Client: Mater Health Services Brisbane, in conjunction with Queensland’s Department of Health (QH), Children’s Health Queensland HHS (CHQ) and eHealth Queensland (eHQ).
Timeframe: 2015-2016
Background and Need
This program was created as an evolution of the Mater Children’s Hospital (MCH) to Queensland Children’s Hospital (QCH) ICT Transition Program (see link below) that was led by Jeff Parker.
After the successful conclusion of the above program (which addressed information sharing from Mater to Qld Health, i.e. one-way) and the opening of QCH (and simultaneous closure of MCH) in mid-Nov 2014, it was necessary to put focus on establishing a proper two-way information sharing platform for the many patients whose care was provided by both Mater and QH facilities.
This need arose because of serious patient safety concerns (related to patient identification and lack of access to clinical information for shared patients), as well as to address important care quality and efficiency objectives.
Like the QCH ICT Transition program, this program had the support of four organisations (Mater, QH, CHQ, and eHQ) who worked collaboratively together to deliver the best possible outcomes for patients who are shared between QH and Mater care facilities. Patient centred care was the overarching driving and lived priority of the program.
Description of Service
JP Consulting provided resources for two leadership roles in this program, viz. Program Director and Lead Solutions Architect.
The genesis of the program came from the work of a joint Tiger Team tasked to look at information-related safety concerns for shared neonatal patients. The key output of this work was a document called the Executive Report for the Information Sharing Program, which Jeff Parker led the development of. This report was endorsed by executives (CEOs and CIOs) of the participating organisations and laid out the case, scope and a high-level plan for the proposed program.
On the strength of the Executive Report and stakeholder commitment, Jeff Parker led the development of the Business Case for Phase 1 the program, which was navigated through QH’s Investment Management Framework.
The business case was approved and Jeff Parker was appointed Program Director. Jeff led the program’s establishment and the successful completion of Phase 1. The program team comprised ten core members and an extended team of around 25, and interacted with approx. 50 key stakeholders across the three organisations. Phase 1 was completed over a period of 18 months, within budget and delivered outcomes as planned.
Anthony O’Neill was engaged in the program as Lead Solution Architect and as a member of the program executive team. In this role Anthony led the highly successful Technical Working Group (TWG). TWG members were drawn from all participating organisations and the group had the responsibility to review requirements, identify solution design options, and then to progress the development of agreed solutions. This involved an immense amount of collaboration between the organisations to produce interoperable solutions, e.g. including agreeing on standards in all necessary areas, and in coordinating development, testing and deployment.
Jeff Parker led the creation of this Program (and has been described as its “father”) and held the role of Program Director for Phase 1. He laid the foundation and provided input for the Business Case for Phase 2 of the program, which was subsequently approved and handed over to be run by core members of the team that Jeff previously led.
Outcomes
Phase 1 was successfully delivered with a range of solutions implemented and operating to the benefit of shared patients, and the Business Case for Phase 2 was developed and subsequently accepted.