Project: Health Infostructure Atlantic

Canada Health Infostructure Partnerships Program

Project Description

The Health Infostructure Atlantic (HIA) is a $24 million health infostructure project jointly funded by CHIPP in cooperation with four Atlantic provinces. The HIA project portfolio consists of three broad initiatives:

• Tele-i4 - a Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) and teleradiology initiative;
• New or enhanced applications to support Case Management in the community health sector; and
• Development of a Common Client Registry at the provincial level in Prince Edward Island.

Lessons Learned

The HIA project reported many overarching lessons learned primarily related to project management. A subset of these follows. For lessons learned specific to the initiatives, please see the synopses.

• Roles and expectations of Project Managers should be clearly defined - where these are documented, processes should be strengthened to ensure dissemination and understanding among potential project managers;
• Managing health infostructure projects is best accomplished with staff who are brought on board early and who are not jointly responsible for overseeing project implementation and completing project management activities;
• Component project managers who are not familiar with the methodology and its reporting requirements should have regular access to a seasoned project manager to quickly and consistently resolve any documentation or reporting issues;
• Budget figures should be included in an RFP in order to allow the consulting community to know how much funding is available and to support competitive bidding on what can be delivered with the available funding.

The Future

Implementation of the HIA Project portfolio is considered by evaluators to be very successful and a potential catalyst for shepherding a new era of actively adopting information and communications technologies to improve health outcomes. Improvements in diagnosis and treatment options for the ill and injured have already been witnessed. Enhanced assessment and profiling tools to document the health and social needs of youth, children, and the elderly will make better use of the resources dedicated to the most vulnerable sectors of our society. Ultimately, a greater reliance on evidence as a support mechanism for better decision-making will develop as improvements to access, understanding and coordination of health information continues across Atlantic Canada.

Appendix A: Document or Products Generated

Document /Product name

Template(s) for vendor RFP

Tempate(s) for vendor contract(s)

User Guide(s) and/or Training Manual(s) - Project Management Manual

Policy and Procedure Manual(s) - Project Management Manual

Job Descriptions and/or recruitment material - For HIA Project Office staff

Standards

Quality Assurance Procedures - Quality Management part of Project Management Methodology

Confidentiality and Privacy Documents - Security Documents for Tele-i4

The products generated are listed in the HIA project overview synopsis.

For more information, please contact:

New Brunswick: David Cowperthwaite at: david.cowperthwaite@gnb.ca

Newfoundland Labrador: Paul Caines: PCaines@gov.nl.ca

Nova Scotia: Mary McKeen: mckeenme@gov.ns.ca

Prince Edward Island: Faye Campbell: fecampbell@ihis.org

Health Inforstructure Atlantic (Secretariat): Sharon Scott: scottshr@gov.ns.ca