Summary
Rapid changes in technology have transformed the way organizations carry out their functions. Wang, Kung, and Byrd (2018) stress that technology brings along with numerous advantages to a given firm. These include; reducing operational costs, lowering margins of errors, enhancing service delivery and streamlining core functions of the organization. However, for an organization to benefit from the numerous advantages brought about by technology, an organization, while embracing technology, should ensure that the process is effective in order to attain desired goals and objectives (Conforto and Amaral, 2016). Specifically, the cost of healthcare around the world is experiencing a sharp increase. In light of this reality, medical facilities need to put in place mechanisms that will ensure efficient and effective billing systems designed to ensure that issues payment issues do not result in major losses (Wang, Kung, and Byrd, 2018). This project thus focuses on how to install a new billing system. A billing system constitutes an important section of the information management system of a hospital. The billing system is incorporated into the other sections of the hospitals to create a harmonized financial model. The realization that hospitals receive money from various sources including patient payments and insurance underscores the need for a new billing system to enhance the functioning of the hospital.
Project Goals and Objectives
The hospital endeavors to realize the following goals and objectives:
Enhance departmental coordination
The new billing system will be incorporated into the information management architecture of the hospital. This will create an environment where the respective segments of the facility are synergized to achieve a common goal – establish an efficient network of coordination.
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Reduce billing-related errors
The medical facility has in the last six years recorded losses attributed to billing errors. The traditional billing system used by the hospital often resulted in losses occasioned by human errors. Ultimately, the hospital incurred heavy financial losses in terms of revenue. For instances, billing mistakes saw customers overcharged higher costs than normal rates. The new billing system is therefore intended to address the above shortcomings.
Enhance efficiency in the functioning of the hospital
The present billing system is mainly paper-based, which makes it cumbersome and hampers effective delivery of services. By harnessing the various advantages of technology, the hospital ensures that processing of patient bills takes a short time. Moreover, top management of the hospital will be better equipped to make decisions faster. Importantly, courtesy of the new billing system, doctors and staff within the facility will be able to access patient medical records and prepare suitable treatment.
Increasing profit margins
The new billing systems will contribute towards sealing the loopholes that led to the loss of money which used to occur during computation done on paper. Over the last couple of years, the hospital experienced losses related to the errors within the billing system. With the new system earmarked for installation, profit margins era expected to increase.
Objectives
Enhance integrity in the billing process
The error-strewn billing system significantly affected the integrity of the billing system. However, with the proposed billing model, the hospital will be able to ensure that billing information from the respective organs of the hospital is stored in a manner that cannot allow for tampering, thus safeguarding the integrity of stored data.
Reduce the margin of billing errors
The hospital management strives to reduce the margin of errors occasioned by billing by 74 percent in the first year of installation. The main objective of installing the new system is to reduce the errors experienced with the current system. The management will conduct training to its workers to equip with the knowledge on how to run the new system.
Lower the insurance rejection rates
The current billing system has seen insurance rejections rise up to 68 percent in the last six years. In light of this, the management endeavors to reduce the rate of insurance rejection rate by lower than 68 percent. This is because the new billing system is designed to seal the gaps that hinder quicker detection of the mistakes. The new system will eventually provide quick notifications to the officer in charge.
Reduce payment processing period
The long-term objective of the new billing system is to reduce the amount of time it takes to process payments. The previous system usually took too long prepare payments thus disappointing clients. The new electronic-powered system thus will help the hospital to satisfy patients’ desires by shrinking the time it takes to prepare billing regimes.
Project Milestones and Deliverables
i. Project Milestones
Kerzner (2017) defines project milestones refer to important events in the course of the project. Milestones help the project team to keep track of the project besides guiding them from determining the amount of money to pay various service providers taking part in the project. Essentially, the project milestones will serve as crucial tools that to inform internal and external parties about the status of the project. The following are the milestones in the new billing system:
Project Approval:
It will mark the first achievement of the project. Initial approval of the project will pave way for the continuation of the project. The management of the hospital will approve the project, which will then be followed by the project team assembling together the elements necessary to create the identified project management tool.
Review of requirements:
This milestone will be achieved when the clients of the project approve the documentation of the project requirements. The project is charged with the duty of compiling and analyzing the requirements to the clients - doctors, and patients – for the sole purpose of seeking their agreement.
Project Design Approval:
Clients will conduct a review of the proposed solution and state whether it fits their expectations and fulfills the objectives – increase efficiency in the billing process. The project team is required to establish a solution that marries with the scope of the work. Clients will the architecture and operationalization of the proposed project. This milestone will be attained at the end of the project, and often signals the completion of the project (Kerzner, 2017). It is characterized by comprehensive testing and inspection of the various segments of the project. This milestone will instill confidence in the clients regarding the new billing system that the company is launching.
ii. Project Deliverables:
Project deliverables, in the findings of Shirley (2016) constitute the tangible products derived from the project. Deliverables serve to justify the objective of embarking on the project. Deliverables are mean for both internal and external stakeholders in project management. The main deliverable of the project is an electronic billing system that will boost the core functioning of the hospital. To the external stakeholders, in this case, patients and insurance companies, the new billing system will be assessed through the prism of its ability to speed up its preparation of payments and billing reports. Moreover, another deliverable for the internal stakeholder – the hospital – is the preparation of patient information by the relevant department. It is, however, important to draw a line between project deliverables and objectives, though the two are often confused. Deliverables are crucial in attaining objectives of the project (Shirley, 2016). Thus it will be important for the hospital to reconsider deliverables that do not help in achieving the main objectives of the project.
Project Timelines
| Period (Months) | Activity |
| January - March | Assembling of the project team and development of the proposed project model |
| April - June | Project team explains the model with hospital management to secure funding. Initial stages of the project are undertaken, for example study of the current weaknesses of the existing billing system. |
| July – September | Actual implementation of the proposed projects. Project team overseas overhaul the existing system while replacing it with the new billing model. Experts are also invited to train hospital staff on how to use the new billing system. |
| October - December | The newly installed billing model undergoes extensive integration into the framework of the hospital. This stage also entails testing of the project to assess its functioning. Upon being satisfied by the working of the new billing system, project team hands it over to the hospital. The new billing system is officially launched by the hospital. |
Project Cost:
Project cost breakdown the successful installation of the new billing system for the health facility will take the shape below:
| Task | Estimated Cost ( In US Dollars) |
| Assembling Project team | 10,000 |
| Acquisition of necessary equipment | 50,000 |
| Examining current system | 5,000 |
| Consultancy services | 20,000 |
| Overhauling of the old system | 8,000 |
| Testing of the new billing system | 5000 |
| Launch of the new billing system | 15,000 |
References
Conforto, E. C., &Amaral, D. C. (2016). Agile project management and stage-gate model—A hybrid framework for technology-based companies. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 40, 1-14.
Kerzner, H. (2017). Project management metrics, KPIs, and dashboards: a guide to measuring and monitoring project performance. John Wiley & Sons.
Shirley, D. (2016). Project management for healthcare. CRC Press.
Wang, Y., Kung, L., & Byrd, T. A. (2018). Big data analytics: Understanding its capabilities and potential benefits for healthcare organizations. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 126, 3-13.
