Part 1

General Project Information

Project Name

Be creative. Use a clever, memorable acronym to identify the project. This will help gain stakeholder buy-in.

Executive Sponsors

Use initials to list key supporters. Briefly describe why they were chosen (such as fiscal or political support, useful skills such as marketing ability).

Department Sponsors

List departmental sponsors by initials. Identify their departmental roles and why they were chosen to support this project.

Project Aim

Describe the overarching aim of the project. Include the goals you intend to accomplish by the end of the project and their impact on systems (such as “decrease the number of patients presenting to the ED without treatment”).

Focus

Describe the specific strategy of intervention that will be used to achieve the project aim. For the example above, the project focus might be using LEAN methodology to improve hospital throughput.

Include a brief description of the relevant skills and experience that qualify this person to lead the initiative. What is his or her primary organizational role? What other useful qualities might this person leverage as a contributor to this project?

Describe each team member’s primary role in the organization as well as skills or qualifications that could contribute to the project’s success.

Stakeholder

List titles, categories, or initials of those who will be affected by project outcomes and describe the impact on each individual or group. Remember to include patients and consumers, describing customer satisfaction, safety, and quality outcomes.

Part 2

Project Overview

Project Description

Include concise descriptions of who, what, when, where, and how long. Include a budget estimate if applicable. Describe the problem, how it was diagnosed, and how its solution aligns to strategic priorities. Include a timeline and required resources for the project: staff time, administrative resources, activity sites, and so on.

Evidence to Support Need

Provide empirical and contextual evidence to support the gap, need, or improvement. Consider primary and secondary data sources, regulatory requirements, clinical practice guidelines, and benchmarking data. Be sure to include proper citations and descriptions of integrity and reliability of any data you provide.

Project Purpose/Business Case

Describe the business or clinical need this project addresses. What will the change or improvement accomplish and how will it impact consumers, staff, and health care system as a whole?

SMART Objectives (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Bound)

Provide a concise list of objectives using the SMART model.

Deliverables

List the specific high-level products or processes to be created, such as training materials, policies, or process improvements.

Project Scope

Specify clearly what the project will and will not address. Include all relevant people and processes; this is an opportunity to address alignment to strategic organizational goals. Be sure to include a brief discussion of the project’s limitations.

Project Milestones

Describe specific deliverables for each project phase. For the development and planning stage, team member recruitment from each involved department might be a deliverable, for example. If using PDCA, interim milestones may correspond to completion of different PDCA cycles. Indicate timeframes in terms of number of days, weeks, or months. Identify those responsible for each deliverable.

Part 3

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Project strengths could include things like executive support or financial resources.

Weaknesses

Identify at least three potential obstacles to a successful project outcome.

Opportunities

Note current opportunities to facilitate project success, such as leveraging existing EMP to implement a clinical decision support system.

Threats

Identify at least three current or future threats to the project’s success, such as increased competition or high staff turnover in the affected department or service line.

Known Major Risks

Rank the SWOT weaknesses and threats listed above. Identify at least one high risk and discuss how it might be mitigated.

Risk Level (Low, Medium, High)

Risk

Ethical Considerations

Taking into account PHI, HIPAA, human subject considerations, equitable care, and IRB oversight, discuss any potential for human rights violations. Note any vulnerable populations involved and plans for equitable subject treatment. Describe data security factors: how data will be accessed and stored, including team members who will have access to personal health data and how it will be safeguarded (such as “Only [X] people will access the EMR”).

Constraints

List any limits to personnel, funding, scheduling, or other options, such as a predetermined budget, limited staff, or deadline.

External Dependencies

If the project’s success may depend on external relationships or resources such as personnel, funding, communication channels, or community resources, describe them here. If there are no external dependencies, describe internal support.

Communication Strategy

Indicate how the project manager will communicate to sponsors, project team, and stakeholders. Describe the means and frequency of communication, including meetings, processes, and tools such as charts, wikis, and dashboards.

Proposed Outcomes

Metric

Outcome Measure

Process Measure

Countermeasure (optional)

What is being measured to determine project success

Answers specifically final outcome (“So what?”), such as [X] percent patient satisfaction rate increase

Measures supporting final outcome such as compliance, time motion, competency

Measures to ensure that there are no negative consequences in other areas

Data Collection Plan

Describe in detail the data you will collect and analyze to determine project success, including how and when it will be collected per the project milestones described above. Identify those who will collect, analyze, and store the data and address the integrity of the process (will it be done by team members or staff). Explain the integrity of the data sources: will data be collected from the EMR, online survey, or an internally created tool? Describe your plan to handle missing data and where you will securely store the data.

Data Collection Tool

In Excel, develop a data collection tool, using appropriate headers for columns and rows.

• Sheet 1: The data collection tool should include at least one filtering application and one analytical function (sum, mean, calculation).
• Sheet 2: Add dummy data to show the operation above.
• Sheet 3: Based on the dummy data, create a graphic representation (such as histogram, line graph, bar graph, or pie chart) to show how the data can be displayed and communicated.