Partners HealthCare Research Management

1
Partners HealthCareResearch Management

• NCURA Regional Meeting
• May 7, 2007

2
Agenda

• Partners Healthcare Overview
• The Harvard Model
• Partners Research Enterprise
• The Issue
• The Plan
• Timeline
• Challenges
• Guiding Principles
• Questions

3
Partners HealthCare Overview

• Not-for-profit organization established in 1994
• Founding members
• Massachusetts General Hospital
• Brigham and Womens Hospital
• Integrated healthcare delivery system that
  includes
• Academic medical centers
• Primary care and specialty physicians
• Community hospitals
• Specialty facilities
• Community health centers
• Other health-related entities

4
Partners HealthCare Overview

• 6 billion revenue
• Largest hospital and second largest
  non-university recipient of research funding from
  NIH
• 6,600 active staff (MDs)
• 2,200 Investigators / 8,200 research staff
• 40,000 Employees
• One of the largest private employers in
  Massachusetts

5
Harvard Funding Map
In the Harvard system, hospitals are
free-standing, financially independent entities
that manage their own research portfolios.
Harvard Hospitals 1.5B
HMS 220M
Partners 1B
MGH 530M BWH 410M MCL 50M
HSPH 180M
BIDMC 200M
DFCI 160M
CH 130M
HU 145M
6
Partners Research Enterprise
PHS research has grown at an average annual rate
of 9.41 between FY96 and FY07. The growth rate
between FY06 and FY07 was 3.5, with NIH growing
0.3.
Foundations Sundry Subs
(000s)
Direct Indirect Research Expenditures
7
RAMP Project Initiated

• Senior Management support to diagnose and correct
  the issue
• Led by Chief Academic Officer
• PriceWaterhouse Coopers engaged for assessment
  and recommendations
• Review focused on
• Organizational structure
• Processes and systems
• Information technology
• Goals and expectations of Partners research
  community

8
The Diagnosis

• Rapid growth in size and complexity of Partners
  research enterprise has outpaced the
  administrative structure needed to support the
  research community
• Significant gap between needs of the research
  community and quality of the infrastructure
  available to meet their needs
• Pervasive sense of low visibility and low
  priority among the research community, even
  though research is central to the mission and
  financial performance of Partners

9
The Plan

• Secure Resources
• SWAT Teams
• Human Resources
• Management
• Staff
• Workforce Development
• Information Systems
• Fiscal Management
• Compliance

10
Resources

• Secured significant, multi-year budget increase
  for
• Consulting assistance
• Grants Contracts staffing
• Research Finance staffing
• Cross-cutting staff
• Compliance
• Communications
• Training
• Capital for systems implementations

11
SWAT Teams

• Many transactions significantly backlogged
• Subcontracts
• Invoices
• Journal entries / debit accounts
• Foundation Reports
• Temporary assistance brought in to bring down the
  backlog, allowing new staff to focus on current
  operations

12
Human Resources

• Management
• Geoff Grant hired as new VP for Research
  Management
• New Director of MGH Grants Contracts
• New Director of Research Finance
• New Managers of Accounting, Billing
• New Director of Research Compliance
• Full management team now in place

13
Human Resources

• Staff
• 31 new FTEs (net) hired since June 2006 (45
  increase)
• 26 boots on the ground
• 5.0 support areas (communications, compliance,
  training, recruiting, administration)
• Augmented with consultants

14
Human Resources

• Workforce Development
• Contracted with Tandem Consulting to create a
  Workforce Development program
• Hired dedicated Training Manager Coordinator
• Phase 1 Onboarding and Orienting launched
  January 29
• Phase 2 Customer-Focused Relationships in
  development
• Audience includes Central and Depts

15
Compliance

• Research Management policies outdated or
  non-existent
• First policy set established December 2006
• Award Closeout
• Cost Transfer
• Financial Reporting
• Second set launched March 2007. One set
  remaining
• Cost Sharing
• Account Setup / Advance Accounts
• Sub-recipient Monitoring
• Budget Modifications / Carry-forwards
• Equipment

• Sponsored Project Cost Charging
• Overdraft and Deficit Monitoring

16
Compliance

• Hired Director of Research Compliance
• Training Education Sessions
• Development of an Integrated Research Compliance
  Program
• Time Effort workgroup underway
• Clinical Trials Billing Huron engaged for
  current state assessment and recommendations

17
Information Systems E.Gov

• Electronic Grant Submission
• Implementation underway for conversion to
  government-mandated electronic grants submission
• InfoEd selected for system-to-system grant
  submission and post-award management
• Two phased approach
• Proposal Tracking for central Research Management
• Proposal Development for application development,
  routing and transmission
• PureEdge for June submissions

18
Information Systems E.Gov

• Key Issues
• Vendor / Govt support at time of national
  convergence
• Coordination with Peoplesoft Grants / Contracts /
  Billing Implementation
• Breadth and depth of change moving from paper to
  electronic
• Large and distributed group to train

19
Information Systems - Peoplesoft

• Implementation of PeopleSoft grants, contracts,
  projects billing modules underway
• Provides Research Finance with integrated suite
  of tools to properly manage the 1B research
  portfolio including 250M billable
• Part of enterprise-wide Peoplesoft 8.9 upgrade.
• Drives a change in the chart of accounts.

20
Information Systems

• Convergence of implementation efforts creates
  competing priorities
• InfoEd
• Peoplesoft Grants Contracts
• Insight version 2.1
• eIRB

21
Fiscal Management - Debits

• Historical delays in grant processing created
  significant backlogs in subcontracting, billing,
  financial reporting and grant accounting.
• These items, in combination with a lack of
  institutional policies and systems
  infrastructure, led to significant grant debit
  balances.
• Swat teams brought in to address debits and
  processing backlogs.

22
Fiscal Management - Debits

• Many data changes need to be driven by PIs /
  Depts. Action steps currently underway with
  involvement by VPs of Research and Finance.
• Partially dependent upon implementation of new
  systems and hiring training of new central
  staff.
• Changes need to be in compliance with all
  applicable regulations.
• Requires change of long-standing practices new
  policies will be key.

23
RAMP Timeline

• Summer/Fall 2005 - Completed
• PwC review
• Early Winter 2005-06 - Completed
• Consideration of findings
• Personnel changes and appointments
• Winter/Spring 2006 Completed
• Developed RAMP implementation plan and budget
• Established RAMP Steering Committee
• IS planning and software selection
• SWAT Teams began

24
RAMP Timeline

• Summer 2006 Fall 2007 Initiatives
• PeopleSoft Implementation
• InfoEd Implementation
• Debit Reduction Project
• Management Searches
• Workforce Development
• Accelerated Hiring
• Policy Development, Approval, Implementation
• Enhanced Communications

25
Challenges

• Change takes time change in large, complex
  institutions takes more time
• Affecting change without full management team in
  place
• Affecting change during time of decreased NIH
  funding
• Geographically disperse and culturally distinct
  institutions
• Competing priorities

26
Guiding Principles

• Commitment of Senior Management
• Project Duration / Frequency of Project Review
• Performance Integrity / Capability
• Openness / Communication

27
Questions

• Randy Mason
• Partners HealthCare
• Rsmason_at_partners.org
• 617-954-9669