The APHL Informatics Project Management Plan (PMP) identifies what the project will do, when, by whom and describes how major aspects of the project will be managed.
Only Section 2: Scope of the PMP should be updated after Project Startup. The APHL Project Lead approves scope changes.
Project Name | Policy Education |
APHL Project Lead | Brooke |
Project Manager | TBD |
Sponsor | Brooke |
Target Audience | Management, PHAs, PHLs, CSTE, ASTHO, other national partners |
Created By | Crystal and Brooke |
When Created | 2/2023 (Word) |
Document Date |
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Document Status |
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Template Version # and Date | (v. 1) |
Approved By and Date |
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Sections with “*” are optional for small projects. PMs need to mark unused sections with “N/A due to <reason>.” An example reason might be “small project” or “not a factor.”
1 PROJECT OVERVIEW
Provide a brief description of the project and its associated product. Also, briefly state the business need for the project, its public health/business impact, and how the project goals align with the goals of APHL, CDC (if applicable), and other Public Health Agencies. It is strongly recommended that you include a technical diagram, if feasible. Suggestions would be a high-level conceptual data flow diagram, technical architecture, current/future state, or something similar.
This project will work with CSTE and other partners to track federal public health-impacting policy publications for commenting opportunities, develop draft comments, develop policy summaries, perform policy education, and support public health agencies (PHAs) and labs (PHLs) who want to submit personal or organizational comments to policymakers. APHL will work with partners, PHAs, PHLs, and other parties as identified others to perform this work on an ongoing basis, after the initial pilot iteration to establish and test processes.
1.1 Project Goals and Objectives
A brief summary of the end result of the project. (For Example: Facilitate labs sending ELR messages using HL7 format from labs to state PHAs and to the CDC.)
• Inventory and decision log of policies evaluated.
• Policy summaries, as prioritized and approved by APHL.
• Draft comment letters (for NPRM/RFI responses), as prioritized and approved by APHL.
• Repository of final comments submitted on behalf of APHL and/or in collaboration with partners.
• Confluence project space that fosters information sharing, facilitates collaborative development of comments, and serves as a repository for project documents.
1.2 Background * (optional for small projects)
Briefly describe prior / current experiences of Clients that identify the need for the project.
N/A: Small project, beginning with a pilot
1.3 Business Need
Describe the Problem or opportunity addressed, Justification, Customer’s needs, primary use cases.
PHA/Ls are under-resourced and PHA/L SME implementers don’t have time to read federal policies that will have large impacts to their work, operations, and critical data quality and availability.
In the past CSTE, APHL, and others (JPHIT1.0) have reviewed various federal policies and have occasionally presented draft comments to PHA/Ls, submitting a comment letter with various signatories as the association. As policy analysis has not previously received dedicated funding, these reviews and information sharing only ever occurred at the last second for PHA?Ls, though national leaders, within-association, and association leaders were aware somewhat sooner. This “scramble” did not allow PHA/Ls to work through agency internal review procedures that would allow them to submit a letter as the organization, and education about the potential to submit comments as an individual was not available. Finally, agencies, associations, and national leaders may not have realized the degree to which numbers of letters are weighted differently from letters with several or many signatories, which still only counts as one letter. These, as well as chronic under-resourcing, have contributed to low awareness of and participation of STLTs PHA/Ls in federal rule-making input procedures.
?may be too much detail about why submitting individual PHA/L letters is needed??
In addition, when there are conflicts in perspective between PHAs, due to the nature of submitting one letter, letters do not reflect full spectrum of impact to different PHA/L operations, and may not reflect differences in different types of public health reporting (immunization, syndromic, and ELR all have different structures and needs). In addition, PHLs and their unique perspectives have not been well reflected in submitted Association (CSTE, APHL) group comment letters. (is that true? I don't' recall any lab participation in CSTE’s discussions…)
The needs the policy education project plans to address, and our resulting goals, are threefold:
Efficiently review and identify predicted impacts of high-priority proposed policies and requests for information and identify potential impacts on PHA/Ls.
Share findings and rapidly-developed draft comments our public health community, especially PHA/Ls themselves in a way that allows them to contribute directly to the draft comments to allow all to see the variety of impacts depending on the agency, lab, public health reporting standard and other environmental (or is operational a better word?) differences.
With these draft comments, PHA/Ls and agency staff will be empowered to submit their own comment letters as well as meeting their agency’s internal review processes so that their letters will reflect their priority concerns, and include specific impacts, especially if those are unique (for example; AK v NYC, unique challenges faced by territories and the differences in operations among different tribal nations. With timely drafts to work from, these letters will be easier and faster for time-constrained SMEs to write.
This efficient method of developing and sharing draft comments will empower PHA/Ls to comment on federal policies that will impact their work intimately as well as meeting agency and laboratory review procedures in a timely manner. They will be empowered to voice the diversity of their STLTs PHA/L needs directly, rather than being spoken for.
Federal partners will receive a greater number of letters from STLTs PHAs including staff and agencies who have not otherwise been able or comfortable to comment previously.
Provide education about federal policy-making processes, timelines, comment review procedures, including understanding what makes more and less useful comment letters from the perspective of policy-writers and reviewers. This education will assist PHA/L staff in understanding of policy-making, and develop their confidence and skillsets in this area, ideally contributing their perspectives and input to leaders directly, though submission of their own letters. If we are lucky, they’ll share with colleagues and friends, and we will begin to develop a robust policy-contributing core of STLTs practitioners, with critical operational and implementation knowledge to share with policymakers and leadership.
To increase ambient awareness of PHA/Ls staff of the various proposed policies and published rules federal partners are working on, develop clear and readable summaries of policies for those federal publications that are not of large enough impact to develop comments, but may still interest PHAs, PHLs, or our partners. These summaries will increase awareness among PHA/Ls about policies relevant to their work and contribute to their engagement.
Encourage PHAs to share impacts they identify from summaries or comments they were inspired to develop and submit, encourage conversation and other interactions.
Develop and grow member knowledge and confidence with the goal of growing the (nascent?) STLTs policy community and increasing the space that STLTs perspectives take up in national discussions and policy-making. Encourage relationship-building that will improve awareness of STLTs perspectives and that could move STLTs towards putting their needs and goals on the federal agenda.
To encourage interaction, we will remove barriers, lower the stakes of interaction and discussion, facilitate and encourage to provide a supportive and responsive space for discussion and learning.
This is what I’m imagining, and yes, I realize it’s pretty pie in the sky
(for example, perhaps a rule only affects STLTS STI data collection in some way, is not high-priority for APHL resources to develop draft comments and gather input, but for staff working in STIs, it may be important enough to develop their own comments. We hope PHA/Ls will feel comfortable enough sharing those too, so others can benefit and are inspired to take opportunities to practice and grow their policy analysis and commenting skillsets.) However, if we get three people who do this in a year, we’ve just identified STLTs policy leaders - and can start introducing them to feds and leaders who will benefit from talking to them. This is like identifying a future Nancy, Karla, or Annie - I’d consider that an incredible win, even if it’s only one person, because they will set direction and become a pillar of the community.
2 SCOPE
2.1 Scope of Work
Describe what the project is intended to achieve in business and technical terms. Use bulleted lists.
Items in Scope:
Review of federal Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRMs), Requests for Information (RFIs), and federal policy priorities for relevance to public health.
Development of policy summaries, as prioritized and approved by APHL.
Development of draft comment letters to be submitted under the APHL organizational banner, as prioritized and approved by APHL. As applicable, draft comments letters will be developed in joint collaboration with partners.
Engaging with and collecting input from PHAs, PHLs and partners on policy implications.
Development of materials, tools, templates, or educational products of various sorts to assist PHAs and PHLs in writing agency or lab-specific comments.
For released policies (past the stage for providing comments), sharing of information and updates as identified to PHAs and PHLs.
Collaboration with others in the public health policy space to streamline efforts and expedite development of draft comments by implementing a strategic and coordinated approach.
Convening forums in which “on the ground” staff at PHAs and PHLs can communicate about their needs to inform national policy making.
Initial project scope will be focused policies that impact public health informatics, information systems, and data exchange. However, this scope may expand in the future (as approved by APHL Project Owner) depending on evolving needs and priorities of PHAs, PHLs, and partners.
2.2 Out of Scope
List the items that are out of bounds for this project.
Items out of Scope
Writing jurisdiction-specific responses to policies for PHAs and PHLs. Instead, the project will provide education, templates, boiler plate language (as applicable), and opportunities for discussion that enable PHAs and PHLs to write and submit their own feedback to national policy making.
Lobbying.
Submitting comments claiming to speak on behalf of all PHAs and PHLs.
2.3 Critical Success Factors
Key business goals that must be achieved in order for the system to be a success for the Client or Organization. These factors help a team or organization decide what they should focus on and compare progress to the goals that are set.
Subject matter expertise covering broad public health scope that can provide the project team with reasonable insight into jurisdiction’s interest in engaging with NPRMs, RFIs, and other policy opportunities.
Timely identification of priority policies for engagement and allowance of ample time to develop materials and comments by the submission deadline.
Efficient, transparent, and simultaneous development of draft comments (likely in a centralized location) that allows for timely incorporation and reconciliation of proposed content.
Partner support of and agreement to policy project parameters, especially access to and use of a collaborative space for developing draft comments.
Availability and interest of PHAs, PHLs, and partners to engage with the APHL project team on policy initiatives. The project is well socialized in relevant forums.
Policymakers and other regulators welcome and value submitted comments and feedback from PHAs and PHLs.
Buy-in from APHL and partner leadership to approve and provide signature on comments letters, as necessary.
The project team can accurately assess and deliver the type of engagement that is most valuable to PHAs, PHLs, and partners.
PHAs, PHLs, and partners perceive there is value and progress stemming from the comments/feedback submitted in response to policy making.
2.4 High-Level Requirements (* optional for small projects)
Describe the functions that must be in place when the project is complete. The level of detail in this section will vary based on the complexity of the project and the persons involved in the development of the Project Management Plan.
N/A, small project
2.5 Major Deliverables
Include both product deliverables and those items needed to manage the project.
Deliverable Name | Description & Value | Responsible Party | Target Due Date / Milestone |
|---|---|---|---|
2.5.1 Work Breakdown Structure
PMI defines a WBS as a "hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work to be carried out by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables." Identify all product and project deliverables. (Initial only – not maintained).
2.6 Approach (* optional for small projects)
Identifies the primary approach to the project. If using Agile, describe an initial breakdown of the sprints and releases, if applicable.
N/A: Small project, significant partner collaboration will be required to establish approach or tools required for success
2.7 Relationship to Other Systems / Projects
Lists other systems or projects that might be impacted by this project – needed for coordination. (If none, delete this section.)
3 ASSUMPTIONS, CONSTRAINTS, AND RISKS
3.1 Assumptions
A factor that, for planning purposes, will be taken to be true, real, or certain but is outside the project team's total control. These are recorded to gain agreement with the Client and to take swift action during the project if they do not hold true. These are potential risks! Include external assumptions such as a product’s availability, suitability and reliability, legislative changes, relative importance of scope vs. cost or time. Each assumption should spell out the consequence.
Dedicated availability of APHL resources and project team.
The project team consists of the relevant policy expertise, skills, and experience.
PHA and PHL staff (notably those with the relevant expertise and experience) have sustained availability and interest in engaging with the project team.
Partners have dedicated staff, and sustained availability and interest in engaging with the project team.
Barriers to PHA and PHL access, participation, interest, are identified and removed.
The relevant subject matter expertise breadth is identified, recruited, and retained.
The project team can demonstrate sustained project value to APHL Management and the project is adequately funded to support necessary resources.
In the case of resource changes: project knowledge, processes, and relationships can be readily transferred and maintained.
The project team can socialize and emphasize the importance of project engagement with partners in the relevant arenas (e.g., Joint Public Health Informatics Task Force (JPHIT 2.0).
The project team and partners agree on the process and tools to collaboratively develop and review comments.
Federal policy makers appreciate or benefit from this work.
3.2 Constraints
A constraint is anything that might restrict, limit, or regulate the project (i.e., time, scope, cost, resource, or equipment) restrictions known in advance that will affect the project's performance. Generally, constraints are outside the control of the project team. List any constraints that must be taken into consideration before the startup of the project. Violating one of these in project planning usually causes a project to fail in some way.
• The project team inadvertently makes or maintains barriers to participation, or does not execute on the value that PHAs and PHLs hoped to receive from the project. If this occurs, engagement in the project – and therefore project success - will falter.
• PHAs and PHLs do not feel informed enough about policy content to participate meaningfully in the project.
• Political nuances and sensitivities may arise when providing public comment, which may deter the perceived ability and willingness of PHAs, PHLs, and partners to contribute.
• Disagreement on an approach, tools, and expectations to collaboratively develop comments.
• Opportunities to provide feedback to NPRMs, RFIs, and other policy initiatives may be identified “late in the game,” significantly reducing the time available to convene and collaborate with PHAs, PHLs, and partners.
3.3 Risks
(FUTURE) A risk is any uncertain factor that may occur during the project, which could negatively impact the project's Objectives (scope, cost, schedule, or quality). These are listed to identify mitigation approaches to be considered within the initial project workplan. Subsequent Risk changes would be tracked via a Project Risk Log.
(This is an initial list only; to be maintained in a Risk Log at <URL>)
Risk | Mitigation(s) |
|---|---|
The project team inadvertently makes or maintains barriers to participation, or does not execute on the value that PHAs and PHLs hoped to receive from the project. If this occurs, engagement in the project – and therefore project success - will falter. | |
PHAs and PHLs do not feel informed enough about policy content to participate meaningfully in the project. | |
Political nuances and sensitivities may arise when providing public comment, which may deter the perceived ability and willingness of PHAs, PHLs, and partners to contribute. | Anon comments are possible and common, I planned to educate about that I do think this is an unmitigated risk for PHA/Ls though, b/c org comments aren’t anon, only individuals. |
Disagreement on an approach, tools, and expectations to collaboratively develop comments | |
Opportunities to provide feedback to NPRMs, RFIs, and other policy initiatives may be identified “late in the game,” significantly reducing the time available to convene and collaborate with PHAs, PHLs, and partners. | |
4 SCHEDULE
4.1 Major External Dependencies
A task or deliverable performed by non-project staff that is required by certain times in the project workplan so as not to adversely affect the schedule and/or costs. These usually are critical to the success of the project.
CSTE agreement on approach, trial, location of draft comments
PHA/L advisors (resources)
Sufficient resources with wide SME brought to post-pilot project ??
4.2 Timeline / Gantt Chart / Schedule
Provide the high-level project schedule or a link or reference to the schedule. This schedule or summary Gantt chart would be a point-in-time schedule, and it would not be maintained in the PMP but maintained separately.
(This is an initial timeline only; to be maintained at <URL>)
4.3 Executive Milestones (* optional for small projects)
A significant, verifiable event in the life of a project. These indicate to management whether the project is on track or not. Milestones should be defined here; this document should include the current link to tracking milestones.
Executive Milestone | Estimated Completion Timeframe | Project Phase (Planning, Execution, Monitoring/Control, Closing |
|---|---|---|
Planning and Process Development:
| Planning, approval, and preparation: Planning:
Approval:
Prepare:
| |
Pilot Project Processes/Workflow: | Pilot Test processes, revise based on feedback and findings, final approval of modified and ready-to execute project | |
Ongoing Project Operations:
| Execute |
5 PROJECT ORGANIZATION
5.1 Interested Parties, Roles, and Responsibilities
This section describes the persons and roles supporting the project. This list includes internal and external project stakeholders to the project team.
Name & Organization | Role | Primary Project Responsibilities |
|---|---|---|
CSTE | Partner | Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), including mechanisms to build and document PHA consensus on policy, surveillance, and the data modernization initiative (DMI). |
Joint Public Health Informatics Taskforce (JPHIT 2.0) | Partner? | |
DMI initiative work | Various | |
APHL Public Policy Program | ||
ASTHO, NACCHO, PHII, CDC | Additional interested parties that should be informed | Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII), through DMI work CDC (funding, through DMI, through relationships with CMS, ONC, policymakers) |
Steering committee ? | ? | |
Crystal | Pilot…. person | Do the thing |
?? | Editor | Makes everyone’s life easier |
Brooke | Approve the thing | |
Vanessa | Review the thing? Promote and publicize with PHAs and PHLs? | |
Michelle | Aware of the thing? | |
Tom and Mel | PMO | Very tolerant explanations and hand-holding - thank you! |
CSTE - Annie | Aware of the thing? (I hope/suspect she’ll contribute comments, which would be awesome) | |
CSTE - Meredith? | Aware of the thing? | |
CSTE - Becky? | Promoting and publicizing with PHAs? | |
CSTE - Gillian, others? | Aware? | |
5.2 Reporting Structure
Defines who reports to whom (hierarchy of authority), how, how often, etc. – could be an organization chart for the project.
(This is an initial reporting chart; to be maintained at <URL>)
TBD post-resourcing (?)
6 QUALITY MANAGEMENT
6.1 Risk Management Approach
(FUTURE) A risk is any uncertain factor that may occur during the project, which could negatively impact the project's Objectives (scope, cost, schedule, or quality). It is recommended that a Risk Management Strategy be followed and a Risk Log be used for ongoing tracking and reporting. Below is sample wording.
The project team will follow the /wiki/spaces/PKMS/pages/1870823541 to plan for and address areas of uncertainties and develop contingency plans. The RMP documents our iterative Process for identifying, analyzing, response planning, monitoring, and reporting risks. The APHL TA project team will work with Client staff throughout the engagement to monitor and resolve these risks and any others that may arise during the engagement. Risks will be reported in all Status Reports to the Client. APHL TA project management staff will use a Risk Register or Log for ongoing tracking and reporting.
All risks will be analyzed for the probability of occurring and impact to project objectives of scope, cost, schedule, and quality. A grid will determine their red, yellow, and green priority. All risks will be tracked by a Project Risk Log.
6.2 Issue Management Approach (* optional for small projects)
(CURRENT) An Issue is something currently impacting a project’s Objectives (scope, cost, schedule, or quality). It is recommended that an Issue Management Strategy be prepared, and an Issue Log be used for ongoing tracking and reporting. Below is sample wording.
Issues will be categorized into four levels of importance (Urgent, High, Medium, and Low) based on their impact on the project goals, objectives, scope, schedule, and budget. The following guidelines will be used to prioritize the issue:
Importance Level | Description |
|---|---|
Urgent | The project cannot move forward until this issue is resolved. |
High | The project will not be able to move forward if this issue is not resolved by the due date |
Medium | The issue may prevent the project from moving forward in the near future |
Low | This issue is not preventing the project from moving forward |
Issues will be tracked in the Issue Log and are defined within the status categories listed below. The Project Manager, in consultation with project personnel, should update the issue status.
Status | Description |
|---|---|
Open | The initial Status assigned when a new issue has been identified and added to the log; typically, this Status is used when an owner has not been assigned, or the work has not yet started. |
In process | An owner has been assigned and has started working on the issue |
Resolved | A solution to the issue has been identified, and corrective action has been taken to resolve the issue |
Reopened | An issue was previously categorized as Resolved, Deferred, or Closed but has been identified again as a continuing issue. |
Deferred | The project manager, owner, and issue submitter have decided to postpone addressing the issue until later. |
Closed | The issue has been resolved and is no longer considered an issue |
Issues will be monitored weekly, and the project manager will update the issue log as needed. The Issue Log will be stored in a document repository located at <URL>.
6.3 Change Management Approach
It is recommended that a project-specific Change Management Plan be created and a Change Management Log be used for ongoing tracking and reporting. Below is sample wording.
During implementation, changes to a project usually occur. To accommodate the inevitable need for change, APHL TA project management will create a Change Management Plan (CMP) early in the engagement, which documents the process for submitting, tracking, analyzing (for impact to cost, schedule, staffing, risk), and approving (by the Client and APHL) each change.
Some large scope changes may require a re-scoping of the entire project. Some scope changes are small and can be incorporated within the existing effort.
Some key project documents (like Message Mapping Guides and associated artifacts) must be placed under Change Control once they have been published or are pilot-ready. Changes to related vocabulary or data elements must be carefully managed through a formalized change request process to minimize disruption to systems in production while enabling improvements or maintenance. This process will facilitate communication regarding requested changes to the standardized vocabulary or messaging rules among the stakeholders. This process will also provide a common practice for resolving requested changes and reported problems, resulting in accurate and up-to-date common MMGs.
APHL TA project management staff will use a Change Management log for ongoing tracking and reporting. The Change Management Plan will identify the following:
How change requests are communicated to the project team
Who can submit a Change Request (CR)
Tips for writing change requests so that their intent is communicated clearly and immediately to the project team
How change requests are processed
Definition of and how the Change Control Board (CCB) operates
Who the CCB members are that can approve a change request
6.4 Acceptance Criteria
Defines the process whereby the project exit strategy will be described. How to verify (prove) we are "done" is the goal.
Creation of policy review tracking (i.e. SS)
Creation of policy summaries for some policies (i.e. summaries requested on Confluence)
Creation of draft comment letters for some policies (i.e. draft comment letters req on Confl)
7 COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT
Communications management is an integrated approach to conveying clear, consistent, and timely information to stakeholders who can affect or may be affected by the objectives and outcome of the project. Also, define the approach that will be used to communicate with these stakeholders, including messages, messengers, vehicles, and timing.
7.1 Communications Matrix
Below are suggested persons/groups and suggested communication. Update as needed.
Name | Title | Contact | Communication | Vehicle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
TBD | Subject Matter Expert | |||
TBD | Subject Matter Expert(s) | |||
TBD | Pr ger | <email address> | Status Reports And Internal Project Status Meeting | Email, Phone, Skype, Formal Written Communications |
Brooke | APHL project owner? | <email address> | Status Reports, Progress Reports | Email, Phone, Skype, Formal Written Communications |
TBD | BA (s) or other resources | <email address> | Status Reports, Progress Reports | Email, Phone, Skype, Formal Written Communications |
Crystal Snare | Temporary SME to launch |
7.2 Project Documentation (* optional for small projects)
All major high-level project communication, documentation, work files, and project reports must be stored where APHL and project staff can access them.
Documentation Type | Where Stored (include URL) |
|---|---|
Brooke, this is all you - I don’t have access to anywhere outside of smartsheets and Confluence. From my POV, Confluence is fine, but happy to do something else – ? | |
Policy Tracker | Smartsheet |
7.3 Project Meetings (* optional for small projects)
The below information is suggestive of information to include about project meetings. This should be updated and tailored to the specific project.
Meeting minutes will be distributed within one business day following each meeting. Minutes will include a summary of the meeting, status updates, progress updates, and new action items. All meetings will have a set agenda to be distributed one business day before the meeting. The following chart describes the type of meetings for this project. Internal means just within the APHL organization and APHL TAs; external would be any other organization.
Meeting | Target Audience | Description & Purpose | Frequency | Owner | Distribution Vehicle | Internal / External |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
<project> TA Team Biweekly Meeting | <project> Technical Assistance Internal Team | Brief Progress Report including <project> Project Updates, MMG development updates, pilot state implementation updates, deliverables updates | Biweekly | APHL | Phone/web conference | Internal |
<project> Core Team Meetings | <project> Core Team: Project Coordinator, Terminologist, Technical Architect | TA Pilot Jurisdiction Implementation status reports | Weekly | APHL | Phone/web conference | Internal |
Pilot State Checkpoint Meetings | Pilot State Implementers, TA Team | Update on MMG implementation progress, milestone progress | Weekly | APHL | Phone, Web conference, email | External |
8 APPLICATION DEPLOYMENT PLAN (* optional for small projects)
This section can be detailed or broad, formal or informal, describing the approach to deploying the product or service. For example, if the project involves deploying an application to state health partners, this section will discuss the strategy for rolling out the application to the end users, including conducting environmental assessments, developing memorandums of understanding, hardware/software installation, and data conversion.
N/A?
Potentially could describe pilot project then resourcing and modifying and then executing vs plan then launch, which I’m guessing is more typical for APHL?