Overview

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This course introduces you to planning and executing healthcare projects in real-world clinical and operational environments. Using a running case study of a remote patient monitoring (RPM) pilot at North Valley Health System, you will learn how project managers transform a project charter into a practical project management plan that guides project work from planning through execution. You’ll develop key project planning skills by creating work breakdown structures (WBS), building project schedules and simple Gantt charts, estimating time and effort, and identifying dependencies and constraints that commonly affect healthcare initiatives. You’ll also learn how to develop realistic budgets, align resources with project needs, and account for the operational realities of healthcare organizations. The course explores stakeholder analysis, communication planning, and risk management, helping you identify key stakeholders, tailor communication strategies, address resistance to change, and document project risks. You’ll also practice evaluating scope changes, preparing for go-live activities, and using dashboards, metrics, and key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor project performance. By the end of the course, you will be able to create a basic healthcare project management plan and apply practical tools that help healthcare projects move successfully from planning into execution.

Syllabus

From Charter to Project Plan

In this module, you'll move from a high-level project idea to a practical plan for action in real healthcare settings. Using the North Valley RPM pilot, you'll explore why approved projects can still struggle, learn to distinguish between a project charter and a project management plan, and start building a structured planning framework that supports execution in busy clinical and operational environments. Tip: Focus on understanding the differences between planning documents to set a strong foundation for your project.

Scheduling and Estimation

In this module, you'll develop scheduling habits that help healthcare projects move from intention to coordinated action. You'll break work into manageable components, estimate time and effort realistically, account for dependencies and operational constraints, and use North Valley project tasks to create practical schedules that support visibility, accountability, and adaptability. Tip: Practice breaking down tasks carefully to improve your scheduling accuracy.

Budgeting and Resource Planning

This module explores how healthcare projects consume both financial resources and operational capacity. You'll examine direct and indirect costs, staff time, training demands, technology needs, and capacity constraints to create realistic project budgets and resource plans that reflect the pressures of real healthcare environments. Tip: Pay close attention to hidden costs and capacity limits to avoid surprises in your project planning.

Stakeholder and Communication Planning

Healthcare projects depend on people as much as plans. In this module, you'll focus on building support across clinical and operational stakeholders. You'll identify who is affected by a project, analyze influence and impact, tailor communication strategies, and respond to resistance in ways that build trust, alignment, and forward momentum in complex healthcare settings. Tip: Engage stakeholders early and often to foster collaboration and reduce resistance.

Risk, Change, Execution, and Monitoring

This module brings together the realities of leading a healthcare project once implementation begins. You'll identify and mitigate risks, evaluate scope changes, prepare for go-live, monitor progress, use dashboards and KPIs, solve implementation problems, sustain team engagement, and close projects effectively so improvements can transition into ongoing operations. Tip: Use metrics and KPIs to stay informed and keep your project on track.