Scheduling System Optimization Project

St. Joseph’s Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program

Project Charter

Mariana Sabeva

Graduate Student - Intern

Masters of Health Sector Management

W. P. Carey School of Business

Arizona State University

Faculty Advisor:

Marjorie Baldwin, PhD

Site Supervisor:

Robert Garcia, MD

Associate Director, St. Joseph’s Family Medicine Residency Program

Scheduling System Optimization Project – Project Charter

Project Charter v 1.0 Prepared by Mariana Sabeva Page 2 of 7

Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................................ 3

2. Project Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 4

A. Problem/Opportunity Statement .................................................................................................................... 4

B. Business Objectives and Goals ..................................................................................................................... 4

C. Project Description......................................................................................................................................... 4

D. Scope ............................................................................................................................................................. 5

E. Timeline ......................................................................................................................................................... 5

F. Benefits .......................................................................................................................................................... 5

3. Project Organization ........................................................................................................................................... 6

A. Organizational Structure .............................................................................................................................. 66

B. Project Roles and Phase End Approvers ...................................................................................................... 6

4. Major Assumptions, Risks and Dependencies ................................................................................................ 7

Scheduling System Optimization Project – Project Charter

Project Charter v 1.0 Prepared by Mariana Sabeva Page 3 of 7

1. Executive Summary

Starting on March 7, 2011 my internship project will take place at Peppertree Family Practice Center, St. Joseph

Hospital. I will work under the supervision of the medical director Robert Garcia, MD. The goal of the project I

will lead is to evaluate patient satisfaction with the process of scheduling appointments at the clinic.

Dr. Garcia wants to apply for National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Medical Home Certification

and one of the requirements is to measure the patient satisfaction with the appointment scheduling. At present

they don’t know where they fall.

Eventual patient dissatisfaction with the scheduling process could be related to:

1) The automated phone system;

2) Front office staff;

3) Availability of physicians;

4) The current “partial access” system;

In order to manage risks, issues and dependencies, this project will have a multi-step approach. The intern will

need the support of the site supervisor - Dr. Garcia and the case manager – Nida Torres to be successful with

completing the goals and objectives that have been set.

The key benefits to for this project include:

Find the reasons why patients are not seen in a timely manner

Make suggestions for improvements in the scheduling system area

Scheduling System Optimization Project – Project Charter

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2. Project Overview

A. Problem/Opportunity Statement

Dr. Garcia is aware of the problem of patients not to be seen in a timely manner.

The guiding principles of the project will be:

Find reasons for the problem

Investigate other Phoenix area based Family Medicine Residency programs to assess effectiveness of

“open-access” scheduling system on their programs

Perform a literature search to assess effectiveness and feasibility of implementation of an “open-access”

system at St. Joseph’s Family Medicine Residency program

B. Business Objectives and Goals

Business Objective Business Goal Project Measure of Success

Find reasons why patients are not be

seen in a timely manner Make suggestions in that area.

25% increase of customer

satisfaction

C. Project Description

The objective of the Scheduling System Optimization project is to find out what are the reasons for the inability of patients to

be seen in a timely manner. In addition the intern will make suggestions to make improvement in the area of the scheduling

system.

Define phase - the internship coordinator, Dr. C.J. O’Connor will meet with St. Joseph’s Family Medicine Residency

Program representative and define the site supervisor and the business need.

Analyze phase – the intern will finalize the project charter and present it to project stakeholders for approval. “Afterwards the

intern will start working toward the project goals.

Summarize findings – the intern will summarize the findings of the problem investigation and will prepare findings report. In

addition, if there is a need PowerPoint presentation could be prepared also to summarize the findings report.

Make suggestions – Based on the findings results and literature review the intern will make to the best of her knowledge

suggestions to make improvements in the area of appointment scheduling system.

Project Wrap-up – The intern will review the project and prepare a summary report with lessons learned and will get

feedback from project stakeholders.

Scheduling System Optimization Project – Project Charter

Project Charter v 1.0 Prepared by Mariana Sabeva Page 5 of 7

D. Scope

1) In-Scope

a) Project Scope

The current effort for the project is to find out reasons for the inability of patients to be

seen in a timely manner

The project will:

Summarize reasons for the problem

Investigate and research other Phoenix area based Family Medicine Residency

programs and their experience with “open-access” scheduling system

Perform a literature search to assess effectiveness and feasibility of implementation

of an “open-access” system at St. Joseph’s Family Medicine Residency program

b) Organizational Scope

St. Joseph’s Family Medicine Residency Program

2) Out of Scope

a) Project Scope

Post-implementation survey – administration, results analysis

NCQA Patient Centered Medical Home Certification compliance

b) Organizational Scope

Other Family Medicine Residency Programs

E. Timeline

1) Key Business Dates

Target Completion is end of May.

2) High Level Schedule

Overall Project Timeline – Using World Date Format

Project Framework

Phase

Estimated

Start Date

Estimated

End Date

Define 02/22/2011 03/07/2011

Analyze 03/10/2011 05/27/2011

Summarize Findings 05/28/2011 06/27/2011

Make Suggestions 06/28/2011 07/08/2011

Project Wrap-up 06/28/2011 07/15/2011

F. Benefits

1) Expected Benefits

Find the reasons why patients are not seen in a timely manner.

Help to formulate suggestions to make improvement in the scheduling system.

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3. Project Organization

A. Organizational Structure

Stakeholders Organization Role

Dr. M. Baldwin W.P. Carey Graduate School of

Business, MHSM

Faculty Advisor

Dr. R. Garcia St. Joseph’s Family Medicine

Residency Program

Site Supervisor

Dr. C.J. O’Connor W.P. Carey Graduate School of

Business, MHSM

Internship Coordinator

B. Project Roles and Phase End Approvers

Name Dept Project Role

Define Phase

Analyze Phase

Summarize Findings

Phase

Make Suggestions

Phase

Project Wrap-up

Phase

Dr. M. Baldwin W.P. Carey, MHSM Faculty Advisor

x x x x x

Dr. R. Garcia St. Joseph’s Family Medicine Residency Program

Site Supervisor

x x x x x

Nida Torres, RN St. Joseph’s Family Medicine Residency Program

Subject Matter Expert

x x

Scheduling System Optimization Project – Project Charter

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4. Major Assumptions, Risks and Dependencies

Type Assumptions/

Risks/Dependencies

Mitigation/Contingency Mechanisms

People

Support of the graduate student at the internship site is key to the success of this project

The project is completed on time

Only deliverables existing in the project charter will be delivered upon project completion

They are signers on this project and will be informed in the weekly status communication via email.

There is project schedule which will be signed and agreed upon project start.

Scope will be signed and reviewed from major project stakeholders.