Riverview Hospital
Problem Summary
The Riverview Children’s Hospital is eight months behind schedule with the implementation of a new computerized financial system. Management wants the system to be in place by the end-of-year audit [April], which is only six weeks away. However, management estimates that there is only a fifty percent chance that the system will function correctly if its implementation is rushed. While this makes a case for delaying the implementation, it also pushes the schedule into another fiscal year, bringing a large set of expenses over with it. The board wants to avoid this. A decision must be made that weighs the pros and cons of pursuing implementation before the audit versus the delay of the implementation until after the audit.
Analysis of the Implementation to Date
To date, the implementation has suffered from a variety of problems. Starting from the top, there is a disconnect between management and staff. While Louis Bernard, the AED of Finance, has prior experience with healthcare accounting, he does not have experience overseeing the implementation of computer systems. By his own admission, he does not have the interest in doing so and would prefer to have an MIS manager overseeing those duties. He also has to split his duties between overseeing Riverview and the nearby Thornhill hospital.
The hospital staff has continuously misled Louis about the progress of the project at each milestone, and his lack of familiarity prevents him from double-checking the work in progress to guard against this. The staff assigned to this project is overextended as they try to integrate this new technology and maintain their regular duties. They lack the required competency in this complicated field. The bulk of the work is falling on Wilma Lo who is not able to handle the added demands of the computer room. While she did express interest, the learning curve required by her to meet objectives is beyond her ability. A big mistake is that she has
The Riverview Children’s Hospital is eight months behind schedule with the implementation of a new computerized financial system. Management wants the system to be in place by the end-of-year audit [April], which is only six weeks away. However, management estimates that there is only a fifty percent chance that the system will function correctly if its implementation is rushed. While this makes a case for delaying the implementation, it also pushes the schedule into another fiscal year, bringing a large set of expenses over with it. The board wants to avoid this. A decision must be made that weighs the pros and cons of pursuing implementation before the audit versus the delay of the implementation until after the audit.
Analysis of the Implementation to Date
To date, the implementation has suffered from a variety of problems. Starting from the top, there is a disconnect between management and staff. While Louis Bernard, the AED of Finance, has prior experience with healthcare accounting, he does not have experience overseeing the implementation of computer systems. By his own admission, he does not have the interest in doing so and would prefer to have an MIS manager overseeing those duties. He also has to split his duties between overseeing Riverview and the nearby Thornhill hospital.
The hospital staff has continuously misled Louis about the progress of the project at each milestone, and his lack of familiarity prevents him from double-checking the work in progress to guard against this. The staff assigned to this project is overextended as they try to integrate this new technology and maintain their regular duties. They lack the required competency in this complicated field. The bulk of the work is falling on Wilma Lo who is not able to handle the added demands of the computer room. While she did express interest, the learning curve required by her to meet objectives is beyond her ability. A big mistake is that she has