Objectives Approach To establish Data Availability and the limitations in its use or application both in terms of the legal and ethical constraints Developing a framework which will enable the Information Asset Team to capture what information sources are available to NHS in an easy and user friendly manner To assess Data Accessibility Identifying potential sources for the information types identified above, but without limiting to the MediKredit, Optimal, Veterans, Walsh, IMS, and Healthpoint sources initially identified in the project brief.
To investigate Data Quality by establishing a measure of completeness, accuracy, currency and integrity which is based on a high level neutral evaluation of the data. To assess the possibility and difficulty of Data Integration Performing an initial high level assessment of this information to assess the quality, reliability and value of the information, its limitations and the capturing and collecting process of the sourcing organization To provide an overview of a Data Evaluation To present findings to the other workstreams in an acceptable format in order to facilitate patient records with the NHS.
Identifying potential future developments in what information might be available and where it may be sourced or obtained from Methodology Skeletal networked area thoughts Interview main finding table Arguments and Analysis of Findings Risks and Solutions 1. Project Life Cycle The concept of Project Life Cycle is used in analyzing the life of a product with respect to the overall objective attainment. With the implementation of HealthSpace the features were evaluated by the users (Establishment phase) which is followed by the rapid rise if users in the Growth phase.
However, the anticipated risk is the Decline phase which can give rise due to poor technical support and absence of updates. 2. Project Interfaces There is no clear demarcation between two consecutive phases and there always exists interface and a transitional stage between two successive phases. The first two phases consist of an intellectual exercise where designing a facility is on and the emphasis during the execution phase shifts from planning to execution. The primary focus during execution should rely how well the design can be translated into reality.
3. Project Organization Organization concerns the art of grouping various tasks into manageable sections, departments, divisions, business groups so that individual managers can be assigned responsibilities for overseeing the functions of a group; and the overall objective of the organization are smoothly achieved. Key to the success of a project lies in the ability to achieve a very high degree of integration of efforts of different agencies involved in a project.
The task of coordination and integration of the activities of such a large number of agencies — both, within the owner’s organization and outside, is a complex one as each specialist has a certain degree of conviction and protectionist viewpoint regarding one’s own specialization which adds to “differentiation”. 4. Project Monitoring and Control The most essential concept in project management is the concept of monitoring and control which involves knowing the status of a project and control involves comparing the actual status with the plan, find out the deviations and initiating corrective actions so that the original plan can be fulfilled. Corrective actions lie at the core of successful project management.
Project management, should have a system to measure the results effectively at pre-determined intervals, comparing them with the planned results and deciding and taking corrective actions. 5. Project Management Information System (PMIS) The monitoring and control system of a project needs the support of a suitable Project Management Information System (PMIS).
A comprehensive PMIS should cover the complete life-cycle of a project and would provide the necessary support for decision making. The purpose of this information system is to receive the actual data about the status of a project at pre-determined intervals, process this information to evaluate the impact of these outcomes and project these impacts in terms of an expected date of completion and an expected cost of completion. Resources and Techniques Applied 1. PERT/CPM Programme Evaluation and Review Techniques (PERT) and Critical Path Method (CPM).
uses the graphical network method of representation of a project with indications of the time required to complete each activity. These have also been used to calculate the costs for each activity ,resources required and the uncertainties involved with each activity with the in out of time and probability for each activity. 2. Resource Leveling One of the fundamental benefits of the network planning tool is the ability to plan for parallel action. This means that the proposed activities would he carried out simultaneously by different agencies using different resources.
A network comprises of a series of parallel lines, each representing one chain of activities to establish the “critical path” The network models allow the planner to consider the requirements of various resources at nay point of time. ‘Resource planning’ was achieved by rescheduling the non-critical resources which involved a number of algorithms and computer programmes/models to obtain a fairly balance resource profile for a project. 3. Cost Management It is the most important dimension of management for budgeting the expense on the project and finding out a minimum total cost solution for the project.
It is necessary to have data of different costs of carrying out an activity and the associated duration for each activity. By spending more on the activities on the critical path it is possible to reduce the total duration of the project at some additional cost. There are certain indirect costs of a project which are proportionate to the overall duration of the project and are independent of the individual activity costs. 4. Project Appraisal In the life cycle of a project, there is a decision element at the end of the feasibility phase: the ‘question mark’ whether to go ahead or not, with the project, which is answered by ‘Project
Appraisal’. If the viability of the appraisal process is unrealistic, then are possibilities of loosing an investment . The following specific aspects must be considered: ? Commercial Viability — Market Demand ? Technical Viability ? Financial Viability Success Factors In Project Management 1. Through feasibility study which does not overlook any significant element 2. Well planned DPR which is accepted by the agencies, and frozen before execution. 3. A capable project manager and a good team around him, with involvement right through all four phases of project.
4. An adequate organization with proper systems of communication, feedback and control mechanisms. 5. Adequate understanding of mutual roles and responsibilities of all interacting agencies with clear understanding of demarcations. 6. Quick identification and resolution of conflicts those are nonetheless inevitable. 7. Adequate and timely funding. 8. Certain degree of insulation to front line project managers from undue impacts from the environment. 9. Regular updation and appropriate actions to continuously correct the deviations, till the end of the project.
Conclusion The HealthSpace is the most comprehensive source of information used by patients in the United Kingdom to date with approximately 500 GP practices contribute to the system and cover 4,500,000 patients. Although it contains records of diagnoses, drug therapies and consultant specialist treatments, these are not directly related with each other necessitating the development of linking methodologies which must be developed and applied in order to infer relationships between diagnoses, drug therapies and other treatments.
HealthSpace also provides information about diagnosis, treatment, medication and outcome information of individual patients over the long term The HealthSpace data has been used to predict hospitalization – 1,000 asthmatic patients who were hospitalized for asthma during the calendar year 1994 were compared to 4,000 asthmatic patients who were not hospitalized during this same period. The study projects that HealthSpace is 80/90% accurate in predicting hospitalization.
Preliminary work using neural networks and rule induction techniques have supported the hypothesis that such data mining techniques have a role to play in elucidating the interplay of factors which can predict which patients are at greater hospitalization risk. The HealthSpace data has been applied to study disease prevalence and patterns of co-morbidity. Initial findings confirmed the existence of a large percentage of diabetic patients which suffer more than one chronic disease and is able to rank such co-morbidities.
The HealthSpace data has also been applied in optimizing clinical trials by identifying potential patients and maximizing resource utilization as well as for planning clinical trials as an objective planning tool for future drug requirements. The size of the HealthSpace database is approximately 32 gigabytes and it is expected to grow to derive the benefits offered and to the hardware and software infrastructure evolve with the database size HealthSpace Data Collection Processes.
References 1. Clifton, David S. & Fyffe, 1977. , David E. Project Feasibility Analysis. A guide to profitable New Venture. John Wiley & Sons, New York 2. Choudhury, S. 1999. , Project Scheduling and Monitoring in Practice. South Asian Puhlishers, New Delhi. 3. Franked, Ernest G. 1990. , Project Management In Engineering Services and Development . Butterworths, London. 4.
Goodman, Li. , 2003. , Project Planning and Management — An Integrated System for Improving Productivity, Van Norstand, New York. 5. Lock, DL. , 2006. ,Project Management, Gower Press, London. 6. Murtin, CC. , 2004. , Project Management — How to Make It Work, AmaCom, N. Y. 7. Neale RH, 1984. , Managing Projects , Geneva.
8. Nicholas, J. M. , 1990. , Managing Business and Engineering Projects Concepts & Implementation, Prentice Hall. N. J. 9. Kharbanda. & Staliworking, EA, 1996. ,Successful Projects With a Moral For Managemetn, Gower, England. 10. Ludwij, Ernest E. 1974. , Applied Project Mgt. for the Process Industries, Gulf Publishing Co, Houston. Appendix Appendix 1 Questionnaire list table- Individual Interview analysis Sheet 1- Q & A Appendix 2 Real time analysis summary- Individual Interview analysis Sheet 1- Summary Findings Sheet 2- Questionnaire Findings Sheet 3- Questionnaire Findings.