Project Management: Initiation, Planning, Execution, Control & Closing - Essay Sample

Introduction

A project refers to a series of tasks that are required to be completed so that specific outcomes may be achieved or reached (Joan & Lara, 2012). It may also be used to refer to sets of inputs as well as outputs that are required so that specific goals may be achieved(Joan & Lara,2012). Project management, on the other hand, may be used to refer to the practice of initiation, planning, execution, control as well as the closing of the work of a specific team within a particular period so that it can meet specific criteria and achieve specific goals(Aarts, Doorewaard & Berg, 2014). Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) refers to an electronic process that is mainly used by medical practitioners to enter the instructions of treatment of their physicians (Vaidyanathan, 2013). The primary purpose of this essay is to analyses the case study that is given and uses it to answer the questions that follow.

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CPOE Definition and Its Benefits

Computer Physician Order Entry (CPOE) may be referred to as a system that is used for prescribing orders electronically, which is mainly used to ensure that it intercepts errors, especially at the time that the ordering of the medications is being done (Vaidyanathan, 2013). CPOE has many benefits, and they bring a lot of positive impacts on all the people that are involved in the practice. The significant benefits that the CPOE has are as follows;

CPOE helps reduce healthcare costs. This is mainly due to the fact that CPOE ensures that there are improved efficiencies, and therefore the costs that may be used to cover up for some inefficiencies, as well as disorganization, are low.

CPOE ensures that there is improved communication. Nurses, pharmacists as well as physicians, can communicate effectively and therefore transfer the right information that is required between each other so that they can perform at their optimal.

CPOE gives physicians current and accurate data. This makes it possible for the physicians to become informed of all the new drugs that are available in the market place, and they are therefore able to make informed decisions on the best drugs to take.

CPOE also can give prompts as well as alerts that ensure that warnings are made against the possibility of overdose, allergies, and drug interactions (Vaidyanathan, 2013).

CPOE also ensures that drug-related information is provided. This ensures that confusion is eliminated due to similarities that may be common in drugs.

CPOE also ensures that paperwork is reduced because the orders are placed in computers.

CPOE ensures that the overall common errors are reduced and therefore ensure that the services that are provided are effective and efficient.

CPOE Beneficiaries and How

The people who will benefit from the CPOE most are the physicians, patients, hospitals, as well as the nurses. They will benefit from the CPOE differently, and it is of great importance that we talk about them differently in terms of the benefits that they will both receive (Vaidyanathan, 2013). The nurses will benefit from the CPOE in the following ways:

• CPOE helps the nurses to know or understand the history of physicians, and they are therefore able to know the strategies to use to treat them in regard to specific issues such as their allergies or drug reactions.
• The non- valued added activities are reduced or decreased, and these may include time used in tracking things manually (Vaidyanathan, 2013).
• Nurses do not have to read unnecessary or redundant information.
• Nurses have also scrapped away the burden of having to reenter physicians' information from time to time because it is available.
• Nurses have easier times in administering drugs as the system provides all information such as the dose as well as the time.
• Physicians are also the beneficiaries of CPOE, and they benefit in the following ways:
• CPOE ensures that the physicians receive the decision support alerts that are necessary for ensuring that they make responsible decisions in their clinical endeavors.
• Physicians are also able to enter orders more quickly and easily by use of equipments such as smartphones or computers.
• CPOE enables personalization and tailoring of orders by the physicians to the physicians.
• Physicians will have an added advantage because CPOE ensures that information is integrated into the current hospital systems, and therefore, there is ease in various areas such as communication (Vaidyanathan, 2013).
• Physicians also benefit from CPOE as it just brings additional content and information, and this means that it does not intend to replace experts in these fields, such as nurses as well as pharmacologists.
• Patients are also beneficiaries of this project because it is meant to ensure that errors are reduced, and therefore the patients are given the right drugs this makes sure that issues such as drug interactions and allergies are reduced and the patients stay healthy.
• This system also benefits hospitals because they save a lot of resources by using this system because there are no wastages of drugs that were given to patients with wrong orders.

Essential Principles of This Project

For the CPOE project to be completed, there are essential principles that have to be followed. These principles have to be included in the implementation of the CPOE project to ensure that it is carried out to the best. These principles include issues which may be technological, environmental, personal as well as organizational issues (Joan & Lara, 2012).

Technological Principles

Technological principles are the ones that are mainly concerned with the operation of the system. This includes factors such as the response time, and it is essential that the system is operational without consuming a lot of time, and this ensures that flexibility is brought up as tasks are carried out efficiently. Costs are also considered in this principle as the hardware and software have to be bought as well as its implementation (Joan & Lara, 2012). The technological and information needs have to be considered as they have to match the needs of the organization that the system is meant for. The integration of the system is essential as it ensures that the workflow is not disrupted, and everything runs smoothly.

Environmental Principles

The main environmental principle that is concerned with the implementation of the CPOE project is that of the motivation and context. Motivation in most cases comes from outside forces that ensure that the administration wants to install the system, and therefore, the employees must as well be motivated to ensure that the system is successful (Joan & Lara, 2012). Contexts such as the geography of the organization, as well as the individuals involved in its implementation, are also critical environmental principles that are crucial to the success of the project.

Personal Principles

These are the principles that affect individual people, and they may be crucial towards the success and implementation of the CPOE. The personal principles may include the essential people who are responsible for its implementation, such as staff and administration. Another principle is the value that the system gives to its users (Joan & Lara, 2012). Training and support are also crucial as it ensures that those using the system are well informed on the ways that they will utilize the CPOE system.

Organizational Principles

Different organizational principles ensure that the implementation of the CPOE system is successful. They may include foundational underpinnings that ensure that the organization is firm and therefore make its terms favor the implementation of the system. Collaboration within the organization is also important as it ensures that different people are brought together so that the project is managed effectively (Joan & Lara, 2012). The organization also has the responsibility of ensuring that evaluation and learning are done so that the CPOE system may be improved.

Different Phases of This Project

The Computerized Physician Order System (CPOE) goes through a lot of phases that ensure that the right system is made. These phrases act as a means of ensuring that the right system is made, and all details are put into place to ensure that the system is fully operational with the right specifications, which ensure that everything works as planned. The following are the phases of the CPOE project.

Initiation Phase

This is the first phase of the project. In most cases or projects, this is the most critical phase as it forms a basis or foundation onto which the whole project will rely on. This phase ensures that the objectives of the project are well discussed, its scope, purpose of the project as well as what deliverables are expected from the project (Aarts, Doorewaard & Berg, 2014). The necessary components of the project are set up in this stage, and they include hiring the team responsible for the CPOE project as well as setting an office.

Development Phase

This is the phase where the organization of the project is done. Everything that needs to be implemented in the project is organized and arranged, and all the materials, as well as the required personnel, are put together so that everything is in order before the implementation scheduled time reaches (Aarts, Doorewaard & Berg, 2014). This phase ensures that the CPOE project is planned, designed, and build so that it can be ready for the implementation process that comes later. Tests may also be carried out in this stage to ensure that the CPOE project is prepared to be implemented without difficulties.

Implementation Phase

This is the final stage in the lifespan of the CPOE project, and it is the stage where the effectiveness and efficiency of the project are shown. This stage is usually before the system is put into actual use, and it involves different activities that ensure that the project is efficient and easily used by those involved. Examples of such activities include training and guidance where the involved members are advised on how the system operates and how to utilize it effectively (Aarts, Doorewaard & Berg, 2014). Other activities such as post-implementation audit and acceptance testing are also done in this phase to show how the system is working as well as how it has been accepted.

Key Issues in the Project

One of the critical issues that this project focuses on is the low number of hospitals utilizing the CPOE system. According to the statistics, fewer than 2% of the U.S hospitals have this system in full operation (Vaidyanathan, 2013). It is evident that this is a very low number and more sensitization on the benefits of the CPOE system so that more hospitals can embrace it. It is also evident that 17 % of the hospitals use the system in one inpatient unit, meaning that some units are left out (Vaidyanathan, 2013).

Another critical issue that shows up is the high cost of implementing CPOE in hospitals. Most hospitals see or view the upfront cost of implementing the CPOE system as a significant limitation because, in most cases, it is high, and its maintenance costs are also demanding. Therefore the cost of implementation of the CPOE is an area that needs to be looked in so that the costs can be cut to make it affordable and implementable to most hospitals.

Resistance from the physicians is also another issue that is identified. It is noted that some physicians do not like using computerized decision-support tools (Vaidyanathan, 2013). Instead, they opt to rely on the practice experience, and this may be a drawback as the CPOE system is only meant to provide additional information which can support the experience that the physicians have, and this, in turn, brings positive results.

Insufficient team skills can also be noted as an issue in the project...