Project Summary
Divurgent partnered with the Child Mind Institute (CMI), a non-profit children’s behavioral healthcare provider, on the implementation of integrated project portfolio and IT operations management. After an initial maturity assessment of CMI’s IT processes (including service desk, infrastructure, cybersecurity, and project management processes), CMI and Divurgent developed a comprehensive project/program/portfolio framework tailored to CMI’s current resource and budget capacity. This framework encompassed governance and alignment; change management; process implementation; and tools and technology. In addition, Divurgent filled several senior IT roles and served as a fractional CIO Advisor, providing guidance on IT strategy, planning, staffing, analysis, and executing IT strategic initiatives. Along the way, Divurgent collaborated with various departments across CMI to streamline project, program, demand, and IT operations management, addressing challenges such as resource bottlenecks and improving IT operations’ efficiency.
The Challenge
Despite CMI’s remarkable recent growth and efficacy, an initial assessment of CMI’s organizational maturity revealed opportunities for improvement in managing its IT landscape. With numerous ongoing projects (including a headquarters relocation), low visibility into project status, maintenance of legacy systems, and rising demands for new services, an overextended IT team struggled to keep up with the increasing needs of clinicians and administrative staff and experienced frequent resource bottlenecks.
Other challenges identified and addressed in the Divurgent partnership with CMI:
- The need to be more strategic – given the expectations from many diverse stakeholders and the challenges of rapid growth – and balance strategic initiatives with daily operational demand.
- No framework for prioritizing investments in technology solutions across all requests.
- Ad-hoc demand management leading to resource bottlenecks and inefficiencies.
Our Solution
To address these issues, CMI needed a comprehensive solution to streamline project, program, demand, and IT operations management, aiming to enhance service delivery, patient care, and overall efficiency. There was also a desire to approach this from an enterprise perspective, ensuring that the increasing demand on IT resources could be aligned with the organization’s strategic priorities and constraints. Our solutions included:
- Improved IT Communication and Stakeholder Collaboration – Cross-functional teams consisting of IT staff, clinicians, and administrative personnel were created to collaborate on key projects.
- Project and Program Management Implementation – A Project Management Office (PMO) was established to oversee all IT projects, programs, and initiatives, and a standardized project management framework was introduced to provide consistent processes across all projects.
- Demand Management Framework – A formal demand management process was introduced to capture, assess, and prioritize incoming requests based on factors such as business impact, urgency, and available resources.
The Result
By implementing a comprehensive framework with Divurgent’s help, CMI was able to significantly improve the performance and efficiency of its IT department. Project timelines were reduced by 15% due to better scoping and resource allocation, and the number of delayed projects dropped by 25%. CMI’s IT team experienced a 20% reduction in ticket backlog and consequently was able to focus on high-priority, high-impact projects. These improvements not only reduced project delays, they also increased stakeholder satisfaction across the board, contributing to better patient care and operational excellence. The success of this engagement highlighted the importance of structured management processes and effective collaboration between IT and non-IT departments in the healthcare industry.
