Various Things Can Go Wrong During the System Acquisition Process, Research Paper Example

Introduction

Various problems or issues can occur in the healthcare acquisition process. As such it is vital that appropriate due diligence takes place early in the procurement process. This paper examines some of these potential issues that may impact the effective running of the future system.

Issues That Will Have Consequences

The following types of issues that may surface in the acquisition process may result in serious downstream consequences.

1. It is discovered that the service provider is financially unviable and may enter serious financial difficulties.
2. The information system is found to have certain key deficiencies which are considered mandatory requirements for the new system.
3. The system is found to have a steeper learning curve than previously anticipated. This may drive up costs in additional training and resource requirements.

Item 1 has been identified as the most serious consequence as we could lose the key expertise of the service provider and this could impact future updates and development of the system and potential loss of functionality without contractual support. (Jack R. Meredith, 2011)

Steps to Avert Failure

Item 1 might be a potential show stopper and careful evaluation would be needed before proceeding further with the project.

Item 2 will need clear identification in terms of functional business systems requirements and a plan by the vendor as to how they will address these needs. A clear action plan will need to be developed in order to correct or remedy these deficiencies. (Senthilkumar, 2010)

Item 3 may require a further re-valuation of the project budget in terms of increase training costs, additional resource cost and additional material cost. These will need to be built in but may require the approval of the Project Board and Executive. All of these mitigation actions should be managed through an appropriate risk management system (Carroll, 2011)

References

Carroll, R. (2011). Risk Management Handbook for Health Care Organizations, 3 Volume Set. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Jack R. Meredith, S. J. (2011). Project Management: A Managerial Approach. In S. J. Jack R. Meredith, Project Management: A Managerial Approach (p. 480). New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Senthilkumar, P. &. (2010). Project Management. In P. &. Senthilkumar, Project Management (pp. 25-26). New Yoork: PHI Learning.