Communication Plan Evaluation for Project Management in Healthcare

This report provides an in-depth analysis of a communication plan within the context of project management, specifically focusing on a healthcare information system project implemented by the County Health Department. The report begins with an introduction that outlines the project's goals, which include enhancing flexibility and scalability. The discussion section evaluates the current communication plan, highlighting the importance of stakeholder communication and identifying deficiencies in the existing plan. The evaluation of current practices reveals that information sharing is limited, leading to potential miscommunication and scope creep. The report then provides actionable recommendations, such as improving communication methods, providing regular updates, and refining the feedback system to address these issues. The justification for these recommendations emphasizes the need for better communication among stakeholders to ensure project success. The report concludes by summarizing the findings and reiterating the importance of addressing the identified communication issues to achieve the project's objectives.

Running head: COMMUNICATION PLAN FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Communication Plan for Project Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note:

1
COMMUNICATION PLAN FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Discussion..............................................................................................................................................2
Current Plan of Communication........................................................................................................2
Evaluation of Current Communication Plan and Project Management Practices..............................2
Recommendations.............................................................................................................................3
Justification for Recommendations...................................................................................................3
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................4
References.............................................................................................................................................5

2
COMMUNICATION PLAN FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Introduction
Country Health Department has implemented the health information system within their
business. This particular previously existing health information system has the core capability of
storing important and relevant information system about health details effectively and efficiently.
However, this specific pre existing information system is lacking flexibility and scalability [7]. The
doctors, health experts and nurses have to make the data entry about their patients repeatedly and
this often creates and enhances major issues for the users. Moreover, when these patients are
taking appointment in some other health related departments, again the database has to be
updated. Hence, for the purpose of bringing flexibility and scalability within this system, a proposal
of a modified health care system is provided. This report outlines the proper evaluation of the
project’s communication plan and also provides suitable recommendations.
Discussion
Current Plan of Communication
A communication plan is considered as one of the major factors for managing a project. The
entire flow of communication within the various stakeholders is properly maintained with the help
of this communication plan [3]. There is an enhanced communication within the stakeholders that
are responsible for mitigating the various issues within any specific project. Therefore, apart from
gathering of project requirements, the project progress update is also achieved with the
communication plans.
The current plan of communication in County Health Department, it is noticed that the
stakeholders are project management teams, media, clients, government agencies and finally the
sponsors [5]. This specific communication plan could be termed as proper when the communication
flow is maintained within all the stakeholders equally. However, lack of communications is being
noticed within the existing plan of communication for County Health Department. Thus, it cannot be
termed as the best quality communication plan and this type of lack of communications is the main
reason for their project delay [1].
Evaluation of Current Communication Plan and Project Management Practices
Various practices about the respective project management are extremely vital since these
help the project for delivering the right outcomes. Five distinct stages are present for the respective
project management that is being involved within the life cycle of project management [4]. The five
significant stages of project management are project initialization, planning as well as designing of

3
COMMUNICATION PLAN FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT
project, proper execution of project, control as well as monitor of the respective project and finally
project closing. The proper execution of each and every step within the project could help in the
proper project delivery with appropriate outcomes.
The proper sharing of information and data within the various stakeholders is extremely
important and significant while perfectly developing any particular project [5]. Moreover, it is being
noticed for the health information system’s communication plan in County Health Department that
this specific communication plan does not comprise of the perfect flow of communication within the
various stakeholders of County Health Department. The information is only shared between the few
members of the project team and the respective clients. Hence, a major issue was arising due to this
lack of communications between the other stakeholders. However, the team members of the
project cannot communicate with the government as well as the media. This factor eventually could
lead to a serious miscommunication and cause of the possibility of project scope creep and the
project requirements could be changed subsequently [1]. In this scenario of County Health
Department, the respective scope creep could arise since the issues in communication plan. A major
and immediate improvement is mandatory within the project’s communication plan.
Recommendations
The specific plan of the project management comprises of the significant compilation of
each and every stage of PM life cycle [8]. Hence, the up gradation about the required progress of all
the stages are required to be eventually shared within the pre existing organizational stakeholders of
this particular project. For executing the required plan of project management a proper
management of their stakeholders is required to be executed perfectly. The information sharing
about the five stages is important for the significant delivery of project outcomes. The first
recommendation is to improve the communication method for all stakeholders [2]. Providing regular
updates to each and every project team member is the next suitable recommendation for County
Health Department. Finally, the feedback system should be improvised properly.
Justification for Recommendations
It is been noticed from the provided case study that the current communication plan of
County Health Department is majorly lacking a subsequent flow of proper communication and this is
the major reason for the issues faced within the project [4]. For the core purpose of mitigating this
issue of lack of communications within the respective stakeholders, few important steps are to be
executed. As per the recommendation, this type of communication could be substantially
improvised within the stakeholders. The proper deployment of communication method is also
important for reducing the other communication problems between government agencies, the

4
COMMUNICATION PLAN FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT
media and project team members. This is extremely important and noteworthy step for the media as
well as the government agencies for getting proper updates regarding the respective progress of this
project. Moreover, the other members of the project in County Health Department will also be
getting the various updates regarding project progress [6]. According to the final recommendation,
the feedback system should be improved so that the members get proper views of the users.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion, it can be concluded that the pre existing information
system of health For Country Health Department is undergoing some of the major faults or flaws.
These flaws are required to be mitigated as soon as possible since these are affecting the business
data and information. To mitigate these issues, a new project is being proposed by the management
of County Health Department. The above report has properly outlined the communication plan of
the new project for modified health information system. However, few flaws are identified in the
communication plan and for mitigating these issues; few steps are to be followed accordingly. This
report has provided few recommendations that are absolutely suitable for the communication plan.

5
COMMUNICATION PLAN FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT
References
[1] Kerzner, Harold, and Harold R. Kerzner.
Project management: a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons, 2017.
[2] Burke, Rory. "Project management: planning and control techniques."
New Jersey, USA (2013).
[3] Marchewka, Jack T.
Information technology project management. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.
[4] Fleming, Quentin W., and Joel M. Koppelman. "Earned value project management." Project
Management Institute, 2016.
[5] Harrison, Frederick, and Dennis Lock.
Advanced project management: a structured approach.
Routledge, 2017.
[6] Walker, Anthony.
Project management in construction. John Wiley & Sons, 2015.
[7] Mir, Farzana Asad, and Ashly H. Pinnington. "Exploring the value of project management: linking
project management performance and project success."
International journal of project
management 32, no. 2 (2014): 202-217.
[8] Heagney, Joseph.
Fundamentals of project management. Amacom, 2016.