Project Management and Planning Issues Confronting Collaborative Research Projects: A Case Study in eHealth

This paper describes the first hand experiences of the electronic point of care (ePOC) project team and the project management and research and development issues that emerged over the course of a collaborative 3 year eHealth project. The paper highlights that despite the best of intentions by project managers, researchers and developers, a technologically innovative concept is no guarantee of project success. Issues beyond the project team’s control that occurred during the life of the ePOC project included industry partner restructures, changes in data feeder systems and evolving health messaging standards. A series of proactive mitigation strategies deployed by the project team illustrate how the process of adopting a dynamic systems project management approach can help address unforeseen issues as they arise and derive maximum benefits to all stakeholders.