‘Never Waste a Good Crisis’: Kettering Health Network Doubles Down on Project Management Improvement

Last year, the PMO completed 103 projects, including a new hospital and a new cancer treatment center. As the PMO transitions to an EPMO, this mission-critical function will have a broader strategic footprint, doubling its influence and impact across the network’s portfolio of projects over the next couple of years.

Company

Kettering Health is a not-for-profit network of eight hospitals, Kettering College, and over 120 outpatient facilities serving southwest Ohio. Patients have access to maternity care, state-of-the-art cancer-fighting technology, and Ohio’s leading heart hospital as well as revolutionary brain and spine surgery. With nearly 12,000 employees and 2,100 physicians, Kettering Health is committed to transforming the healthcare experience with world-class health services for every stage of life. Kettering Health, a faith-based organization, recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of Kettering Medical Center. Great Place to Work® and Fortune have named Kettering Health Network one of the 2020 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For®.

Challenge

In 2019, Kettering Health Network (KHN) continued a push to increase service delivery through implementing an Agile/Scrum framework. They understood that, to achieve this, their IS PMO would need to become an Enterprise-wide PMO. As a first step, KHN knew that the PMO’s project management maturity would need to be determined and a roadmap established. At the same time, they were in the midst of a complex rollout of new financial services capabilities across the enterprise.

Solution

KHN reached out for an expert PM partner to assess the project management maturity of the organization and provide a customized roadmap, taking into consideration KHN’s culture and change readiness, for transitioning from an IT PMO to an Enterprise PMO. This organizational change initiative waited in the wings while PM Solutions provided a senior project manager, familiar with banking/financial systems and working with third-party software providers, to lead the financial services transformation effort.

The enterprise banking system initiative was designed to enhance and automate all financial aspects of the network, dramatically improving responsiveness of financial activities and transactions. In the course of the effort, PM Solutions worked with multiple KHN functional areas, along with a number of outside vendors. With PM Solutions’ assistance, KHN transitioned and/or implemented 14 banking services, including payroll, patient payment systems, accounts payable, and workers’ compensation. They also designed and implemented a Deposit Management Strategy that involved, among other initiatives, migrating over 100 KHN physician offices to “cashless” operation, which involved deploying scanner equipment across 162 offices and 50 hospital locations. The program also included developing and delivering training and job aids documentation to all physician offices and hospital locations.

Finally, PM Solutions assisted KHN in optimizing their document management system, transforming manual workflow processes for dealing with inbound correspondence in order to save time, increase efficiency, and decrease paper usage. The PM Solutions consultant introduced Agile Scrum tools and processes rather than using traditional Waterfall methodology.

To further develop the capabilities of KHN’s project management discipline, late in 2019, working closely with the new PMO Director and across the organization, PM Solutions assessed PM, PPM and PMO maturity, summarized findings and provided key, prioritized recommendations as an actionable roadmap. By comparing KHN’s results to those of other healthcare organizations, PM Solutions was able to show where the organization excelled as well as indicating areas for improvement. PM Solutions provided solid recommendations for KHN to improve its maturity level, and also provided recommendations and a roadmap to achieve the goal of becoming an EPMO.

Results

The financial services project exceeded customer expectations and was delivered on time and on budget. This successful delivery further inspired KHN to push ahead with their Enterprise PMO plans. With this roadmap, KHN is able to lead and implement the PM and EPMO improvements necessary to move from a Level 1.8 PMO to Level 3 within a 12-month time period.

In partnership with KHN during the pandemic, which greatly impacted KHN and the Healthcare industry, PM Solutions offered assistance at no charge to assist with the early phase implementation efforts, conducting a review of projects being performed by the PMO and identifying process improvements by eliminating non-value added work. The consultant designed a KHN Project Workbook that includes an Interactive Project Dashboard, as well as tools and templates for stakeholder engagement, risk management and change management.

As the PMO Director remarked during a meeting, quoting Winston Churchill, “Never waste a good crisis!” Utilizing the funding provided to support businesses during the pandemic, PM Solutions partnered with KHN to move forward with the agile transformation of the PMO, providing insights into the role of the project manager and PMO in organizations where Agile Scrum is being used. In this way, the healthcare organization prepares to emerge from a healthcare crisis more resilient and better prepared for future challenges.