Capella University MHA5020 Client Meeting and Project Approval

Capella University MHA5020 

MHA Capstone:Client Meeting and Project Approval

Meet with a health care professional in your prospective client organization to present your data review project proposal. Then, submit the final revised and approved project proposal with the client's signature. There is no page limit for this assessment.

Note: Each assessment of your capstone project is built on the work you have completed in previous assessments. Therefore, you must complete the assessments in this course in the order in which they are presented.

The ability to articulate the potential impact of your project in a concise manner to project stakeholders can impact the successful implementation of any change initiative. The successful outcome of your project depends upon your ability to communicate effectively and ability to prepare for meetings with important stakeholders.

This assessment is crucial to the success of your data review project and provides an opportunity for you to refine your project proposal and obtain the client’s approval. In addition, you will work closely with the client to ensure that your project adds value to the organization, while still supporting your career goals and leadership development.

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

• Competency 2: Execution: Translate strategy to develop and maintain optimal organizational performance in health care settings.
  • Present a project proposal to a client.
• Competency 3: People: Create an organizational climate that values and supports employees and colleagues in health care settings.
  • Identify the appropriate health care professional in an organization from whom to seek approval for a proposed project.
  • Negotiate changes to project scope, execution, or focus, based on feedback solicited from the client.
  • Obtain approval for a proposed project.

Client Background and Communication Preferences

Consider the following questions before you meet with the client: • Have you thoroughly researched the organization's website and the professional background of the client? Have you obtained any other information necessary to provide perspective on the organization's potential needs? • Is the client's organization currently undergoing any major change that might have an impact on your proposed project? • Does your client prefer to meet with you over the phone, via web conference or chat room, in person, or via another modality? • What time or setting is ideal for the client?

Presenting Your Project Proposal

At the meeting, present the project proposal you developed in Assessment 2, and explain your role as a master's degree learner offering a data review project as a part of your degree completion requirement at Capella University. • Explain your proposed project and the course requirements. Explain that you are seeking the client’s approval to review the existing data. Answer any questions. • Describe briefly what type of data you will be examining, what performance indicators you will be examining, and how you are proposing to measure each indicator. In addition, explain how you will visually display your summarized data (for example, as a pie chart, graph, spreadsheet, and process map). • Communicate to your client any statistical or other software that may be needed for the data analysis. • Explain how you will measure the outcomes for each of the four areas of the balanced scorecard.

Refining Your Project Proposal

After presenting your proposal, request feedback from the client on the scope and feasibility of your project. In addition, attempt to identify examples of evidence-based support for selected key performance indicators, determine whether you can gain access to additional related data sets, and verify the accessibility of data sets that could be made available for you to review.

The meeting is an opportunity to work with your client to redefine the performance indicators and outcome measures that you propose to examine. It is also an opportunity to make changes that will be of mutual benefit and enhance the outcome of the project. Before approving your data review project, the client may have a few suggestions to enhance your data analysis, such as adding a performance indicator, using a specific benchmark, or using an existing assessment tool. The client may also want to add something to your project for inclusion in the final report or may want you to spend more time on the project than is allotted. In such instances, you must negotiate a solution that meets both the course requirements and your client's needs. It is your job to verify, discover, or redefine your performance indicators and outcome measures so you can proceed to your data review. Consequently, you may wish to initiate a preliminary discussion with your client on the following points:

• Units of service. • Types of units applicable to your project. • Selection of units. • Output performance measures: o Scope definition. o Service completion. o Client outcomes. • Quality dimensions. • Four types of outcome measures and rationale for your selected measures. • Process for selecting outcome measures, such as stakeholder input and assessment. • Use of standardized measures. • Use of performance measurement information. During the meeting, you may discover the following: • You have chosen the wrong indicators for your problem statement. • The indicators are not included in the organization's data sets. • The client thinks that different indicators might be more helpful. • There is limited data on a performance indicator. • There are incomplete entries or lack of consistent coding of data. • There are mismatched data sets from which you have to generate a meaningful summary.

Meeting Follow-Up Although it is not required, you may choose to follow up with your client via e-mail or phone after completing the assessment. This would be an ideal time to extend your thanks for reviewing your initial proposal. You may offer to e-mail the client a draft of the project report that you will complete in the next assessment. Upon receiving the report, the client has the option to review the type and purpose of the data you are analyzing, how you will organize it, and how the data will be presented in the final report. Even though the course does not require you to receive feedback from the client about your completed report, the person you interview is the professional audience your data review project is intended to serve. This person is very likely going to be interested in seeing your completed report and could serve as an informal editor of your deliverable for this course.