TEACHING CASE STUDIES

Dealing with Uncertainty and Ambiguity

in a Complex Project: The Case
of Intravenous (IV) Pumps in a
Healthcare Center
Monique Aubry, School of Business and Management, Université du Québec à Montréal,
Montréal, Canada
Madeline Boulay-Bolduc, Project Manager, retired, McGill University Health Center (MUHC)
Marie-Claire Richer, Associate General Manager, CIUSSS de l’Ouest de l’île de Montréal
Mélanie Lavoie-Tremblay, Ingram School of Nursing, McGill University

A University Hospital for the 21st Century A Turning Point: The Creation of the
In 2008, the Quebec government approved a CAD$2.3 bil- Transition Support Office
lion budget to build a modern academic healthcare facil- In preparation for this redevelopment project, MUHC
ity that would provide state-of-the-art, highly specialized executives visited hospitals in Europe and in the United
healthcare services to the Montreal population and to a States that had undergone similar redevelopment projects.
broader community of 1.7 million Quebecers scattered What they learned was alarming: close to 50% of managers
from Nunavik to the U.S. border. The new facility would had resigned from their position in the months follow-
house a great part but not all of the McGill University ing the move. Testimonials pointed to a lack of dedicated
Health Center (MUHC) activities. resources to support clinicians and managers in preparing
The opening of the Glen site in 2015 was the con- this major transformation. Typically the time needed to
clusion of a multifaceted project involving hundreds of prepare for the transformation was scheduled very late in
workers, over a period of close to eight years. The physical the process, as part of the move planning activities. This
architecture conveyed only a glimpse of the complexity situation led to operational disruptions and disconnects,
and magnitude of this redevelopment project, much of raising the level of stress and distress among clinical
which resided ‘within its walls,’ where clinical teams from teams. In other words, bricks, mortar, and IS/IT consid-
different hospitals needed to prepare to work together day erations represented just the tip of an immense iceberg.
one after the move. The programs and activities of the First and foremost, the success of a redevelopment project
two larger general hospitals, the Royal Victoria and the would lie in preparing the people to transition seamlessly
Montreal General, had to be reconfigured and redeployed, to a radically new work environment, while maintaining
which required many teams to merge and many clinical a high quality of care and uncompromised patient safety.
practices to be harmonized. In addition, throughout the It was with this in mind that the MUHC created the
organization, many major clinical and administrative pro- Transition Support Office (TSO) in 2008. This project man-
cesses had to be streamlined and optimized to meet the agement office was intended to support teams in harmo-
expectations set for the new MUHC. nizing practices and processes across sites as well as to
The physical move to the new Glen site of the MUHC facilitate the merger and the move. The TSO had to act on
took place between April and June of 2015 and represented the following three areas to facilitate the merger:
the largest hospital move in Canadian history. A total of
273 patients were transferred, a very complex task. The 1. Harmonization of clinical practices;
Royal Victoria Hospital, the Montreal Children’s Hospital, 2. Review of all processes; and
and the Montreal Chest Institute sites closed down, while 3. Consolidation of work teams that would be merged
the reconfigured Montreal General Hospital, the NEURO, with the move.
and the Lachine Hospital remained on their existing site.
Suzan was appointed as head of the TSO. She played
a strategic role on projects under her responsibilities
Project Management Journal, Vol. 49, No. 1, 110–121
© 2018 by the Project Management Institute
by linking with senior management when needed. She
Published online at www.pmi.org/PMJ held a doctoral degree in nursing and had proven strong

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 leadership qualities, fueled by an inspiring vision of the future missing, in fact through our investigations, we found out that
of the new MUHC. She firmly believed in project management there was a lot of ‘hunting and gathering’ by staff members.
as a philosophy of management to lead the overall organiza- This situation meant that staff spent much time looking for
tion transformation for the benefit of patient care. pumps because they were not readily available to them.”
At its peak, the TSO was staffed with 26 full-time equiva- Biomed Engineering was responsible for the acquisition
lent persons, who collectively managed a portfolio of no fewer and maintenance of medical equipment for the MUHC. In
than 100 projects, a third of which focused on supporting 2012, it was time to renew IV pumps contracts and, given the
clinicians across the different sites to harmonize their clini- impact this type of technology would have on clinical prac-
cal practices based on the best available evidence from the tices, the TSO was asked to assist with the process.
scientific literature. Nearly half of the TSO employees had an The goal of this project was to address the long-standing
education in project management, either a master’s degree in clinical and operational issues surrounding the use of IV pumps
project management or a PMO certification. at the MUHC. It would be a system-wide, inter-departmental
Maggie was a former Associate Director of Nursing, project that needed to be conducted before the move to the
responsible for the Clinical and Professional Staff Develop- Glen site. Not only would it include the harmonization and
ment Service at the MUHC from 2004 to 2011, and had devel- optimization of practices, but it would also encompass the
oped a large network of contacts within the organization over selection and implementation of IV pumps. For the project
the years. One of her department’s numerous responsibilities to truly meet clinical needs, clinicians needed to be involved,
included the harmonization of clinical practices. In 2012, she which posed a challenge since, traditionally, clinicians’ involve-
was recruited as a project manager by the TSO to manage proj- ment in the decision-making process was limited. As Maggie
ects related to the harmonization of clinical practices, befitting put it, “clinical was going to drive the project.”
her background. In this role, she would be supported by a proj-
ect management specialist and the results would be a winning Project Organization
combination of clinical and project management expertise The first thing Maggie did was to put in place the project plan
One early morning in 2012, Suzan met with Maggie to inform and governance structure. The project sponsors would be the
her that the TSO had just been asked to provide support for the Director of Nursing and the Pharmacist-in-Chief. The core proj-
selection, implementation, and use of a new float of IV pumps. ect team consisted of the two sponsors plus a clinical practice
consultant (Nicole) and a knowledge broker (Martha). Many ad
The Intravenous (IV) Pumps Project hoc members—clinicians, experts in process review and evalua-
IV pumps known as infusion pumps were commonly used to tion as well as representatives from different departments, such
provide care in a variety of clinical settings. Nurses used them as Quality, Patient Safety, and Performance, Biomed, Finance,
to administer intravenous fluids and medications to patients. Logistics—were solicited as needed for their expertise at differ-
There were two basic kinds: a volumetric pump for continu- ent junctures during the project (see Figure 1).
ous infusion and a syringe pump for intermittent infusion. The objective was to engage the multiple stakeholders
Maggie referred to them as “an essential, everyday tool for around strategic decisions that would have to be made, and at
nurses.” Patients often had more than one IV pump at a time the right level. She, therefore, created two committees: one at
for the administration of multiple medications; for example, the executive level and another at the operational level. The
premature babies might need up to 14 pumps at any given first was the Harmonization of IV Practices Steering Committee
time. “Infusion pumps were manufactured with software that that would include director-level representatives from Nursing,
could alert users to potential errors. The pumps with this Pharmacy, Biomed, Information Technology (IT), Finance,
additional software were often referred to as “Smart Pumps” Quality, and Logistics. The operational committee consisted
or “Intelligent Infusion Devices.” This software allowed an of a group known as the Harmonization of IV Practices Work-
organization to create a library of medications that provided group. The committee represented inter-professional clini-
medication dosing guidelines, by establishing concentrations, cians from all MUHC sites (adult and pediatric care) and
dose limits, and clinical advisories.”1 This security feature was various clinical settings. All these representatives were brought
called the Dose Error Reduction System (DERS) or drug library together to guide the clinical decision process regarding the
and when not used, pumps were referred to as being “dumb.” selection of IV pumps, the elements to support their use, and
Before the move and consolidation to the Glen site, IV the harmonization of IV practices.
administration procedures varied across MUHC hospitals, Maggie hoped that the involvement of clinicians from
and there were as many as eight different types of pumps the very onset of the project would ensure that the selected
being used. As Maggie recalled it, “There were always pumps pumps would suit the needs of the many clinical settings
in which they would be used. She also hoped it would help
1Proceedingsfrom the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) summit on use of smart
the TSO obtain buy-in from participants across the MUHC.
infusion Pumps: guidelines for safe implementation and use. Moreover, if they supported the initiative, she believed that

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 Dealing with Uncertainty and Ambiguity in a Complex Project:
The Case of Intravenous (IV) Pumps in a Healthcare Center

Source: Diagram designed specifically for this case

Figure 1: The organization and governance structure for the harmonization of IV practices project.

it would be easier to achieve the required behavioral change A fifth objective was added as a result of the kick-off meet-
and shift. ing, and that was to ensure sustainability by putting in place
a decision-making structure to address and communicate
Project Kick-off Meeting issues promptly. This exemplified the importance of the com-
Eager to get the stakeholders involved, Maggie held the project munication needed across departments and professions to
kick-off meeting of the Steering Committee on 20 March 2012 ensure ongoing involvement and cooperation from all parties
(see Table 1). The objective of the meeting was to arrive at a com- throughout the project.
mon vision of the project; agree on the scope, major elements; See Table 2 for the Project Charter. The project scope was
and timetables for the project and establish the next steps. The defined as “The Harmonization of IV Practices across the
main goal and objectives of the project were to: MUHC” sites, and the renewal of the pump fleet for the adult
sites, excluding the Lachine and the MCH sites. These sites
1. Harmonize all the practices linked to the administration were to be involved in identifying the selection criteria for
of IV medications based on the best available evidence; the pumps, but would not renew their pump fleet until later.
2. Acquire IV pump equipment based on the best technology, The MCH site had recently purchased pumps and would not
in a sufficient number that met all the clinical needs of the benefit from the project until the expiration of that contract,
MUHC; but it was important for them to have a say in the decision-
3. Improve the safety of use of IV pumps across the MUHC; and making process.
4. Improve the management of the pump fleet across the Next on the agenda were the proposed timetables.
MUHC. The tight deadlines along with the budget needs of the project

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 Items Discussion/Decision/Action
1 Review of the agenda Maggie explained the agenda and the objectives of the meeting:
• Arrive at a common vision of the project (see if the expectations are similar and address the divergence)
• Agree on the scope of the project, its major elements, and the timelines
• Agree on the next steps
Maggie explained that Julie would be with the project until the end of April 2012. She will be able to assist on
moving certain aspects of the project, such as the needs assessment.
2 Context of the project The harmonization of IV practices project is supported by the Transition Support Office. It is a system-wide inter-
professional, inter-departmental project that needs to be addressed before the move to the Glen. In addition to the
harmonization and optimization of practices, selection and implementation of IV pumps are integral parts of this
project.
3 Definition of the project 1. Goal and objectives of the project:
A document called “Needs statement” had been circulated to the group members before the meeting and was
discussed. The main goal was presented as well as the four main objectives of the project. The group agreed
on these and asked that a fifth objective be added and that is: Put in place a decision-making body that would
address and communicate issues related to IV practices and pumps post implementation as a strategy to ensure
sustainability. Therefore, part of the sustainability plan of this project is to recommend to senior administration the
appropriate structure needed to ensure ongoing quality improvement related to IV practices post implementation.
The importance of communicating explicitly the need for inter-professional and interdepartmental ongoing
involvement and commitment in this project was also mentioned. The group agreed with this.
2. Scope of the project:
Harmonize IV practices across the MUHC sites and renew pump fleet for the adult sites excluding Lachine
(proceeding currently with call for tender but will participate in identifying selection criteria) and the MCH (who
will participate in identifying selection criteria only because they purchased the pump a few years ago). It excludes
pumps used for pain management (PCA pumps). The available budget is 3 million dollars for the first year
(2012–2013) and up to CAD$9 million. Colin explained that this amount was determined based on historical data and
market references. It is a onetime capital investment required to create, sign, and get the contract running in order
to have access to the pumps that we need. This would permit 1.5 IV lines/patient. The CAD$9 million will pay for the
equipment, the professional support to implement, educate, and deploy. It was suggested to include the notion of
partnership with the vendor.
3. The preliminary timeline:
The proposed timeline was presented. We are facing a tight timeline linked to the call for tender. Colin needs
the selection criteria and plans to have a detailed call for tender document by the end of July 2012 and he plans
to organize an evaluation workgroup thereafter. He plans to proceed with the call for tender at the beginning of
August 2012, followed by the evaluation of the call for tender thereafter and finish this by the end of 2012. A needs
assessment with front line staff regarding IV practices, pump storage, and management is planned. The nurse
managers have been solicited to identify their current pump situation and forecast future needs. She should receive
all the information by the end of March 2012. Colin mentioned that there are internal and external factors that
might impact on the project and that is the ministry is thinking about selecting a pump system that would be used
provincial-wide. Internally, the fact that we aim to ensure each patient has at least one pump is a big change and
will greatly impact the logistic aspect (storage, maintenance, cleaning). We discussed also the infrastructure needed
to support the smart pump technology like setting up drug library and needing Wi-Fi technology to update the library
in a safe manner. There will be Wi-Fi at the Glen and at the MGH, it will not be for another five years. This means
that we will purchase smart pumps, but not use the library for two to three years until we move to the Glen and it
could be for five years for the MGH if we do not have access to Wi-Fi technology. We will need to include this in
our risk management analysis when we look at the different scenarios. It was clear from all present that as senior
person from IS/IT needs to be a member of this coordinating committee.
4 Next steps 1. The members present agreed to be a member of the harmonization of IV practices coordinating committee
knowing they are a decision-making body for this project. It was mentioned that a senior person from IS/It also
needs to be a member. We informed the group that we have solicited IS/IT to delegate someone to join our group.
Some of the next steps are:
1.1. Proceed with the needs assessment
1.2. Form the harmonization of IV practices workgroup and the management of IV pumps workgroup as well.
1.3. Set the next harmonization IV practices Coordination Committee meeting
Table 1: Minutes of the kick-off meeting.

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 Dealing with Uncertainty and Ambiguity in a Complex Project:
The Case of Intravenous (IV) Pumps in a Healthcare Center

Project Identification
Project Name:
Harmonization of practices linked to the administration of IV medications
Department: Site:
Nursing, Pharmacy, Logistics, Biomedical, Finance, Information Services, RVH, MGH, CHEST, Neuro, MCH, and Lachine
Quality, Risk and Performance
Project Start: Project Completion (expected):
January 2012 July 2014
Project Governance
Requester: Sponsor(s):
Pharmacy/Nursing Director of Nursing
Pharmacist-In-Chief
Clinical or Other Leader(s): Project Manager(s):
Assistant to the Director of Nursing Maggie, Transition Support Office
Pharmacist Clinical Practice Consultant: Nicole
Project Environment
Strategic Justification:
Within the context of the redevelopment project, it is imperative to optimize and harmonize the practices related to the administration of IV
medications, based on best evidence and supported by state-of-the-art technology.
Project Context:
Across the MUHC we find:
• Diverse IV administration practices
• Different IV administration systems (different pump system and tubing) obtained from different vendors (different contracts and end of contract
dates)
• Shortage of IV pumps and time constraint related to renewal of pump contract
• Absence of a comprehensive system of pump management (tracking system and central management and rotation of stock), preventative
maintenance and cleaning
The above elements are contributing to:
• Having a negative impact on quality and security of patient care by contributing to an increase of infection risks, medication errors
• Increasing caregiver stress due to pump not being accessible when needed
• Increasing the risk of errors and inefficient use of human resources
• Difficulty in providing adequate servicing to pumps, difficulty in keeping track of inventory, and depletion of IV inventory due to loss of the pumps
• Difficulty in ensuring appropriate level of training for the different types of pumps in circulation, often done by word of mouth, contributing to
increased risk of errors
• Lack of confidence in the system in being able to provide the equipment needed in working order when it is needed, thus contributing to hoarding
and stashing and also tension between caregivers
Problem/Opportunity Statement:
• Engaging in the harmonization of IV practices must be done before 2015, opening of the new Glen site
• As part of the redevelopment plan, a budget has been reserved for the purchase of new equipment such as IV pumps
• IV pump contracts are coming to an end, creating the sense of urgency to look at purchasing new pump technology to support the harmonized IV
practices

(continued)

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 Key Stakeholders:
Pharmacy
Nursing
Biomedical
IS/IT
Finances
Logistic
Infection control
Quality risk and performance
Patients
Union
Anesthetists
Respiratory therapists
Project Definition
Aim:
Within the context of the redevelopment project, it is imperative to optimize and harmonize the practices related to the administration of IV
medications, based on best evidence and supported by state-of-the-art technology
Project Description:
The purpose of the project is to identify, optimize, and harmonize IV practices, based on best practices, and support these practices with the state-
of-the-art technology that best meets the clinical needs of the MUHC in order to improve the quality and security of the patient care linked to the
administration of IV medications.
Expected Benefits:
• Improve the quality and security of the patient care linked to the administration of IV medications
• Optimized and harmonized practices, contributing to decreasing medication errors
• Increasing ease of providing appropriate training to pump users
• Accessibility of the IV pumps when needed, functional and clean
• Optimal use of human resources
• Increased caregiver satisfaction
• Demonstration of effective inter-professional and inter-departmental collaboration
• Efficient management system of pumps, contributing to decrease expenditure related to continual crisis management because of pump shortage
Objectives: Evaluation Indicators:
1. Harmonize all the practices linked to the administration of IV medications based on the best available evidence 1. Percentage of IV
2. Acquire IV pump equipment based on the best technology, in sufficient number, that meet all the clinical needs of the practices harmonized
MUHC
3. Improve the safety of use of IV pumps across the MUHC
4. Improve the management of the pump fleet across the MUHC
5. Ensure sustainability by putting in place a decision-making structure to address and communicate in a timely manner
issues linked to the IV practice and pumps
Scope (Inclusions): Scope (Exclusions):
• Harmonization of all practices linked to IV practices across all sites • MCH and Lachine for
• Identification of selection criteria for IV pump selection to meet the needs of clinical areas across the MUHC the call for tender
• Renewal of the IV pump fleet for all MUHC sites except MCH (purchased IV pumps not that long ago) and Lachine • Pumps for pain
(carrying own call for tender) management such as
• Estimated budget: first year—CAD$3 million (2012–2013), the remaining funds about CAD$6 million for a total of PCA pumps
CAD$9 million (includes purchase of equipment, professional support to implement, educate, and deploy)

(continued)

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 Dealing with Uncertainty and Ambiguity in a Complex Project:
The Case of Intravenous (IV) Pumps in a Healthcare Center

Constraints:
• Sense of urgency—move to the Glen in 2015
• Urgent need of pumps
• Having to manage different IV pump contracts
• Diverse IV practices across the different sites
• Wi-Fi technology not available for many of our current hospitals except for the Neuro and certain units. Although, the Glen will have WI-Fi, the
installation of Wi-Fi at the MGH is not forthcoming (lag time of possibly five years or more)
• Lack of confidence in the process from the users due to previous failure of previous initiatives
• Culture of hoarding and stashing equipment in order to meet the urgent needs of pumps on the units and lack of confidence that the caregivers will
have easy access to the equipment they require to provide safe care.
• Multiple projects that will impact on this project and where alignment is crucial such as OACIS, CPOE, Pharmacy system
• Missing important stakeholder presence and involvement such as IS/IT
Preliminary Project Planning
Working Hypotheses:
• The plans and models that are developed will guide the implementation
• The users and various stakeholders will take active part and assume accountability in the different phases of the project
• The result of the user needs assessment will be adequately integrated in the project and will help in shaping and choosing the different scenarios
for the harmonization of practices, the selection criteria for the pump selection and the pump management model
• The identified risks will be taken into consideration and addressed throughout the project
Risks:
• Gap between the chosen scenarios and the user needs
• Inability to put in place the needed infrastructure to support the full use of the smart pump safety features
• Absence of allocated budget post implementation to ensure daily operations
• Absence of a department willing to take on the management and upkeep of the IV pumps
• Lack of coordination between related projects such as equipment, harmonization of IV practices
• Absence of full-time dedicated resources to the project
Key Milestones and Deliverables: Expected Completion:
1. Needs assessment with front line caregivers regarding the IV practices and IV pump 1. End of June 2012
Milestone 1: Completed needs assessment
2. Analyzing different scenarios: 2. End of August 2012
(a) practices requiring harmonization, (b) model for continuous infusions and intermittent IV medication administration,
(c) pump management model
Milestone 2: Chosen and validated scenarios
3. Develop selection criteria for call for tender for IV pumps 3. September 2012
Milestone 3: Selection criteria chosen and validated as well as the call for tender needed
4. Call for tender for IV pumps 4. December 2012
Milestone 4: Choice of equipment and validated
5. Development of detailed plan to: 5. February 2013
harmonize the IV practices (a), pump logistics (b), deployment and communication (c)
Milestone 5: Detailed implementation plan for the three aspects
6. Operationalization of the plan, deployment, follow-up of the harmonized practices, pumps (with or without library), 6. February 2014
training, pilot project, full-scale implementation and monitoring of indicators
Milestone 6: Established targets met
7. Development and implementation of sustainability plan 7. July 2014
Milestone 7: Quality indicators reviewed, transfer to daily operations completed, and IV pump decision making
structure in place and functional

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 Resources Needed: Estimated Number of TSO Hours:
Resources from Transition Support Office needed:
15 hours/week for 2 ½ years 5 2,000 hours
• Project manager 2 ½ days a week for 2 ½ years
14 hours/week 12 months 5 670 hours
• Process expert (IV pump management workgroup)
15 hours/week 6 months 5 360 hours
• Knowledge broker
14 hours/week for 12 months 5 670 hours
• Change management expert
15 hours/week for 2 ½ years 5 1,800 hours
• Clinical practice consultant
Ad hoc 100 hours
• Evaluation consultant
Resources Needed from Other Departments Total hours 5 5,600 hours

• Risk and performance expert

• Pharmacist
• IT/IS
• Biomed
Steering Committee:
Director of Nursing and Sponsor
Pharmacist-in-Chief and Sponsor
Director of Biomedical Department
Director of Purchasing
To be named, IT/IS Department
Clinical lead pharmacy
Clinical lead and Assistant to the Director of Nursing
Associate Director, Quality, Risk, and Performance
Purchasing sector of Finances Department
Project Manager
Clinical Practice Consultant (TSO)
Project Authorization
Sponsor's Signature: Date:
Clinical Leader's Signature: Date:
Project Manager's Signature: Date:

*In the absence of signatures, electronic approval is required

Table 2: Project charter for the IV pump project.

were presented to the Steering Committee. The Biomed could be administered through the pumps. A Wi-Fi network
department representative informed the committee that he was also needed to support and update the drug library safely
would need a detailed call for tender by the end of July 2012. for all sites and all departments at all times. This new tech-
He would then set up an evaluation group that would be in nology minimized the risk of medication administration and
charge of evaluating specifications as the project evolved. dosage errors. At that time, Wi-Fi was to be available at the
A project management student intern would be in charge of Glen site in 2015 as well as at the MGH by 2017. It would hence
soliciting input from the pump users to identify their current have precluded the use of the drug library for two to three
pump situation and forecast future needs. years until the Glen site opened. This situation represented a
The Biomed representative was concerned that some major risk for the project and would require the assessment of
internal and external factors might pose challenges to the several scenarios to select the best options. From then on, a
project. He informed the group that the Quebec Health Min- senior representative from IS-IT needed to be involved in the
istry was considering selecting a pump system that would be coordination committee’s decision-making process.
used province-wide. Internally, the fact that the project aimed It was already clear after the first meeting that the main
to ensure a ratio of one pump per patient was a significant challenges to address were going to be:
change that would greatly impact the logistics department
regarding storage, maintenance, and cleaning. 1. Budget, as the funding was not finalized and the number
The infrastructure needed to support the smart pump and types of pumps needed had yet to be determined. It
technology was discussed. This required setting up a drug was important to (a) ensure that clinicians had the num-
library with the names of all medications and dosages that ber of pumps needed and (b) eliminate the “hunting and

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 Dealing with Uncertainty and Ambiguity in a Complex Project:
The Case of Intravenous (IV) Pumps in a Healthcare Center

gathering” phenomenon. A challenge would be to obtain all at once. This budget also excluded two sites that would
the budget approval in a timely manner to post the tender need to be budgeted at a later date.
according to the set timeline. Maggie reflected that: “We knew that it would be a chal-
2. External pressures from the Ministry would be an issue, lenge to acquire the amount of pumps needed, so we had to
since the implementation of a province-wide tender act carefully. The budget was a moving target, and it was very
system would prevent hospitals from posting tenders difficult to grasp exactly how much money was available to us.
individually. This situation represented a risk with regard Knowing how much money you need and getting approval for
to the feasibility of meeting the tight timelines and the that budget is crucial in order to post the tender.”
organization’s need for an integrated pump system that
could be used in adult and children sites alike. The Call for Tender Saga
3. The technological infrastructure to support the smart In January 2013, to comply with the law, it was announced
pumps would require the development of a business case that two separate tenders would have to be posted; one for the
to support the additional cost for the purchase of Wi-Fi. syringe pump and another for the volumetric pumps. Biomed
explained that the funding would most likely come from two
Maggie knew that the next step would be to identify the separate sources. The first source represented funds awarded
number of pumps needed to obtain proper funding for the for the replacement of equipment that came from the Ministry
project. She and her team would have to conduct exhaustive and the second source represented funds made available to
research and a needs assessment across all sites to estimate the purchase new equipment as part of the new hospital project.
number of smart pumps required to meet the MUHC’s needs. It The group was told that more efforts would be needed to secure
quickly became apparent to Maggie and the steering committee funding for the purchase of the syringe pumps. The volumetric
members that the budget would be an ongoing concern. pump tender was posted from July 2013 to 6 September 2013,
more than one year from the original target date of July 2012,
Budget Constraints and the contract was signed on 18 December 2013, a testament
In September 2012, the Workgroup and the Steering Commit- to the complexity of the project.
tee agreed to (see Table 3): Meanwhile, in September 2013, the source of the funding
and the amount available for the syringe pumps were still not
1. Purchase smart pumps (volumetric infusion pumps) and a clearly defined, impacting the project team’s ability to post
syringe pump for intermittent medication administration the tender and subsequently the implementation of harmo-
and to view these as an integral part of an overall medica- nized practices and introduction of the new syringe pumps
tion safety program; within the acceptable timeline.
2. Work toward the integration of different systems and put Maggie expressed her concerns: “We were getting closer to
in place the infrastructure to support the use of the smart the “no fly zone,” which was that as of September 2014, no new
pump technology; changes could be implemented before the move to the Glen.”
3. Adopt the syringe pump as the method of intermittent Before implementing the use of the syringe pump, a major
administration of certain IV medications (major change change in practice had to occur, which was to prepare the
for the hospitals moving to the Glen); and RVH and the NEURO to shift from the way clinicians were
4. Opt for a tender evaluation with an adjusted price. used to administer medications (from a regular intravenous
bag to a syringe pump). This situation was an important
In October 2012, based on a report prepared by the mem- change for the pharmacists and nurses from these sites. Fur-
bers of the Workgroup and by the clinical practice consultant thermore, this work could not begin until the syringe contract
for this project, the Steering Committee approved the acquisi- was signed and the syringe pump manufacturer known.
tion of 2,087 volumetric pumps and 743 syringe pumps. Maggie summarized the situation as, “These were major
For the tender, the Finance representative suggested issues that created urgency to post tender for the syringe pump;
that they would have to submit a more conservative amount at this point the tender had already been posted for the volu-
as a firm purchase and place the balance of the pumps metric pumps.”
needed as “optional.” At first, the budget was estimated at Throughout the project, availability of Steering Commit-
CAD$8 million over three years. However, on 7 November tee members for meetings was a constant challenge because
2012, the budget was presented at CAD$5 million with a of the competing priorities these leaders faced on a daily
possible overrun of CAD$1 to CAD$2 million. This budget basis, attending to the daily operations and the redevel-
did not include the acquisitions of syringe pumps. The opment project obligations. In one particular instance, in
Biomed representative believed they could accommodate September 2013, Maggie held a Steering Committee meet-
the number of pumps but suggested a deployment over ing that the Biomed representative could not attend and
time, which meant that the budget would not be available she said to the committee: “This was a problem because this

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 Agenda
MEETING: IV Harmonization coordinating Committee
PROJECT: Harmonization of IV practices and pumps
DATE: 21 September 2012
TIME: 13:30–15:20
VENUE: 2155 Guy Street–7th Floor–Suite 790.12

Participants: Judy Colin

Terry Sandra
Greg Geoffrey
Gilbert Alan
Mike Angela
Bretch Conni
Maggie Nicole
Meeting objectives: • Learn about smart pumps implementation and agree on the vision for MUHC
• Identify actions that can be taken now to help bridge some of the gaps needed to support the vision
• Decide on the continuous and intermittent IV administration system we need at the MUHC
• Agree on how we will address the language issue
• Validate the scope of the project
• Discuss the call for tender process needed
AGENDA
13:30–13:40 Review of the meeting objectives and agenda (Maggie)
13:30–13:55 Lessons learned about implementing smart pump technology (Maggie)
13:55–14:15 Discussion and decision on MUHC vision related to smart pump technology (All)
14:15–14:30 Identification of action points to address some of the gaps (All)
14:30–15:00 Progress report on preparing call for tender process: (1) Agreement on the choice of continuous and intermittent IV meds
administration methods and number of IV lines needed; (2) agreement on the language issue (Maggie)
15:00–15:20 Tender process we need: (1) validate the scope of the project; (2) our reflection thus far (Maggie)
Table 3: Agenda of the project steering committee of September 2012.

representative’s input was very important and it was difficult The project team immediately got to work and prepared a
to make decisions in his absence.” The Biomed representative document highlighting the financial and potential patient
had sent a table presenting a budget that was different from risks associated with the decision to decrease the number of
the original one. The Board of Directors had approved the volumetric and syringe pumps. On 7 October, this document
acquisition of 1,750 volumetric pumps with a CAD$6 million was presented to the Associate Director General, Finance,
budget, whereas the table indicated a CAD$4.5 million dollar Procurement, and Biomedical.
budget. It was clear that the budget would be insufficient and Following this presentation, Maggie explained the harmo-
that more funds would have to be secured. After much confu- nization of the clinical practice to committee members: “We
sion and many queries, the Committee was informed that the presented our vision, our premises, and our methodology for
Biomed representative had been instructed by the Ministry to the pump assessment, etc., but this was not enough. The Associ-
reduce the equipment replacement budget for the upcoming ate Director General told us we needed to prepare a report jus-
year by 25%. tifying the needs in greater details. He also wanted an external
TSO Director Suzan, who fully supported the project, player to assess and validate our report, so we got to work with
would present the issues at the Senior Leadership meetings the Quality Department. We undertook further environmental
regularly and would flag the pump financing as an urgent scans, looked into the literature. Finally, we were able to dem-
matter and a major roadblock to the success of the project. onstrate that the number of pumps we were recommending
Following one of those meetings, Suzan informed Maggie was appropriate. Judy, Director of Quality, Patient Safety and
that she and her team would have to prepare a report to pres- Performance, external to the project, contributed to the valida-
ent the situation and the impact of not deploying the project. tion of the report, confirming the TSO’s assessment.”

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 Dealing with Uncertainty and Ambiguity in a Complex Project:
The Case of Intravenous (IV) Pumps in a Healthcare Center

The team submitted the document to the Associate Suzan supported Maggie on the need to develop a busi-
Director General, Finance, Procurement and Biomedical ness case to bring this dossier forward. She suggested that
in November 2013, and he accepted the recommendation, the Quality, Patient Safety, and Performance collaborate with
including the number of pumps needed. The syringe pump Maggie’s team in the development of the business case. She
tender was posted from 31 January 2014 to 3 March 2014. agreed to inform the Senior Leadership Team that the busi-
Meanwhile, the project team and collaborators were prepar- ness case was being prepared.
ing the 25 March 25 2014 deployment of 800 volumetric smart The project team worked in collaboration with Finance
pumps and the centralized process to manage these at the (which was spearheading this initiative), and Logistics,
pilot site, the MGH. Biomed, Quality, Patient Safety and Performance to collabo-
The pressure was on to get the syringe pump contract rate in the preparation of the business case. The Director of
signed by 15 June 2014, to proceed with the implementation the TSO supported the Wi-Fi case and presented it as a prior-
of their use before the move to the Glen. By June, the MUHC’s ity at Senior Leadership meetings. Maggie proudly informed
Director General had signed the needed exemption, but the workgroup that the Business case was being presented.
negotiations were still ongoing with the manufacturer to get She also explained that the cost structure for Wi-Fi implemen-
the absolute best price. After much effort from all concerned, tation would be broken down into two phases:
the syringe pump contract was signed on 3 July 2014. The
project was able to proceed, after obtaining sign-off from 1. Wi-Fi in designated areas that supported smart pump
clinicians, Pharmacy, and Nursing for the implementation of implementation; and
the new method of intermittent medication administration 2. Wi-Fi in remaining clinical areas.
by syringe pumps beginning with the RVH in September 2014
and the other sites after that. Making a Decision on How to Use New Pumps:
Dumb or Smart
One More Challenge: The Need for Wi-Fi
The team had to determine which of three implementation
From the onset of the project, it had been clear that Wi-Fi was
plans to recommend based on analysis of the project, and
going to be a crucial element for the implementation of the
they had to justify this recommendation:
project. Maggie knew that this was going to be a major chal-
lenge and that she and her team would have to be persistent.
Option 1: Implement as dumb pumps in non-critical care areas
At an earlier Steering Committee meeting, everyone had
and as smart pumps in critical areas
agreed to move forward with the purchase of smart pumps
Option 2: Implement as smart pumps in all clinical areas
and to put in place the infrastructure to support the use of
Option 3: Implement as dumb pumps in all clinical areas
smart pump technology. It did not make sense to buy a smart
pump and not use it to its full capacity, so they needed to
They set to work preparing their recommendation for the
implement Wi-Fi to be able to update the drug library.
meeting to come, undertaking a detailed risk analysis for each
In March 2013, the Steering Committee discussed the
of the three options.
business case for Wi-Fi at the MGH. This analysis would even-
tually lead to the pilot project site. Wireless access was already
in place in certain areas but not sufficiently to support the Acknowledgment
use of smart pumps in all clinical areas. The MGH IS/IT infra- The research team is grateful to all informants of this research
structure needed to be upgraded. The need extended well who gave their precious time for the advancement of knowl-
beyond the requirements of the pilot project, since after the edge. This research has received a grant from the Canadian
opening of the new facility the MGH would receive patients Institutes of Health Research.
from the Glen with smart pumps. Without Wi-Fi at the MGH,
the risk of a medication error would be extremely high. Wi-Fi
was a crucial element of the project; the infrastructure needed
to support it was lacking and would need to be acquired. The
The teaching case studies published in PMJ only feature
the case per se. Course instructors can ask for the instruc-
®
main issue, however, remained the budget. tor’s manual by emailing [email protected]
On 19 March 2013 Maggie held a Steering Committee
where the IT representative explained that no single project Monique Aubry, PhD is a professor at the School of Business and Management,
could warrant the funding of a Wi-Fi network and that it Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Canada. She teaches in graduate
would require a decision at the Ministry level. He informed programs in project management and executive MBA program and her main
the group that efforts would be made to find funding. Maggie research interest is in organizing for projects and organizational design, more
knew that a business case to support these efforts would be specifically in project management offices (PMO). The results of her work have
required. been published in major academic journals in project management and presented

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 at several research and professional conferences. She is a member of the Project
Management Research Chair (www.pmchair.uqam.ca) and the UQAM’s Health and Marie-Claire Richer, N, MSc(a), MM, PhD obtained a PhD in Nursing Science
Society Institute. In 2012, Professor Aubry received the IPMA Research Award from McGill University and a Master of Science in Nursing and Management
for her research on project management offices and is a senior editor for Project (Henry Mintzberg’s International Masters in Health Leadership). Professor Richer
Management Journal®. She can be contacted at [email protected] has held clinical nursing, teaching, and managerial positions in both the public
and private sectors and was co-responsible for the FERASI program at the McGill
Madeleine Boulay Bolduc obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from University School of Nursing in Ingram and is an associate member of the UQAM
the University of Moncton (1974), New-Brunswick, Canada, a Master’s Degree Chair in Project Management. Professor Richer has published over 50 articles and
in Nursing from the University of Montreal (1983), and completed an EXTRA book chapters, has been a guest speaker at various symposiums, and has won
(Executive Training in Research Application) Fellowship (2009). Her latest job numerous awards and scholarships. Her research interests include organizational
opportunities included working at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto as Program transformation, appreciative inquiry and development of evidence-based practice,
Director Nursing for the Surgical Program (2000–2003), as Associate Director and the emergence of innovation in a complex system such as healthcare. She can
of Nursing at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) responsible for the be contacted at [email protected]
Clinical and Professional Staff Development Service (2004–2011), and as Project
Manager at the Transition Support Office until her retirement in March of 2015. Dr. Mélanie Lavoie-Tremblay RN is an Associate Professor and Associate
The last 10 years of her career were essentially devoted to the harmonization Director (research) at the Ingram School of Nursing, McGill University, Montreal,
of clinical practices within the context of major organizational transforma- Canada. She is a researcher at the Centre de recherche de l’Institut universi-
tions. Her energy and efforts were oriented toward putting in place structures, taire en santé mentale de Montréal, at the Research Institute MUHC, a nurse
processes, and tools that supported clinical teams in their quest to harmonize scientist at the MUHC, and a researcher at the Douglas Institute Research
practices, encouraged the use of an evidence decision-making process, and Centre. Dr. Lavoie-Tremblay is conducting research on participatory interven-
coordinated large complex organization-wide projects. She can be contacted at tion to improve organization of care and work for personnel, patients, and the
[email protected] organization. She can be contacted at [email protected]

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