In this project, the hospital seeks to adopt a technology-based application that makes use of barcode technology. This is an IT project that seeks to tap into the opportunities presented by the computer software applications to ensure that medical deliveries in the hospital admission rooms are efficiently documented to help reduce medical errors. In the evaluation of the project, key success indicators, data sources, and an analysis plan are important aspects and should look beyond the technical facets of the project and focus on the implementation from an organizational or humanistic approach.
Key Evaluation Questions
The evaluation of the project would raise questions that would seek to determine if the proposed project is a good match to the organization's objectives and how much work will be required to develop a competitive application. The main consideration in the evaluation is the understanding that through the intervention, there will be a change and its effects are the basis of the evaluation (Silow-Carroll, Edwards, & Rodin, 2012). In this case, the evaluation of the IT based project will focus on key evaluation aspects that relate to the impact of the use of IT based scanning, the outcome, quality of research, cost effectiveness and the project process in terms of partner engagements. The first question would be to what extent the desired use of the barcode scanners will lead to improvement in the medication administration and error reductions. The second question would be the extent to which participating clinicians will have to change their practices around the use of the technology application. The third question would be on the quality of the research that informed or necessitated the change to adopt the technology. The fourth question would be on the predicted cost and benefit of the project and the extent to which it will be sustainable. The fifth question would be on the extent to which partners were engaged in the project development process.
Stakeholders
For this project, which is in the clinical department of the hospital, the primary stakeholders are the physicians and the nurses who run the administration department and the IT staff. Physicians and nurses have a deeper insider knowledge which can be helpful in translating the clinical perspective to a practical technology application (Cresswell, Worth, & Sheikh, 2010). They have a critical stake in the success of the project, and the processes that may need to be improved. The IT staff is responsible for managing the hospital-based project and infrastructure. They handle the technical aspects which are the basis of quality operations. The other group of stakeholders includes the interest groups who directly interact with the hospitals on a regular basis. The hospital management, patients, and the community can help identify what they expect the system to do. The community is also an important stakeholder in relation to envisioning the future and identifying what it would take to realize the vision. The project managers need to empower the management, patients, as well as the community to feel ownership of the process so that they are compelled to engage with the system.
Level of Theory
The use of barcodes in the hospital medical delivery system is a multilevel phenomenon that seeks to exploit technology applications to improve clinical processes. Accordingly, the analysis of issues should be well-thought-out and tackled in empirical and theoretical studies of clinical processes, organization, and technology applications. The predominant focus area in the study of health care quality is based on technical factors which then fail to acknowledge the role of the people in their interactions with the system (Farre & Cummins, 2016). In addition, the IT implementation study needs to focus on the behavior of the people when faced with the new technology change. According to Omachonu and Einspruch (2010), a multilevel theory approach which highlights the organizational theory and design aspects is useful in managing the special and complex project variables by drawing on the medical services in the hospital that require a high degree of innovation. Based on this premise, lower level theories that relate to the operational aspects of the system, as well as higher level theories that relate to group or organizational factors that affect the individual, are important for this project (Nilsen, 2015). The lower level theories primarily describe the operation of parts of the structured whole, whereas those at the higher level focus on the aspect of the behavior of the structured whole itself.
Specific Elements to Measure by Stakeholder Group
In this project, the concern for organizational productivity and the desire to improve aspects of the organization performance as well as maintaining competitive advantage are outstanding. There are several primary and secondary measures for stakeholders’ group at the hospital in relation to the project. Returns on common investment and revenue growth are elements that can be measured through the management, which is often focused on the business performance of the organization overall. In regard to the customers, customer satisfaction and quality of service and market requests are elements that can be measured in relation to part of the output of the technology system. For the nurses and physicians, employee commitment is the primary element to measure relying on employee opinion surveys. The public image is also an important element in relation to the community as stakeholders. It is important for the project managers to understand how outsiders perceive the project.
References
Cresswell, K. M., Worth, A., & Sheikh, A. (2010). Actor-Network Theory and its role in understanding the implementation of information technology developments in healthcare. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 10(67). doi 10.1186/1472-6947-10-67
Farre, A., & Cummins, C. (2016). Understanding and evaluating the effects of implementing an electronic paediatric prescribing system on care provision and hospital work in pediatric hospital ward settings: a qualitatively driven mixed-method study protocol. BMJ Open, 6(2), e010444. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010444
Nilsen, P. (2015). Making sense of implementation theories, models and frameworks. Implementation Science, 10(53). doi: 10.1186/s13012-015-0242-0.
Omachonu, V. K., & Einspruch, N. G. (2010). Innovation in Healthcare Delivery Systems: A Conceptual Framework. The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal, 15(1), 1-20.
Silow-Carroll, S., Edwards, J. N., & Rodin, D. (2012). Using electronic health records to improve quality and efficiency: the experiences of leading hospitals. Issue Brief (Commonwealth Fund), 17, 1-40.
