APPENDIX B
Sample Project Charter

1. Information Systems
2. Mobile Mammography Van
3. Project Charter
4. Version 1.0
5. Created: 08/01/2012
6. Printed:
7. Prepared by: Sam Smith
8. Presented to: Karen Zimmerman

1. Project Charter Table of Contents
2. REVISION HISTORY
3. FOREWORD
4. BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS
   1. Background
   2. Project Overview
   3. Project Objectives
   4. Value Provided to Customers
   5. Business Risks
5. VISION OF THE SOLUTION
   1. Vision Statement
   2. Major Features
   3. Assumptions and Dependencies
   4. Related Projects
6. SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS
   1. Scope of Initial Release
   2. Scope of Subsequent Releases
   3. Out of Scope
7. PROJECT SUCCESS FACTORS
8. BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS
9. TIMELINE
10. PROJECT ORGANIZATION
11. PROJECT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
    1. Project Meetings
    2. Issue Management
    3. Scope Change Management
    4. Training Strategy
    5. Documentation Development Strategy
    6. Project Work Paper Organization and Coordination

Table B.1. Revision history

FOREWORD

The purpose of a Project Charter is to document what the Project Team is committed to deliver. It specifies the project timeline, resources, and implementation standards. The Project Charter is the cornerstone of the project and is used for managing the expectations of all project stakeholders.

A Project Charter represents a formal commitment among Business Sponsors, Business Owners, Steering Committees, the Project Manager, and the Project Team. Therefore, it is the professional responsibility of all project members to treat this agreement seriously and make every effort to meet the commitment it represents.

BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS

Background

Sponsored by the Ogilvey Cancer Institute in partnership with the Boston Public Health Commission, neighborhood health centers, and community groups, Boston’s Mammography Van provides mammography screening and breast health education throughout the City of Boston to all women, regardless of ability to pay, with a priority on serving uninsured and underserved women right in their neighborhoods. The Mammography Van program began in April of 2012, using GE software for registration, scheduling, and billing. All clinical documentation of the mammography screening has been performed manually since April 2012. Statistical reports generated to maintain state and federal guidelines are all done manually.

Project Overview

The project has two major objectives:

• Implementation of Mammography Patient Manager software to allow for online documentation of the clinical encounter with the patient.
• Implementation of a wireless solution on the van at the time of the new software implementation. This will allow real-time updating of the patient appointment information as well as registering walk-on patients on the spot. Online documentation will allow ease of reporting to the state and federal agencies.

The products evaluated for implementation are specific to the needs of a mobile program and will meet most, if not all, of the needs of the program.

Project Objectives

Boston’s Mobile Mammography Van program will benefit monetarily with a software system because of the reporting capabilities available with online documentation. Grant money, as well as state and federal money, is available to the program if evidence is produced to support the needs of the grant and/or the state and federal guidelines of mammography programs. The program will be more easily able to report on the information required by grants and governments to receive funding. There is also the current possibility that we are losing funding as a result of our current manual reporting practice.

The current program’s resources spend valuable time manually calculating statistics. A software system will automate these processes, thus freeing the resources to perform more valuable functions. The van’s mammography technician spends a lot of time manually updating and calculating which clients require additional follow-up. A software system will allow real-time reporting of which clients require which type of follow-up. This will decrease the amount of time the technician will spend manually determining which patient requires which follow-up letter. The program will be secure in its adherence to state and federal reporting guidelines for the van program as well as for the technicians working in the program.

Value Provided to Customers

• Improved productivity and reduced rework
• Streamlined business processes
• Automation of previously manual tasks
• Ability to perform entirely new tasks or functions
• Conformance to current standards or regulations
• Improved access to patient clinical and demographic information via remote access
• Reduced frustration level compared to current process

Business Risks

The major risk associated with the implementation is the selection of an incompatible vendor. There is always the concern that with a program that is new to the institution, the understanding needed to fully anticipate the needs of the program is incomplete. In addition, there is the risk that the software solution will increase workload as it offers more functions than are currently available to the user in a manual system.

Risk mitigation action items include this charter, which should clearly state the “in scope” objectives of the implementation. This should address both risks identified here.

VISION OF THE SOLUTION

Vision Statement

The Mobile Mammography Van program will be a more efficient and safe environment. The current lack of a software system introduces risks due to potential regulatory issues, patient safety issues due to potential missed follow-up, as well as program risks due to potential loss of funding. The proposed implementation of a software system alleviates these risks as well as introduces the prospect of future expansion of the program that is not easily achieved in the current environment.

The program should be able to handle more patients with the new software. The registration and scheduling process will stay the same, but the introduction of remote access will increase efficiency. Changes to appointments or patient demographic data can now occur on the van. An interface with the GE scheduling and registration software to the mobile mammography software will ensure no duplicate entry of patient data. The ability to document patient history online on the van will decrease the amount of paperwork filled out at the end of the day by the technician. There will also be the opportunity to track patients better by entering data during the day rather than at the end of the day.

The current transcription process is not expected to change. Films will still be read in the current manner, but reports will be saved to a common database. This will allow the technician or program staff to access the reports online. Entry of the BIRAD result (mammography result) will occur much more quickly and efficiently. Patient follow-up based on the BIRAD will be done more quickly as well. Letters can be automatically generated based on the results and printed in batches. All patient follow-up, including phone calls, letters, and certified letters can be captured in the system with a complete audit trail. This ensures the program’s compliance with regulations concerning patient follow-up.

The film-tracking functions will also allow more accurate tracking of the patient’s films. Accurate film tracking will increase the turnaround time for film comparisons and patient follow-up.

The ability to customize the software will increase the grant funding possibilities for the program. The program can introduce new variables or queries to the clients in order to produce statistical reports based on the gathered information. Increases in funding can lead to increases in the program’s expansion. The increased expansion will increase the availability of free mammography to underprivileged women.

Major Features

• Interface can be implemented from GE system to OmniCare system (OmniCare supports clinical documentation) for registration information.
• Mammography history questionnaires can be preprinted and brought on the van for the patient to fill out.
• OmniCare will allow entry of BIRAD results.
• Transcribed reports can be uploaded or cut and pasted into OmniCare from the common database.
• Patient letters are generated from and maintained in OmniCare.
• Follow-up, including pathology results, will be maintained in OmniCare.
• Communication management functions will be maintained with full audit trail.
• Film tracking will be done in OmniCare.
• Statistical reporting will be facilitated.

Assumptions and Dependencies

The assumptions and dependencies for this project are few, but all are crucial to the success of the implementation. The software and hardware to be purchased for this implementation are key aspects of the project. The project is dependent on the remote access satellite hardware working as expected. The software vendor chosen during the vendor selection project is assumed to be the best fit for this program. The GE interface is a crucial assumption in this project. This working interface is key to the efficiencies this program is looking to achieve with the implementation. Resources are an assumption inherent in the budget. Appropriate resources to effectively implement the solution are important to the success of the implementation.

Related Projects

There are no related projects for this project. All needed work is included in this implementation project.

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

Scope of Initial Release

• GE interface for patient demographic and registration information
• Film tracking (possible bar coding for film tracking)
• Mammography history questionnaires
• BIRAD result entry
• Patient follow-up management
• Communications management
• Statistical reporting
• Custom fields management
• Remote access satellite installation

Interface Scope

• GE registration data

Organizational Scope

The OmniCare implementation will focus on the implementation of the software with the Ogilvey Cancer Institute program of the Boston Mobile Mammography Van. No other partner institutions are involved for the rollout. The film reads done at Metro Hospital are not included in this scope.

Conversion Scope

No data conversion is planned for this project.

Scope of Subsequent Releases

Future releases may try to include the Metro Hospital radiologists. Currently, as Metro reads the film, the radiologist dictates and the text is transcribed. It would be more efficient in future if the readings were automatically part of OmniCare.

Out of Scope

• Billing functions are not within the scope of this implementation. Billing is currently done via the GE system and will continue this way.
• A results interface is not within the scope of this implementation. The results of the mammograms will be available only on paper in the medical record or within the OmniCare solution. There will be no integration with the Results application.
• Scheduling and registration functions are not in scope for this implementation. These functions are currently done via the GE system. An interface from GE to provide this information in the OmniCare solution is planned.
• Entry of radiologists’ data is not in scope for this implementation. It is listed as a possible scope of subsequent releases.

PROJECT SUCCESS FACTORS

• Increased turnaround time for patient follow-up
• Decreased turnaround time with films by film tracking
• Decreased time creating and managing reports
• Increased numbers of mammographies taken
• Decreased time spent by staff on administrative tasks

BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS

Capital budget	$52,550
Hardware	$10,000
Software	$30,000
Remote access	$6,200
First year remote service	$1,350
Contingency	$5,000

1. Project Staff Resources
   1. IS analyst = .50 FTE for 6 months
   2. Network services = .25 for 3–6 months
   3. Karen = 40 hr./wk. for 4 months
   4. Program asst. (Sarah) = 40 hr./wk. for 4 months
   5. New person to be hired
   6. Temp to do data entry conversion

TIMELINE

Project will commence on November 1, 2012, and be completed July 1, 2013.

Approximate date of completion of major phases:

Analysis	January 1, 2013
Satellite installation	February 1, 2013
Registration interface	March 1, 2013
Film tracking	March 1, 2013
History questionnaires	May 1, 2013
Result entry	June 1, 2013
Communications management	June 1, 2013
Patient follow-up	June 1, 2013
Reporting	June 15, 2013

PROJECT ORGANIZATION

Business Sponsor(s)	Anne Jones, VP of External Affairs
Business Owner(s)	Karen Ruderman, Program Director
Steering Committee	Karen Zimmerman, Program Director Anne Johnson, Director of Planning Jerry Melini, Technical Director of Radiology
Project Manager	Charles Leoman
Project Team	IS analysts TBD Network Services IS staff TBD Karen Zimmerman, Program Director Sarah Smithson, Program Assistant Data Entry temporary staff

PROJECT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

Project Meetings

In order to maintain effective communication with Project Team members and the Mobile Mammography Van community, a series of standing meetings will be conducted. Meeting minutes will be documented and stored on the shared core team directory. The following meetings and facilitated sessions will be held.

Issue Management

Issue identification, management, and resolution are important project management activities. The Project Manager is responsible for the issue management process and works with the Project Team and Steering Committee (if needed) to agree on the resolution of issues.

Effective issue management enables

• A visible decision-making process
• A means for resolving questions concerning the project
• A project issue audit trail

The standard IS project issue management process and forms will be used and attached to this charter as needed.

Table B.2. Issue management

Decision-Making Level	Steering Committee	Project Team
Role	Resolves show-stopper issues and changes in scope. Acts as a sounding board for decisions and actions that affect user acceptance of the project. This includes anything that affects project milestones and outcomes. Reviews decisions, recommendations, and requests that are high in integration and complexity and that are not resolved at the Project Team level. Scope management and planning. Chaired by Business Sponsor.	Governs the actual work and the progress of the project. Reviews project work and status: —Resource issues —Vendor issues —Project risks Serves as working or focus group to report daily progress. Responsible for implementation decisions that have integration impact and that are of medium or high complexity. Cochaired by IS Project Manager and Business Owner.
Participants	Key stakeholders on business and IS sides.	All resources assigned to the project.
Meeting frequency	Meets regularly to ensure steady project progress.	Meets, as needed, weekly to monthly, for project status and updates.

Scope Change Management

Scope change management is essential to ensure that the project is managed to the original scope, as defined in this charter. The purpose of a scope management process is to constructively manage the pressure to expand scope.

Scope expansion is acceptable as long as

• Users agree that the new requirements are justified
• Impact to the project is analyzed and understood
• Resulting changes to project (cost, timing, resources, quality) are approved and properly implemented

Any member of the Project Team or other member of the Mobile Mammography Van community may propose a change to the scope of the project. The requester will initiate the process by completing a Change Request Definition Form. When necessary, the Project Manager will review and seek advice from the Steering Committee on scope changes that affect the project schedule or budget, or both.

The standard IS project scope management process and forms will be used and attached as appendixes to this charter, as needed.

Training Strategy

Training Scope

The program personnel consist of a program administrator, one mammography technician, one assistant to the administrator, and one patient educator and administration person. All of the employees will receive training for their specific role related to the process. The program administrator will learn all of the roles in order to fill in when needed. Additional training will be given to the other employees for backup purposes.

Training Approach

The vendor will provide the training during the initial implementation. The employees of the program will then train new employees.

Training Material Development

The vendor will provide training materials.

Documentation Development Strategy

The team will develop the following documentation:

• Technical operations procedure manual
• Policies and procedures related to the use and management of the system
• Application manuals, if needed
• OmniCare technical and application maintenance and support manuals, if needed

Project Work Paper Organization and Coordination

In order to keep the project documentation, meeting minutes, and deliverables organized and accessible to the core team, a project folder on the shared network will be established and maintained.