Strategic Project Portfolio Management

“Good prioritization is comparing every application to every other application according to the criteria. If the criterion is patient safety, then every application needs to be compared on that. That’s hard work, but if you do that you wind up with something that has face validity. It’s acceptable to everyone.”
George Pagels, Chief Medical Officer, Saint Luke’s Health System *

“Make sure that the IT department does not prioritize projects before they enter the governance process. Doing so could push projects down that should have a higher priority.”
Judy Brown, Prior CFO, East Jefferson General Hospital *

* Excerpts from HIMSS book “IT Governance in Hospitals and Health Systems”
Roger Kropft, PhD and Guy Scalzi, MBA

Challenges Faced By Many Healthcare Organizations

How projects requests are introduced to an IS governance committee and the process for selection and prioritization is often based upon informal organizational influences rather than using a structured process. Using a methodology developed with Six Sigma and Lean-based techniques to assess a project’s organizational value and risk will help your IS governance committee with approval of proposed projects.

Project Portfolio Management Maturity

The management of a portfolio of project requests involves the evaluation, approval and prioritization of projects. The PPM Maturity Model shown below illustrates the tiers of proficiency in the management of a project portfolio. Many healthcare organizations are at Levels 1 or 2 in terms of project portfolio management (PPM) maturity. Implementing a well-defined methodology with project evaluation tools can help your organization reach a higher maturity level. In fact, Level 4 – Improving involves the adoption of a consistent method for the evaluation of proposed projects. Where is your organization currently positioned in terms of PPM maturity?

Features of a Project Evaluation & Prioritization Methodology

Using Six Sigma and Lean measurement and analysis concepts we have developed a unique Project Portfolio Prioritization (P3) Methodology specifically for healthcare organizations. The P3 Methodology enhances IS governance with structured metrics for evaluating project requests as well as means to rationalize the selection of projects for approval and prioritization.

Our P3 Methodology includes a project evaluation tool that supports selection and prioritization of projects by organizational value and risk. The ValueMax Analyzer includes 18 metrics that evaluate business/clinical factors, regulatory considerations, organizational value (ROI), project risk, and investment costs. Additionally, the set of metrics can be customized from over 20 options to fit your organization. Our ValueMax Analyzer provides a ranking and graphical representation of projects based upon the range of criteria for each metric.

ValueMax – Decision Support for Project Selection & Prioritization

By utilizing a structured evaluation tool such as our ValueMax Analyzer your organization will realize improvement of project prioritization decisions in the IS governance committee(s). The process and tools add a valuable dimension of quality to your IS governance process.

As an example, the ValueMax Analyzer graphic below shows a grouping of projects based on organizational value and project risk. Visualization of project ranking metrics facilitates the prioritization process. Projects below the red diagonal line and toward the right are more likely to  provide maximum value and should be targeted for approval.

Benefits of Adopting the P3 Methodology

  • Easily integrates with your existing Information Services governance processes
  • Establishes a repeatable process for Ranking Projects in terms of Organizational Value and Project Risk and brings transparency to the process
  • Ranks proposed projects with a standard set of organizational metrics
  • Facilitates governance committee decisions on prioritization of new projects
  • Identifies proposed projects that are likely to have a high implementation risk

Learn More

Your organization will benefit with the adoption of a project portfolio evaluation and prioritization methodology that assists you with evaluating upcoming projects according to value, complexity, risk, regulatory requirements, and more.

To learn more about the P3 Methodology and ValueMax Analyzer, please contact us by email ValueMax@HealthTechAdvisors or call 1-805-277-1850.