raised
concerns about the design of the system. iHealth was an initiative that was
undertaken before achieving alignment with its key users.
QUESTION: In thinking about iHealth, why is it critical for key stakeholders and
key users to have buy in on the vision and outcomes of a project? (250-300
words) - Immediately after the activation, physicians, clinicians, and other end users raised
concerns about the usability and safety of the new system.
QUESTION: In thinking about iHealth, when managing a project such as this why
is acting on user feedback early on in the project roll out phase important? What
proactive steps would you have taken (as a member of the project team) in this
case to have been more responsive to the end user? (250-300 words) - The success or failure of a major transformational project such as iHealth has to be
evaluated with the understanding that any change initiative of this magnitude can
be difficult. Even successful implementations often face considerable challenges!
QUESTION: If you were the project manager, what steps would you have taken to
gather factual information about the presenting concerns and how would you
have formulated observations / actionable recommendations to improve iHealth?
(250-300 words) - Health care systems across Canada and globally are moving towards increasing use
of information technology (IT) systems to support the delivery of care across a
continuum of services.
QUESTION: With a solution focused mindset (in a health setting where the risks
are high, i.e patient safety), what steps would you take (or process would you
follow) to identify the risks associated with the design and implementaiton of a
large scale software application? Assume you’ve just been assigned the role of risk
manager on the team, in your own words, outline the process you would take.
(250-300 words) - As with large scale change in any organization, the issues related to the iHealth
program could not be solved until critical issues with organizational culture and
governance at both the iHealth and Health Authority level were addressed. This
project in particular was characterized by a broad lack of confidence in the ability
of service providers, clinicians, administrators, managers, and leadership to deliver
an effective solution.
QUESTION: How would you influence people around you to remain positive and
solution focused in a time when stakeholders may be deeply polarized,
entrenched, resistant and/or generally dissatisfied with current state of a project?
Sample Solution