Tufts-New England Medical Center

Achieve Stable, Stand-Alone IT Infrastructure Driven by Technical and Project  Management Expertise

When Tufts-New England Medical Center agreed to divest from its parent company and reinvent itself as a stand-alone institution, Perot Systems quickly acted to provide business and technical solutions.

The Challenge

When Tufts-New England Medical Center (Tufts-NEMC) agreed to divest from its parent company, its leaders were faced with the challenge of separating their information systems and building an IS department in seven short months. To help manage the technical and cultural chaos created by these changes, Tufts-NEMC sought Perot Systems’ technical and project management experts to take them through the separation and prepare them for their future as a stand-alone academic medical center, as well as to run their Information Services (IS) department on a permanent basis immediately following the divestiture.

Prior to its disaffiliation, much of Tufts-NEMC delivery capability was centralized at its parent company's corporate office, so Tufts-NEMC had to move quickly to finalize the disaffiliation agreement, select an IT provider, plan for the technical component of the project, and execute the separation.

The Solution

In December 2002, Tufts-NEMC selected Perot Systems to create a completely new infrastructure and application architecture and then develop and implement an aggressive migration of Tufts-NEMC data and support from its former parent company.

Bill Shickolovich, Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Tufts-NEMC said, “At the end of the day, the decision to work with a company for a long period of time should be that you are comfortable and trust them on a day-to-day basis. That is the way we feel with Perot Systems.”

The migration of applications is specifically recognized for its complexity and critical importance to the effective and efficient operation of Tufts-NEMC. The new Tufts-NEMC and Perot Systems team quickly implemented Perot Systems’ Project Management Methodology, developed a Program Management Office (PMO), and started using a “lift-and-load” strategy in order to minimize risk to the organization and shorten the project timeline. This approach allowed them to rapidly focus their attention on migrating the environment without the risk of unnecessary changes.

Because issues take on an even greater significance when tightly choreographed activities are scheduled during a transition period, Perot Systems identified and grouped 91 application transition projects in order to effectively allocate resources, maximize equipment resources, and mitigate the impact on TuftsNEMC’s day-to-day operations.

A transition project manager was then assigned to each designated team and grouped along functional business areas. These project groups were integrated into the PMO activities surrounding the transition process to ensure consistent, cohesive, integrated, and efficient processes were applied to all projects.

The Results

Within eight months of teaming with Perot Systems, Tufts-NEMC achieved the following results:

• Migrated more than 160 application systems and infrastructure platforms including, multiple mainframe systems.
• Augmented the local staff with new and leveraged resources to replace work formerly performed by the corporate professionals and to be prepared to run the Information Services department immediately after the separation.
• Significantly raised IS service levels in End-User Services, which resulted in an 83% reduction in average call wait-time and a 67% reduction in the call abandonment rate.
• Renegotiated and established new licenses with more than 130 vendor organizations.
• Overhauled the Telecommunication contracts and operations, resulting in a 25% decrease in utilization cost.
• Rebuilt the required data center and network operation’s components to support Tufts-NEMC’s future growth.
• Found expense reductions, which funded the replacement of the entire network infrastructure with state-of-the-art equipment.

Now, Tufts-NEMC is focused on keeping the best of its traditions, while incorporating a higher performing IS delivery model.

“We have become adept at managing change while dealing with complex technical issues. I look forward to working with Perot Systems in making a difference in how healthcare is delivered,” said Bill Shickolovich.