What Is Project Management?

Project management is a process of planning, organizing, and overseeing the work of a

team to advance a specific organizational project and achieve an organization’s
objectives. Project management does not involve the routine day-to-day operations of
an organization. 

Instead of focusing on everyday duties, PM zeroes in on work with a defined end point
and a specific goal. Project management occurs in a wide range of industries and
organizations, including healthcare organizations.

What Is Healthcare Project Management?

Healthcare PM concerns any projects that seek to improve the functioning of a

healthcare-related organization. As the industry continues to evolve, there are
increasing pressures to save money and be efficient while improving the quality of
patient care.

All of that means that hospitals, healthcare systems, and others in the industry are
continuously executing projects to improve their operations

Waterfall Project Management in Healthcare

The waterfall methodology is one of the most common methodologies in project

management. It organizes the project in a sequential and linear process (flowing like a
waterfall) and has a number of phases. A new phase can’t begin until the prior phase
has been completed.

The waterfall methodology has often been used in manufacturing and construction. And,

healthcare construction projects are often managed through the waterfall project
management methodology. For example, a hospital needing to build a new cardiac
catheterization laboratory suite will have defined requirements and a timeline
commencing at the onset of the project. The hospital may also have built similar
projects before. The project lends itself to the waterfall method because there are
defined phases that need to be accomplished linearly.

Agile Project Management in Healthcare

Agile project management began in software development. It employs a much more

incremental and continually evolving approach than waterfall. It uses a cyclical process
that encourages flexibility, experimentation, and adaptability.

The Agile methodology can work better than waterfall for many healthcare projects
because healthcare work and processes can have numerous and constantly changing
variables. Agile can help healthcare project management teams easily adjust to those
changes.

“The iterations [of a process change] in Agile are shorter,” says Githens. “One of the
advantages is that you’re able to recognize a mistake earlier and then correct that
mistake.”

A Hybrid Approach — A Combination of Waterfall and Agile

Healthcare project management teams sometimes use a hybrid approach, employing a

combination of waterfall and Agile to manage a project.

In these circumstances, teams may primarily use the Agile methodology, while at the
same time incorporate some aspects of waterfall to provide a timeline and a project
roadmap to team members and to an organization’s leaders.

Why Is Project Management Important in Healthcare?

Project management has become even more important in healthcare in recent years. In
large part, that’s because of safety concerns: a healthcare project done ineffectively can
lead to patients’ health problems.

But, a range of other issues are affecting the evolving industry — issues for which
project management is increasingly vital. These issues include the following:

 Decreasing payments from government health programs and private insurance

companies have compelled healthcare organizations to find ways to save money.
 New and complicated systems for electronic health records on patients need
continual monitoring and improvement.
 New technologies also need tracking and improvement.
 New regulations continue to emerge.

There is greater scrutiny from outside groups, including government, health insurance
companies, and patients

The Huge Costs of Healthcare, the Size of the Industry, and Issues with
Safety

A range of statistics indicate the enormous size of the healthcare industry and its effect
on the overall economy and the life of Americans. These stats also underline the
amount of work that healthcare organizations require for project management to
continually improve operations in such a huge industry:
  Americans spent $3.5 trillion dollars on healthcare in 2017, or $10,739 per
person. That compares to $3 trillion in 2014 and $2.6 trillion in 2010. For
comparison, Americans spent $247 billion on healthcare in 1980.
 After the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, the rate of people without
health insurance had dipped to 9.2 percent by 2015.
 Nearly five million doctors and nurses work in the U.S.
 Experts predict that the industry will add another 3.4 million healthcare jobs by
2028.
 Eighteen of the 30 fastest growing occupations in 2018 were in healthcare.

Meanwhile, the healthcare industry has significant problems with safety and with deaths
from medical errors:

 A 2018 Johns Hopkins study estimated that more than 251,000 people in the
U.S. die annually from medical errors.
 A 2012 report by the National Institutes of Health estimated that 440,000 deaths
in the U.S. per year were from medical errors.
 Some studies have estimated that medical errors affect as many as one in three
patients.

Benefits of Healthcare Project Management

Strong project management helps improve healthcare and the healthcare industry in a
number of ways. Project management can do the following:

 Improve the quality of care by improving processes used to provide that care.
 Improve communication among healthcare staff caring for patients.
 improve organizational planning.
 Improve budgeting, as strong project management directly aligns resources with
important work.
 Increase staff productivity.
 Improve processes that are established to decrease the risk of lawsuits — in
large part because improved processes increase the quality of care.

Improve relations with stakeholders, including insurance providers, government

agencies, patients, and others.
Challenges of Healthcare Project Management

The healthcare industry can present special challenges to good project management.
Here are some of those challenges:

 There are high stakes. Poorly executed projects can bring more serious
ramifications, because patients’ health can be at stake. “Patients’ lives are a part
of this,” says Githens. “A poorly done project might end up with poor healthcare
outcomes.”
 There are continually rising costs in the industry.
 There is heavy governmental regulation.
 Healthcare is a continually evolving industry.
 There is a high risk of lawsuits.
 There is a broad array of involved stakeholders, including hospital boards,
medical providers, state and national governments, and patients.

There is skepticism among some important stakeholders about the importance of

project management. Medical providers who are highly accomplished professionals in a
particular medical speciality “sometimes see project management as a non-value-added
administrative function,” Githens says

Why Healthcare Project Management Fails

Managing projects in a wide range of industries can be complex, and those projects
sometimes fail. But, healthcare project management can be even more complex and
may fail even more often. 

In fact, according to the book, Project Management for Healthcare Informatics, one

study estimated that as many as 80 percent of healthcare projects fail. 

These failures happen for a range of reasons. Here are some of the most common
ones:

 Lack of Prioritization: Any organization could embark on hundreds of “projects”

at any time. But, embarking on too many projects means an organization is not
doing any of them well. Overcommitting is not an efficient use of resources, and
it’s not effective.

“Most organizations have way too many projects, and the projects are therefore
under-resourced. [The organizations] are doing a ‘squeaky wheel gets the
 grease’ prioritization process. They’re trying to do too much and not setting
priorities for the organization.”
 Inadequate Planning: Once organization leaders prioritize which projects are
important, project leaders and team members must do important planning work
at the beginning of a project to ensure its success. The team needs to consider
and set out the tasks that it needs to accomplish, in phases, along with a
timeline, an assessment of costs, and potential risks and challenges for the
project.

“Planning is the most important step in the project lifecycle,” the authors write in
Project Management for Healthcare Informatics. “The majority of project
management gurus feel that if problems arise during the life of a project, the
cause can usually be traced back to the lack of planning.”
 Lack of planning is “the number one reason [projects] fail,” says Greg Kain,
Managing Director of the Healthcare Practice for Integrated Project Management
Company, Inc., a consultancy headquartered outside Chicago. “You have to plan
to execute.”

Part of planning is creating and following a project charter that details the
project’s goals and metrics for success, Kain says. 
 Poor Definition of Project Requirements: Making mistakes, such as
misunderstanding and inaccurately defining project requirements and goals, is an
integral part of planning. However, these mistakes during planning can create
major problems beyond the planning stage. When team members don’t ask the
right questions about the goals of a project, they don’t realize that reaching the
stated goal won’t really improve the organization.“

The number one reason for project failure is poor requirements or incomplete
and incorrect requirements,” says Githens. A lack of serious analysis means the
group “puts a solution in place that’s not the right solution,” he adds.

According to that study (above) cited in Project Management for Healthcare Informatics,
here are some additional reasons for project failure in the healthcare industry:

 The growing complexity of data collection requirements in healthcare

organizations
  Increased regulation
 Poor communication among a healthcare organization’s leaders, stakeholders,
and patients

Organizational resistance to change

Examples of Healthcare Project Management

Project management is used in thousands of cases in the healthcare industry. Projects
may seek to improve patient care, improve efficiencies or save money, or improve other
parts of an organization’s operations. Below are some examples of healthcare project
management.

Improving Patient Care and the Patient Experience

Here are some examples of healthcare project management concerning the

improvement of patient care and the patient experience.

Improving the Patient Experience from Hospital Admission to

Discharge: Hospitals are increasingly analyzing the patient experience from the
moment a patient arrives at a facility (either as an in-patient or outpatient) to the
moment they leave, Githens says.

Project Management in Public Health

Project management is increasingly used in public health initiatives. These initiatives

often need to provide information to the general public and find ways to interact with the
general public.

The type of public health work where project management might be relevant includes
the following:

 Vaccination and immunization programs

 Outreach about telemedicine programs available through healthcare
organizations
 The establishment or adjustment of policies for governmental health programs

 The creation or adjustment of programs to prevent communicable diseases


Essential skills 
Healthcare project managers will have to handle stressful situations and stay calm in any condition.
Some of the desired qualities and skills are:

 Problem-solving skills 
The project manager will have to face many unforeseen scenarios and challenges to meet the desired
goals and objectives. They should be proficient enough to come up with the desired solutions timely. 

 Interpersonal skills
In the healthcare industry, you will have to handle many executive departments, and you will have to
converse effectively and clearly with all. 

 Leadership skills 
Handling a project entails many things. It would be best if you influence your team in completing the
task adhering to schedules, standards, and budget. Meanwhile, you need to build confidence and
good rapport with the clients. You will be responsible for managing your team and handling clients.

 Flexibility 

Flexibility is one of the essential skills to consider. No matter how well-planned is your project,

Responsibilities of a healthcare project

there will b

manager
 To work with healthcare professionals to improve the efficiency and quality of the
delivery output/healthcare services. 
 Stay ahead to changes to new laws and regulations to ensure whether the healthcare
facilities comply with the rules and regulations. 
 Manage the budget of a healthcare facility like managing patient fees and billing,
overhead costs.
 To create the work and shift schedules for direct care providers and administrators. 
 Regular communication with department heads and staff
Educational requirements and certifications 
The majority of the healthcare project managers have a bachelor’s degree in core domains like
business administration, public health administration, health management, nursing, and health
administration.

On the other hand, having an advanced degree will get you noticed amongst the crowd. Project
manager job roles are increasingly looking for specific certified experts who can enhance their
efficiencies with the increase in demand. 

Having a formal project management certification in the field will give you an edge over your
competitors. There are many accredited training organizations that offer Project Management
certification courses; one should make a thorough research to find the one that meets your needs. 

Some of the popular project management certifications are:

 Project Management Professional (PMP)®

 PRINCE2 Foundation & Practitioner
 Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)®
 Change Management Foundation and Practitioner

 Business Analysis Foundation and Practitioner

Conclusion
Healthcare project management is a demanding and rewarding role, both in terms of salary and job
satisfaction. With dedication, proper research, and ample practice, you can become a successful
healthcare project manager. 
What Is a Healthcare Project Manager?
That’s great news, but what exactly is a healthcare project manager? Often called a
hospital or a healthcare project manager, they are professionals who oversee a large
spectrum of projects within the healthcare organization. That can include managing an
addition to the hospital, securing medical supplies from vendors or planning an
increase in emergency response rate by a certain percentage.

Healthcare project managers identify issues and offer solutions, manage teams and
delegate tasks, as well as monitor progress and stay on schedule. Communication is
also a cornerstone, though you might be communicating with different departments,
such as a hospital board or others in charge of the budget.

The pace in the medical sector is fast. There will be constant deadlines, and you’ll
likely have to manage more than one project at a time. So, you’re going to have to
juggle a lot of responsibilities and interact with a wide variety of people to get
everything done.

What Skills Are Required for a Healthcare Project

Manager?
The skill set for a project manager in healthcare is not wholly different than the skill
set for a typical project manager. However, you’ll have to adapt those skills to the
unique challenges that a healthcare environment presents.

Interpersonal Skills

In healthcare there are often many executive tiers to dialogue with, and you’ll need to
be able to listen actively and communicate effectively with all of them. There will
also be unique situations, such as complying to medical codes and protocols. In these
settings there might be a more formal way of dealing with people, and you’ll have to
familiarize yourself with that.

Leadership Skills

Managing a project is all about leadership. You need to motivate and inspire your
team, have them buy into the project and work with you to complete tasks
successfully. But you’ll also need to build relationships and confidence with the
executives that you answer to. You need to lead both the team and those who hold the
purse strings.

Problem Solving Skills

The problems that come up in a healthcare environment are going to share some
issues that are normal to any project, such as team members being blocked, budget
shortfalls and acts of God. But healthcare is also going to have risks inherent that are
exclusive to its business, such as changes to public healthcare policy and the potential
for rising costs in medical science technology.

Flexibility

This might be the most important of all skills. As well-planned as your project might
be, there will be issues, and you’re going to have to have the flexibility to respond to
those issues. A rigid project manager leads a failing project. Healthcare projects are
often large and structured, but that doesn’t mean that they go off without a hitch.
Being agile and having the ability to respond quickly is what separates the okay
project managers from the great ones.

What Does it Take to Become a Healthcare Project

Manager?
If you’re looking to work in the healthcare field as a project manager, it doesn’t hurt
to have an undergraduate degree in a related field, such as health administration,
health management, nursing, public health administration or even business
administration. An advanced degree is even better as it helps differentiate you from
the crowd.

It also helps to get PM certification, as it is becoming increasingly required when

healthcare companies post for these positions. The Project Management Institute
(PMI) offers a couple tiers of certification. There’s the Project Management
Professional (PMP), which is recognized worldwide and in the healthcare profession.
The Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) is equally accepted, but is a
less involved certification.

While certification isn’t mandatory, it does give a strong foundation in the basics of
project management. As healthcare continues to grow and change, the need for
specialized project managers continues. There are a growing number of university
programs that feature healthcare project management as a major.

Plus, recent changes in federal law have lead to an increase in the hiring of healthcare
project managers as they implement new projects to remain in compliance with code,
improve patient services, convert files to electronic records and streamline processes.

Healthcare Project Manager Tools

Before you get a job as a healthcare project manager, you should first acquaint
yourself with the tools that you would be using daily. Gantt charts, kanban boards,
task management tools, dashboards, and reporting tools are the most commonly used
tools for project managers in any industry.
Find out which tools work best for you, and get comfortable with the terminology.
Embrace them; because project management tools help project managers do their jobs
more efficiently and productively.

If you’re looking for a career in healthcare project management, then you’ll want to
have the right tools to make that transition seamless. ProjectManager.com is a cloud-
based project management software that collects real-time data and provides a
collaborative platform for teams to work more productively. Try our real-time
dashboards, online Gantt charts and more by taking this free 30-day trial


 People call any work they have to do a “project.” Projects actually
have a very specific definition.
 The project is best defined in two ways:
 1. By comparing a project to a routine activity
 2. By knowing the operational constraints associated with projects
 A ‘‘project’’ has different meanings in each organization and may
also vary from one department to another.
 A project is a complex set of activities where resources are used in
expectation of returns and which lends it to planning financing and
implementing as a unit.
 A project usually has a specific starting point and a specific ending

point intending to accomplish specific objectives. Even though there

is no universally accepted definition of the term project, generally, it
can be defined as follows;

 A project is an investment activity upon which scarce resources are

expended to create capital assets that will produce benefits over an
extended period of time in expectation of benefits that exceed the
committed resources.
 Project is a discrete activity aimed at specific objective with a defined
budget and limited timeframe
 It is a set of proposals for the investment of resources in to a clearly
identified set of actions .
 Characteristics of Project
 A Project involves the investment of scarce resources for
future benefits
 A project can be planned, financed and implemented as a
unit
 A project has a defined set of objectives and a specific start
and end
 A project has geographical or organizational boundaries.
 How Project Differ from other Activities
 program
 Operations are routine/repeated-the same process &
outcome
 a long-term series of interventions, sometimes with no
defined end point
 It can be a serious of projects that produce the long
term impact on societies
 A programme is a broader concept than a project.

 project
 is unique and New in some way
 has a beginning and an ending with specific objectives
 Projects needs to be SMART
 .

 Perhaps the distinction between projects and programs would be
clear if we see the basic characteristics of projects.
 Projects in general need to be SMART
  S – Specific
 A project needs to be specific in its objective. A project is designed to
meet a specific objective as opposed to a program, which is broad. A
project has also specific activities.
 Projects have well defined sequence of investment and production
activities and a specific group of benefits. A project is also designed to
benefit a specific group of people.
 M - Measurable
 Projects are designed in such a way that investment and production
activities and benefits expected should be identified and if possible be
valued (expressed in monetary terms) in financial, economic and if
possible social terms.

 A – Area bounded

 As projects have specific and identifiable group of beneficiaries, so

also have to have boundaries.
 In designing a project, its area of operation must clearly be identified
and delineated.
 Though some secondary costs and benefits may go beyond the
boundary, its major area of operation must be identified. Hence,

projects are said to be area

 R – Real

 Planning of a project and its analysis must be made based on real

information.
 Planner must make sure whether the project fits with real social,
economic political, technical, etc situations.
 T – Time bounded
 A project has a clear starting and ending point. The overall life of the
project must be determined.
 Moreover, investment and production activities have their own time
sequence. Every cost and benefit streams must be identified,
quantified and valued and be presented year-by-year

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