Researchers and Care Givers Learn to Manage Resources Together
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston is New England’s pre-eminent cancer care provider.
It is internationally renowned for its unique blending of research and clinical excellence. This interdisciplinary combination proved to be a challenge when it came time for the provider to replace its 14-year old, highly customized Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, a required undertaking necessary to achieve demanding business objectives.
The Solution:
Dana-Farber found Capgemini’s track record for process transformation in the healthcare industry a good fit with its objectives. Capgemini was brought on board to help with the implementation of PeopleSoft’s ERP suite across the Institute’s multi-faceted organization. The project was accomplished in two waves, and included implementation of fourteen PeopleSoft modules and an enterprise-wide portal from which to access all system functionality.
Change management, trust, and flexibility were key to the project’s success as the team pushed to meet an aggressive timeline. They balanced standardization and customization to accommodate the particular needs of researchers, clinicians, and others who use the system.
The Result:
Despite interruptions by a virus attack on the Institute’s servers and a few unexpected project changes, the Capgemini/Dana-Farber team met its original go-live commitment date of April 1, 2004, with full functionality. As a testament to this remarkable accomplishment, the implementation was ranked as one of the top 20 HealthCare IT projects for the Northeast.
“We got it in, we took it live, and it worked; and there are so many cases in which that doesn’t happen, and to me the fact that it worked here was a major, major success… If there’s one big factor that made it work, it was that they all were able to work together so efficiently… I think up and down the line, people on the team from the Dana-Farber side and the people on the team from the Capgemini side formed effective partnerships…. They learned from each other, respected each other. People worked extraordinarily well together on all levels.”
-- Dorothy Puhy, Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
How Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Capgemini Worked Together
In spite of the tumultuous marketplace at the time of the engagement, Capgemini demonstrated its devotion to the Dana-Farber implementation. The team moved in and became integrated with Dana-Farber’s staff almost as a new department within the organization. They even became involved in Dana-Farber’s community service projects after hours.
One issue that needed to be resolved early was whether one global system could support the needs of both the research and clinical communities. In an effort to resolve this and other issues, and to accelerate the implementation process overall, Capgemini orchestrated a unique off-site brainstorming session leveraging Capgemini’s Accelerated Solutions Environment (ASE). This crucial event helped to quickly disclose and resolve problematic issues while building trust and rapport between the project’s functional and technical teams.
To increase user acceptance of the new system’s standardization, Capgemini provided training for the physicians, researchers, and others as well as evening software classes, an expanded Help Desk, teleconferences with other user groups, and establishment of a “change agent network” throughout the organization. Specialized Capgemini resources were employed as needed to complement and support the client’s internal capabilities.
The collaboration proved fruitful as all levels of personnel at the Institute supported the project. The Institute eliminated its disparate systems, gained a common platform, and embraced tools and enabling technologies to help it track costs and achieve its missions of discovery and care.
Capgemini had won the confidence of the organization as a skilled facilitator and results-driven collaborator. By helping Dana-Farber’s varied constituencies reach consensus and effectively work together, Capgemini exceeded the provider’s expectations and implemented a system that met everyone’s needs.