Written by Neil Rivenburgh

The Healthcare Forum presented a polished presentation from Anjella Johnson-Hooker, MS., FAC P/PM III from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Anjella told the audience about leading a major project at the CDC and being the executive sponsor in modernizing the center’s three fragmented, antiquated systems in managing how vaccines are managed.

There had been 8 years of efforts and a lot of money was spent to update the systems, but there was a “0% ROI” to show for all the activity. Anjella took the lead role and said it would be done within the year. And after overcoming many obstacles, she did deliver the Vaccine Tracking System (known as VTrckS) within the timeline. There were many benefits that came from doing the project; from the original 64 distribution systems and more than 400 depots, the new process reduced this to 2 national distribution centers. This reduced the risks of storage and lowered distribution costs.

The crowd learned a lot about the process for ordering and distributing vaccines across the country. The ACIP committee approves which vaccines will be ordered for inventory. Funding was provided by the OMB and used a state match model and based decisions on demographics and area poverty levels. McKesson holds the national distribution contract. Before the upgrade, the end-to-end process too an average of 21 days. After the project was complete, that process was down to 3 days. The new system provides near real-time reporting on inventory and order status. The system manages the CDC’s purchase contracts, state budgets and spending plans.

Anjella stressed that the keys to success were getting buy-in from the right stakeholders, overcoming resistance to change, understanding that stakeholders would have a perceived loss of control, setting expectations, and “knowing what you don’t know.” She put a lot of effort into building and keeping trust with the stakeholders. She declared that an executive sponsor must be totally dedicated to the project. That meant delivering a clear message from the top that failure was not an option and the team must do what is required to succeed.

Please join us Wednesday, July 18th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the joint Healthcare/Technology Forum for the: Career Month. We will have several leading recruiters and Staffing companies present to provide career and job hunting tips and advice.

Location: Philips Healthcare
PHA Academy
One Deerfield Centre
13560 Morris Road
Alpharetta, GA 30004

Written By Alex Blench, PMP, MSA

The May Governance Forum hosted PMI Fellow and Managing Partner of Norman & Normal Consulting, LLC Eric Norman for an engaging discussion about how to create lasting value in a PMO. Eric is a management consultant with 25 years of extensive governance and business process design experience.

Overview

The traditional PMO frequently seems to be in a position to justify its own existence. During this forum, Eric examined why so many PMOs seem to dissolve after just a few years of operating and took a close look at the keys to adding value to an enterprise.

Perception

Eric highlighted that the perception of senior leaders and decision makers is that the state of their organization is much better than it really is. He challenged this dynamic by insisting that the PMO should play a key role in the decision-making process by providing key information.

The role of the PMO

In many organizations, the PMO executes on the vision and instructions delivered by key leaders – after tough decisions about the work of the organization have already been reached. This arrangement can give the perception that a PMO is simply filling a functional, operational ‘overhead’ role rather than providing true value-add to the organization. Eric contends that PMO leaders should be the resources called upon to provide the decision-support information necessary to execute the vision.

Three Vital Functions of the PMO:

1. Decision Support
   a. Provide information to support planning, sensing, responding, and adapting
   b. Consult with leaders and determine “what they need to know”
2. Demand Management
   a. Resource analysis, resource allocation, and initiative scaling
   b. Understanding capacity vs incoming demand
4. Governance
   a. Initiative selection, approval denial, monitoring, and adjusting
   b. Set criteria that initiatives must meet before being approved

2 Keys to Success:

1. Strategic vision
   a. The effective PMO must generate business value by becoming the supplier of critical information for decision makers that are aligned with organizational strategy and objectives
2. Tactical execution
   a. Adaptable initiative management competencies that effectively control the outcomes of efforts.
   b. Ability to apply the right Project Management tools in the right situations 

Special thanks to our presenter Eric Norman for leading this engaging conversation and providing our guests with tools and wisdom to help create lasting value in their organizations.

If you would like to learn more about Governance and the value it brings to projects, please join us at a future forum. The calendar can be found on the PMI Atlanta web site at http://www.pmiatlanta.org

Thank you to our sponsors at Global Payments for making this event possible.

About PMI

Atlanta Chapter serves Project Management Community in Metro Atlanta, and we're an active resource to corporations, community and government agencies throughout north Georgia. With over 5,000 members, PMI Atlanta is among the top 5 chapters in the world. Our professional expertise span across industries; we’re the professionals building healthcare information technology systems, the engineers developing smarter public transportation, and the planners growing our communities more efficiently.

Get ready. Genomic data and precision medicine are redefining the point of care.

Wrriten by Claudia Greene

Bud Zborowski, Healthcare Executive, delivered a captivating presentation to the May PMI Atlanta Healthcare Forum. Attendees enjoyed an insightful and informative presentation and discussion on the evolution of Healthcare through Genomics and Precision Medicine at the point of care.

Bud is a healthcare corporate and business development executive. His healthcare career accomplishments are grounded in fundamental care delivery and reflect a passion for bringing emerging health technologies and innovative business solutions to market. He recently launched a major strategic initiative called Health Parks and has served in senior roles with national providers: Tenet Health, Mariner Post-Acute Care Networks, and Health Images.

Bud began his presentation with a Wayne Gretsky quote, “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck... is going to be.” This he tied to the evening’s agenda and to encouraged participants to begin to develop a predictive mindset and focus on where healthcare is going – genomic-driven medicine. His opening also included a real hockey stick that passed to each attendees to hold while standing to introduce themselves.

Bud discussed the constantly evolving delivery of healthcare and its drivers – demographics (increased medical demand, medical workforce shortages, and lifestyle drive populations), and outcome and quality (cost and profitability pressure, care access and technology, convenience, location, on-demand care, and competitive medicine models). To focus on where healthcare is heading, we need to know “where the puck is going.” The challenge for all who are in Healthcare Project Management is no longer going from A to B, but going from A to C.

Bud shared some market disruptive trends that are pushing healthcare, including some companies that are pushing healthcare innovation:

• Berkshire Hathaway, Amazon and JP Morgan Chase partnership - important to mitigate the costs of healthcare for their employees.
• Google, Apple and IBM own content.
• Walmart partners with pharmacies.

Bud discussed another disruptive trend – all about me - (personal history, wellness devices, mobile apps, EMR, lab tests, diagnostic imaging, etc.). We are looking for data over a period - no longer looking at blood pressure now, but how it is over the years. We are moving from “I want the best care” to “I want the best data, the best data about me.” This leads to Precision Medicine, a market driven by genomics, which has a growth estimate of 11.2% CAGR from $43.6B in 2016 to $141.6B in 2026. When we talk about genomics, we are also talking about “me.”

Bud shared a video with the group on a new healthcare dimension that is emerging – Genomic-Driven Medicine. Genomic research (subset of precision medicine) is evolving very quickly and creating its own infrastructure. He pointed out that there are some issues that are inherent in research, including access to data, siloed independent databases (non-collaborative approach), incomplete data, skewed ethnicity, lack of patient autonomy, genomic data - consumer concerns (privacy, security, anonymity).

To highlight consumer concerns in the area of genomic data, Bud shared the story of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman whose cancer cells are the source of the HeLa cell line, the first immortalized cell line and one of the most important cell lines in medical research. However, there was no approval by her family for the use of her cells. Bud also gave suggested reading on this topic in the book, Who Owns You? The Corporate Gold Rush to Patent Your Genes by David Koepsell.

Bud discussed security concerns with DTC companies (such as 23andMe, Ancestry DNA) and that customers usually grant the DTC companies a perpetual, royalty-free, world-wide, transferable license to use their DNA and to sublicense and distribute the resulting analysis.

Bud’s presentation included a discussion on blockchain technology which genomic data networks are now incorporating. Blockchain is a second-generation internet that permits trust in transactions - privacy, security, authentication; sequence and time; tamper proof and permanent. This important technology has created companies in the market that did not exist 12 months ago – Encrypgen, Nebula Genomics, Luna DNA, and Shivom. 

Bud closed the presentation with a final discussion on where the puck is headed - genome research, genomic wellness, genetic counseling, genomic medicine. Genomic data will drive decisions for family wellness, health choices, research and medical care. Bud then shared a video on Genomics in Primary Care, highlighting the importance of this data in treating the whole patient.

Please join our next Healthcare Forum on Wednesday, June 20 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Location

Philips Healthcare
PHA Academy
One Deerfield Centre
13560 Morris Road
Alpharetta, GA 30004

By Kashif Choudry, PMP

The April PMI Atlanta Governance Forum hosted Joseph Sisto, Director of the Global Sales and Marketing PMO at IHG (Intercontinental Hotels Group). Joseph (Joe) initiated the topic - “Delivering Business Value with Technology – Running Technology as a Business”. The discussion centered around some new thinking around how to measure value, and insights on managing technology that are gaining traction with executives, and leading consulting firms.

Overview

Joe’s presentation highlighted some key trends that are affecting major organizations:

• Digital Transformation
• Managing Technology as a Business
• Innovation of the Product and Process Portfolio, and
• Re-evaluation of the Capitalization and Alignment of the Business.

What is changing?

Disruptive technology trends are creating new value possibilities – with rapid rollouts. This includes:

• Reengineering Technology
• “No Collar” workforce
• Enterprise Data Sovereignty
• The new “core” (automation/analytics/real-time analysis) baked into systems and processes, Digital reality (augmented and virtual reality), blockchain to blockchains, and the API imperative.

There is a need to explore and experiment with new technologies and partnerships! Currently, many people see IT as a cost and not as an investment to manage their business, but are at a new stage now where emerging technology is an asset to help.

As far as metrics and reporting, Joe showed a few examples of what sort of metrics are now considered important to executives and how partnerships are impacted by these metrics. The examples clearly showed how the traditional management of solely focusing on “on time, on budget, cost to implement” metrics are numbered. Technology Executives are being asked to harness disruptive technologies to evolve the business.

Joe also shared the ten principles of Technology Business Management:

1. Find the true value of the work – match cost to time: map the data, make the dashboards based on the real metrics
2. Find the quick hits –e.g. ITSM/data centers/high cost/low value apps / portfolio rationalization
3. Track depreciation and amortization with the dashboards
4. Map capital expenditure and operating expense across the IT portfolio
5. Break out flex and variable expenses
6. Determine allocations and cost recovery
7. Determine direct and indirect costs
8. Determine software project capitalization
9. Make your future business cases real
10. Use a new cost taxonomy and classification of costs moving forward – and manage the portfolio as investment / cost instead of prioritization on urgency / KTLO

The key message is that there is an abundance in availability of new capital in the market, given that we are in the ninth successive year of an economic upswing. And, in this environment, technology is not just something that needs to be “managed”; rather it needs to be explored and experimented with to realize value in this opportunity.

Special thanks to Joe Sisto for sharing his thought leadership. This is the third time that Joe has presented at the PMI Governance Forum, and we appreciate his willingness to share valuable ideas with the Atlanta PMI community.

We would also like to thank our sponsors at Global Payments for being our steady and supportive hosts for 4+ years.

If you would like to learn more about Governance and the value it brings to projects, please join us at a future forum. The calendar can be found on the PMI Atlanta web site at http://www.pmiatlanta.org

ABOUT PMI ATLANTA
Atlanta Chapter serves Project Management Community in Metro Atlanta, and we're an active resource to corporations, community and government agencies throughout north Georgia. With over 5,000 members, PMI Atlanta is among the top 5 chapters in the world. Our professional expertise span across industries; we’re the professionals building healthcare information technology systems, the engineers developing smarter public transportation, and the planners growing our communities more efficiently.

Written by Nevella Paul

“We do Agile, all of our development teams are using it.” Maybe, but maybe not.

PMI Atlanta’s Healthcare April forum attendees were captivated with an insightful and informative presentation delivered by Michael Smith, Intellinet Consulting, LLC.

Mike is Principal Consultant at Intellinet Consulting, LLC, with over 20 years of experience across a myriad of practice domains in the IT industry, as well as program/project management. His extensive experience also includes over 10 years in Healthcare IT, as well as 10 years as Agile Practitioner. Mike is both a Certified Scrum Master (PSM) and Product Owner (CPMP), as well a member of PMI.

He began his presentation with a description of Agile basics and the benefits of Agile, e.g. reduced time to market, higher customer satisfaction, faster ROI and increased collaboration and ownership. He also discussed adoption vs. transformation, defining Agile adoption and highlighting the key differences between Agile adoption and transformation.

Next, Mike discussed the culture and organizational transformation to Agile, informing that this transformation is more about culture and people than technology and processes. The culture shifts from silo or function-oriented to team-oriented; change avoidance to acceptance; from task-oriented to goal-oriented; and, suspicion to trust. He emphasized the critical role of leadership and management to the success of Agile transformation - Leadership must support the move and promote the vision, take ownership of setbacks and failures (as well as successes).

Training in the Agile transformation is important - understanding the strategy of Agile is not enough...training is critical. Training is not a one-time event, but is ongoing for everyone at every level of the organization.

At the conclusion of his presentation, Mike addressed a number of questions from an engaged audience, specifically relative to the continued usefulness of the PMO in an Agile environment. Martha Quarles closed the meeting by thanking Mike for joining us tonight, and thanking the Healthcare Forum participants for their attendance.

Please join us Wednesday, May 16 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Healthcare Forum for the Keynote Presentation: “Healthcare: Let’s get personal….It’s all about you!
Get ready. Genomic data and precision medicine are redefining the point of care.” presented by C. A. Bud Zborowski, Healthcare Executive.

Location: Philips Healthcare
PHA Academy
One Deerfield Centre
13560 Morris Road
Alpharetta, GA 30004