Healthcare Insurer Succeeds with Project Management Training from Boston University Corporate Education Center

Health care issues can be serious. In the case of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, project management training was critical to the organization's survival. Harvard Pilgrim had a reputation for exceptional clinical quality and member satisfaction. However, in the late 1990s, the organization was on the verge of financial collapse and was placed in state receivership. Today, the organization is strong once again because of an exceptional turnaround strategy that adopted project management to achieve the company's core goals. With Boston University Corporate Education Center as its training partner, Harvard Pilgrim maintains a vigorous, ongoing program to train project managers to support corporate strategies.

A Pioneer in Health Benefits
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care is the oldest nonprofit health benefits organization in New England. It is nationally recognized for its outstanding performance in clinical quality and patient satisfaction. Harvard Pilgrim's offerings include health maintenance organization (HMO), point-of-service (POS), and preferred provider organization (PPO) plans. The organization has 955,000 members and in 2005 had premium income of $2.2 billion.

In October 2005, 'U.S. News & World Report' magazine ranked the nation's best health plans and determined that Harvard Pilgrim leads the country for member satisfaction and quality of care. This was also the second year in a row that the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) determined that Harvard Pilgrim was the nation's top-performing health plan in terms of quality of care and member satisfaction. And J.D. Power and Associates recognized Harvard Pilgrim as a Distinguished Health Plan for providing "An Outstanding Member Experience" to its HMO members.

Project Management Becomes Part of the Business Process
In 1999, during the turnaround, Harvard Pilgrim implemented project management, creating a life cycle and methodology that identify the right projects to support the organization's strategy and goals.

"Project management puts processes and tools in place that allow us to get work done efficiently," explained Lisa A. DiTullio, director of the Project Management Office. "As a result of the progress made during the turnaround, we are huge believers in the value of project management. We saw a direct correlation between the adoption and practice of project management and our organization's success."

Harvard Pilgrim conducts about 40 very large cross-functional projects each year, in areas such as product development, business process redesign, and technology infrastructure. In addition, hundreds of smaller projects are conducted within local business units to improve operations.

Training Needs Grow
As the health care industry and Harvard Pilgrim's business continued to become more complex, more employees who could handle ongoing challenges in this fast-paced industry were needed. However, limited resources could not help enough employees move to the next level of career development. There were no full-time trainers dedicated to project management; training was dependent on people who had many other responsibilities. Harvard Pilgrim's Project Management Office was concerned that the internal resources were insufficient to support ongoing development of project managers.

It made sense to Harvard Pilgrim to partner with an outside training resource for a comprehensive training program. The organization was very focused on growing core competencies in project management and aligning with standard industry project management practices at a higher level than the in-house training could accomplish.

Boston University Corporate Education Center Offers Expertise
Harvard Pilgrim knew about the Boston University Corporate Education Center through encounters with Center experts at industry conferences. Boston University was one of the first training centers contacted by Harvard Pilgrim.

"We recognized the strong reputation of their corporate training programs and especially appreciated having a connection with a major university," DiTullio observed. "In addition, Boston University Corporate Education Center project management courses were aligned with our existing methodology, and they offered incredible flexibility in developing our program."

The direct industry experience that Boston University trainers weave into their project management courses was a very important factor in Harvard Pilgrim's selection. By teaching from both technical knowledge and shared experiences, the courses have a unique real-life perspective and added credibility.

Boston University Corporate Education Center is a charter member of the Project Management Institute's (PMI®) Global Corporate Council and the only university represented on the Council. Boston University is also a charter Global Registered Education Provider through PMI. The University's project management curriculum is compliant with the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) Guide, a collection of best management practices for project management. In addition to preparing project managers for certifications including Project Management Professional (PMP®) and Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM®), Boston University offers a wide variety of project management courses and certificate programs, and its curriculum can be customized to meet the specific development needs of customers.

Project Management Certificate Program Provides New Skills
With Boston University as its new project management training partner, Harvard Pilgrim launched the project management certificate training program. The program runs for 12 weeks, meeting two evenings each week at Harvard Pilgrim's offices or at one of the numerous Boston University facilities, and is offered once a year to employees.

Through these courses, Harvard Pilgrim employees are gaining technical knowledge of project management skills that align with PMI's standards. The Boston University Corporate Education Center program brings Harvard Pilgrim employees to the next level, which is PMP certification. Once they've completed the 12-week program, and because Boston University places a strong emphasis on PMP certification, most students recognize the certification as a valuable addition to their professional development. In fact, employees who have not yet participated in the program have seen the benefits of the added credentials their colleagues have gained and are more eager to enroll.

Harvard Pilgrim has reported very positive feedback from students. While it is a significant investment of time, especially with work and family commitments, additional assistance from Boston University, such as online support for questions or guidance, helps students complete the program.

Training Results in Improved Operations
Project management training is becoming more important to Harvard Pilgrim as the portfolio of projects evolves to become more complex, longer in duration, and more cross functional. Through the Boston University Corporate Education Center program, Harvard Pilgrim is exposed to a more in-depth level of project management knowledge that allows the employees to apply knowledge in a more comprehensive fashion, leverage tools better, or create different system processes and techniques to manage differently.

Some individuals who participated in the program when they were project coordinators have since been promoted to project managers. DiTullio points out that the program instills a higher level of self-confidence and gives employees yet another level of credential to support career advancement.

DiTullio reports many benefits to Harvard Pilgrim: improved teamwork, more efficient project planning, better work quality, and gains in productivity. In addition, as the newly trained project managers gain efficiencies, more projects come in on time. The project team staff can then be released faster to get back to their regular jobs on the front lines. Faster project management turnaround also allows the limited number of project managers to be assigned to the next project more quickly. Harvard Pilgrim has seen the number of projects finishing on time increase substantially since the program began.

In addition, the training is touching customers. Because many projects are focused on operations and process improvements, they improve the customer experience.

Project Management Supports Corporate Strategy
The Boston University project management training program is growing and developing project management competency within Harvard Pilgrim, creating more efficient and successful project outcomes. The training also supports project management as a positive career path and maintains the focus on project management as a way to successfully execute the Harvard Pilgrim strategy.

The senior executives of Harvard Pilgrim saw the value of project management during the organization's turnaround phase and are firm believers that those who complete the training are quicker to observe, identify, and share best practices with others. They are convinced that the information people gain through the program permeates the entire organization, so even some senior executives are participating in the program and taking their experiences back into their business units.

DiTullio believes that Harvard Pilgrim's experience with project management is a strong example of best practices for other organizations.

About Boston University Corporate Education Center
Boston University Corporate Education Center offers award-winning programs in business, project management, process management, leadership, and information technology. Boston University provides customized corporate training solutions, instructor-led classes, and online training programs. For more information, go to www.BUtrain.com or call 1-800-BU-TRAIN (288-7246).

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Harvard Pilgrim selected Boston University Corporate Education Center for:

Project management courses aligned with Harvard Pilgrim's philosophy and previous training;
Flexibility in developing programs to suit specific needs;
Direct industry experience of instructors;
Reputation for superior project management training programs;
High quality of instruction and course materials;
University-based training program.

PMI, PMP, CAPM, and PMBOK are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Project Management Institute, Inc. Other product and company names are property of their respective owners.