Australia’s Biggest Healthcare: Victorian Health System- Case Study Assignment Help

Internal Code: TV539

Case Study Assignment Help:

Task: Introduction In February 2012, David Davis — Victoria's Health Minister — was still considering what he would recommend to the new premier Ted Baillieu with regard to the HealthSMART program. The program was one of the biggest IT initiatives ever taken in Australia, developed to modernize and replace management systems throughout the Victorian public healthcare sector. The Labor Government approved the program in 2003 with a $323.4 million budget and to be completed in four years. Nine years on with almost 50% cost overrun, the main component — the Clinical System — had been installed at only four out of ten originally planned health services. Davis had to decide what he would recommend, continuing funding the program until completion or dumping it in entirety and using the public money for other projects. The Business Case According to the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee of the Parliament Victoria, there was not enough detail in relation to whole-of-life costs and benefits, expected outcomes and value-for-money considerations for the Program. CSC Corporation, the contractor that was delivering the Patient and Client Management System, stated: “Typically, a business plan would set out the objectives of the project. I am not aware that there has been any of that or any benefits realization subsequent to the project...what we are talking about here in HealthSMART is a standardization project that has potential IT benefits if it is done well...one of the benefits of standardization is that you have a core platform so that when you have an innovation you can do it once and apply it to many... I do not think the customer is getting as much out of the software as they can, I truly believe the client cannot point to why they did it or what benefit they are getting from it.” Cerner Corporation, the contractor of the Clinical System, believed that the implementation could have been improved by the government committing to the establishment of “baseline measurements of required metrics” to ensure that benefits and outcomes could be measured. Commenting on the implementation of the Clinical System component, the CEO of Austin Health stated: “This project will deliver long term economic and environmental benefits for the Victorian community. Patient safety will be improved through timely access to electronic information, appropriate alerts and decision support. Medical error related to illegible orders and missed test results will be reduced. This will be to the benefit of patients treated in hospitals using this system.” Kill It or Keep It Davis said recently: “... On one hand, there's the recognition that you need a strong and forward IT system, which is critical to high-quality, efficient healthcare. However, HealthSMART has been implemented at a much greater cost than was initially proposed and is well behind time and not fully effective in a number of key locations.” For Davis it was a decision between killing or keeping funding the program. Davis understood the HealthSMART program was delivering various benefits to the health services in Victoria. Austin Health was a good example of how health services could use HealthSMART to be more effective. Also, completing the program would allow for universal IT infrastructure across health services in victoria. However, Davis knew if the program was to be continued he would have to secure further funding and make sure it would deliver what it had promised. That was nothing to be sure of. On the other hand, a decision to discontinue would mean more money for other pressing projects in the state and individual health services would have more flexibility and autonomy in deciding what IT systems would be suitable for them. It was not a straight forward situation for Davis and he was not sure he should recommend killing it or keeping it. Davis knew the new government faced ‘a genuine dilemma.’ 1. Research design: problems, research questions, methods 2. Literature review: comprehensive 3. Semi-structured interviews (31 in Australia, UK, US) – recorded 4. Professionally transcribed 5. Qualitative data analysis (thematic coding) 6. Draft 7. Finalise