Business Case Analysis for Healthcare Improvement (IYM3)
Competencies
7073.2.1 : Examine Requirements
The learner examines regulatory and compliance requirements for implementing an improvement
project comprising systematic activities and processes that are organized and implemented to
improve organizational quality, safety, and performance.
7073.2.2 : Collaborate with Stakeholders
The learner collaborates with internal and external stakeholders to assess the need and
organizational readiness for a healthcare improvement project using improvement science
methods and practices.
7073.2.3 : Describe the Project Management Life Cycle
The learner describes the four phases of the project management lifecycle that will guide their
healthcare improvement project successfully from initiation to closure.
7073.2.4 : Synthesize Data
The learner synthesizes relevant evidence, feasibility results, patient preferences, and
interdisciplinary stakeholder perspectives to initiate a healthcare improvement project.
Introduction
Note: You must have completed and passed the performance assessments for D155: Leading with
Personal Mastery IOM1 Tasks 1 and 2 prior to beginning this performance assessment.
All specialty courses in the Leadership and Management program will have an authentic
performance assessment that scaffolds the tasks of the healthcare improvement project (HIP)
through the project management lifecycle phases of project initiation, planning, implementation,
and evaluation. Each performance assessment will focus on aspects of the proposal you will
develop for a healthcare improvement project using a real-world approach to improving
healthcare. You will describe each phase of the project management lifecycle in the
corresponding sections of the attached “HIP Paper Template.”
This task is focused on initiating the proposed HIP using information from a former or current
organization. You will describe the collaborative process used to complete the business case
analysis. You will also determine the need, feasibility, and organizational readiness for your HIP
using a needs assessment tool, the SWOT analysis, and impact analysis. As the project manager
developing the business case analysis in this initiation phase, your end goal is to justify the
project. To help justify your project. you will place your proposed HIP in the context of the
literature and provide evidence to support it. In the “Review of Relevant Scholarly Sources”
section of your paper, you will discuss key articles that provide the best practices you identified
for your project.
You must include scholarly sources published within the last five years that are credible and
relevant to your HIP.
This task requires the submission of the provided “D156 HIP Paper Template”, including the
following sections of your HIP paper, which you will be developing in this performance
assessment:
• Healthcare Improvement Project: Introduction and Project Initiation
o Organizational Problem
o Stakeholders
o Project Team
o Needs Assessment
o SWOT Analysis
o Impact Analysis
o Justification and Project Purpose
o Review of Relevant Scholarly Sources
o Project Environment
o SMART Goal
o Project Management Lifecycle
The following templates should be completed and submitted as appendices to your provided HIP
paper template:
• SMART Goal Worksheet (Appendix A)
• Gantt Chart (Appendix B)
During your clinical practice experience (CPE), you identified project stakeholders and project
team members (e.g., subject matter experts, colleagues from a former or current organization,
faculty, other nursing professionals) who agreed to collaborate with you during this phase of
your project. Also during your CPE you consulted with appropriate stakeholders and/or project
team members to complete and submit the “Needs Assessment Template,” “SWOT Analysis
Template,” and “Impact Analysis Template.”
These deliverables were evaluated in your CPE
for completion, not quality or content. Your CPE provided you an opportunity to practice and
improve these items without including them in your performance assessment.
Scenario
Note: The scenario below is a fictitious example of the initiation of a healthcare improvement
project. Please review the example to gain an understanding of the many activities in project
initiation.
You have been asked by your organization to help fill a gap in emergency department care by
improving patient flow through the emergency department and reducing the wait times for
patients. You have been assigned the role of project manager.
You start by identifying a few key stakeholders who have the power, interest, and influence to
help you move the project forward. Next, you look for project team members who can help you
put the project together.
Your project team and available stakeholders help you initiate the project by completing a needs
assessment, a SWOT analysis, and an impact analysis. These analyses show the feasibility and
relevance of the project.
The next step is to access the scholarly literature, not simply for support of the problem but for
support of possible solutions. Your project team examines the literature, identifying
commonalities across the work that demonstrate best practices for reducing wait times for
patients.
The project is becoming clearer, with the team focusing on two best practices that they would
like to put in place. Next, measurement is discussed with questions like, “How will success be
measured?” and “How can the organization quantify the impact of the project?” With these
questions answered, a SMART goal is formulated to guide and focus the project.
Excitement is brewing in the project team, with many ideas flowing on how to implement the
selected best practices. To help keep the project on track and sizable, you create a Gantt chart for
an overview of the timeline for the project.
The Gantt chart shows the start and end dates of the
project and the tasks that must be accomplished in between.
Once the Gantt chart is complete, it becomes clear that key performance indicators (KPIs) are
needed along the way to make sure that the project is on track to meet its end goal. Two KPIs are
identified and placed on the Gantt chart.
Your project team celebrates that the project has now
completed the initiation phase of the project management lifecycle.
Requirements
Your submission must be your original work. No more than a combined total of 30% of the
submission and no more than a 10% match to any one individual source can be directly quoted
or closely paraphrased from sources, even if cited correctly. The similarity report that is
provided when you submit your task can be used as a guide.
You must use the rubric to direct the creation of your submission because it provides detailed
criteria that will be used to evaluate your work. Each requirement below may be evaluated by
more than one rubric aspect. The rubric aspect titles may contain hyperlinks to relevant portions
of the course.
.
Organizational Problem
A. Describe the problem that you plan to address with your healthcare improvement project
(HIP).
1. Describe the background of your organization that is causing the problem.
Stakeholders
B. Describe the influence, interest, and power within your stakeholder group related to
implementing your HIP.
Project Team
C. Describe two of your roles and two of your responsibilities as the project manager of your
HIP.
1. Describe two skills you possess as the project manager that demonstrate leadership related
to your HIP.
2. Describe two roles and two responsibilities of one additional project team member who
will support a solution to the problem described in part A.
Needs Assessment
D. Describe the “Needs Assessment Template” that you completed during your CPE by
doing the following:
1. Identify which tool you used from the following list:
• five whys
• cause and effect diagram (fishbone)
• failure modes and effect analysis (FMEA)
• affinity analysis
2. Describe how the stakeholders and/or project team members discussed and identified
themes related to the problem from part A.
3. Describe two findings related to the problem from part A that were identified by the
stakeholders and/or project team members during the development of your needs
assessment.
SWOT Analysis
E. Based on the “SWOT Analysis Template” that you completed during your CPE, complete the
following:
1. Identify two weaknesses and two threats.
a. Describe how you plan to mitigate each of the weaknesses and threats.
2. Identify two strengths and two opportunities.
a. Describe how you plan to maximize each of the strengths and opportunities.
Impact Analysis
F. Provide your total benefit score and total risk score from the “Impact Analysis Template” that
you completed during your CPE. Then identify the impact ratio.
1. Describe the benefits and risks to the organization based on the impact ratio.
Justification and Project Purpose
G. Explain the purpose of your HIP.
1. Describe how your HIP addresses the problem you identified in part A.
2. Summarize your findings from the needs assessment, SWOT analysis, and impact analysis
to justify your HIP.
Review of Relevant Scholarly Sources to Support the Solution to the Identified Problem
(Best Practices from the Literature)
H. Synthesize five relevant scholarly sources in a narrative format, published within the last five
years, that can be used to support solutions to the identified problem.
Note: Citations and references are required for each source used.
1. Discuss two best practices identified in your review of the literature that support your
planned solution to the problem.
Project Environment
I. Describe one policy, procedure, or guideline and how it impacts the implementation of your
project.
Note: You may use policies, procedures, or guidelines from appropriate organizations such as
IHI, AAP, CDC, CMS, The Joint Commission, AHRQ, a local organization, etc.
SMART Goal
J. Complete the “SMART Goal Worksheet” section (Appendix A of the attached “HIP Paper
Template”) by doing the following:
1. Complete each of the SMART questions on the “SMART Goal Worksheet.”
2. Identify one SMART project goal for the project on the “SMART Goal Worksheet.”
3. Identify two process KPIs that you will use to determine progress toward your goal.
K. Describe how you gathered stakeholder and/or project team member perspectives and
synthesized those into your SMART goal.
Project Management Life Cycle
L. Explain the four phases of the project management lifecycle in terms of your HIP by doing
the following:
1. Describe the four project management lifecycle phases that will guide your project.
2. Create a Gantt Chart (use the attached “Gantt Chart template”) and submit a clearly visible
screenshot of it as Appendix B of the attached “HIP Paper Template”, including each of
the following components:
o your CLPS clearance date
o your D156 course start date
o your project start date
o your project end date
o your planned graduation date
o each of the four project lifecycle phases (initiation, planning, implementation, and
evaluation)
o at least two tasks or deliverables that have been completed in the initiation phase
o at least one task or deliverable that will be completed in each of the remaining phases
(planning, implementation, and evaluation)
o the start and end dates associated with each of the tasks or deliverables
o a bar chart for each of the tasks or deliverables representing the duration of each task
o the stakeholder initials to whom each task or deliverable is assigned
o aligned Gantt chart initiation start date with your SMART goal worksheet project start
date
o aligned Gantt chart evaluation or closure end date with your SMART goal end date
M. Acknowledge sources, using in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted,
paraphrased, or summarized.
