Organizational and user needs
The Naxvegas hospital RFP clearly states the organizational and user needs. The Electronic Health Record system will be implemented in line with the goals and objectives of the hospital. The RFP outlines the needs of both the organization and the user to ensure that, in the end, both the hospital and the society benefits.
A request for proposal has the following organization and user needs. in the outline, the organization was focused in offering quality health services to the population. The RFD also explained the need to comply with the HIPAA rules and regulation. Since personal health information is very important, the hospital was to ensure that privacy and confidentiality of the patient information is safeguarded. In addition, the RFP stated that the hospital goal of improving primary health care and the E.H.R system was key in the process. Since the hospital aimed at ensuring that the services offered was cost-effective, it intended to implement the E.H.R system to increase the efficiency in care delivery. The RFP also stated that Naxvegas hospital had an objective of increasing the number of patients attended and at the same time reduce the waiting time.
The user needs are also expressed the RFP and include the roles and expectation of the IT personnel, the health professionals and the patients. The health professionals in the hospital expect the electronic system to be friendly and easy to operate so that they can interact with it in the right manner. According to the RFP, the implemented system will capture the patient data and secure its storage. It will also minimize the fear of physical threats and weather conditions that can harm individual health records. The patients also believe that E.H.R will do away with the misplacement of records and increase faster access to the digital records. The Naxvegas Hospital RFP is a document that addresses the organizational and user needs and put stress in establishing a healthy population. The user also aims at taking care of the vulnerable population in the local community to reduce the incidences of discrimination to the less privileged individuals.
Strengths and weaknesses of this RFP
The RFP provides a clear guideline in the E.H.R system implementation. The RFP is a well-documented item that provides the procedure in product selection. It helps to save time wasted in choosing the appropriate hardware and software. The RFP for Naxvegas hospital was formulated in a manner that it considers the available resources, goals and objectives, functional requirements and regulations associated with E.H.R products. The current RFP provides light in the process of selecting the perfect vendor. The successful vendor must meet the outlined requirements so that he gave be given a go ahead to take part in distribution and installation of both hardware and software.
The ability of the RFP to state the organizational and user needs increases the product functionality. The operation of the system will be assisted with the available in-depth information on the targeted products and services. The RFP has detailed costs regarding the purchase of hardware and software and explains the expectation of the hospital executive. The costs in system training, implementation and consulting is also outlined the RFP. Other merits of the RFP are the ability to act a decisive role in signing a contract. The vendor and the solicitor can only come into terms by use of the RFP document in negotiations.
Despite the many advantages, RFP consists of the following drawbacks. It is not in a position to sustain close human relations and goes ahead to interrupt the interaction between the vendor and the solicitor. The process of choosing the vendors must be taken with precautions to minimize risks associated with an investment but the RFP awards the tenders without physical contract with the managers of the hospital. RFP does not guarantee maximum dedication and flexibility required from the vendors. The top managers in the hospital have unspecified role in the vendor selection process thus, the RFP could have assigned them specified responsibilities to improve on the efficiency and effectiveness.
How would you change this document?
The document requires some adjustments to attain clear and comprehensive outcomes. The document should be changed to provide an accurate description of the vendor required. The current document does not offer an in-depth analysis of the best vendor to be chosen. The document must also describe all interfaces to achieve more success. The transaction volume figures must be revised to uphold a degree of accuracy and minimize errors.
The RFP also needs to include a confidential clause that safeguards the security of vendors and protects the interest of both parties. Vendor information must be kept confidential, and this increases confidence in the process. Changes should be made to include the costs of preparation and specify the party responsible of sorting these charges. The preparation expenses in the current RFP have not been linked to a specific party. Therefore, the need to allocate the expenses to either the vendor or solicitor is important.
Reference
Burnell, John. “U.S. Army Issues RFP for Large RFID Purchase”. The RFID Daily. 6 May 2008. Available from: http://www.rfidupdate.com/articles/index.php?id=1598.
Carroll, Brian, J. Lean Performance ERP Project Management: Implementing the Virtual Lean Enterprise, 2nd ed. Auerbach, 2007.
