Making a business case

Before your finance team can sign off on your proposal, they will need to see a comprehensive business case. The process of drafting such a document can also be a useful exercise as it will force you to think about the decisions you’re making on the project, and why you feel they may benefit the hospital. All trusts will have their own formats or template business case documents, which take into account local needs and expectations, but here are ten key questions your business case should cover to help you draft it. 

The team you need

Project Sponsor, Project Lead

What to do

  • Make a business case that answers these ten key questions

    1. What is the overall organisational information strategy and how does the system fit into this in the short-, medium- and long-term goals?
    2. Which system and which supplier fits best within this information strategy?
    3. Has the implementation got necessary buy-in across the organisation?
    4. How do the short-, medium- and long-term strategies and visions of the hospital and supplier align?
    5. Has anyone else implemented this system and what are their experiences? Ideally, speak to other trusts about their experiences on an on-going basis to find out more
    6. What are current organisational processes and how can the system support these (in the short-, medium- and long-term)?
    7. What functionality can local resources realistically buy now and in the future? This will also require accounting for additional staff, infrastructure, interfacing etc.
    8. Which functionalities are essential, and what are desirable? This should involve assessing the organisational and individual needs of each professional stakeholder group.
    9. What organisational and individual benefits can be expected and how can they be measured?
    10. How will systems, needs and strategies change in the future?

What to read

Connect

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