Published June 25, 2021.
I want to take this opportunity to update you on the HELMS project. The department has undertaken this project to modernize our health care licensing system and deliver better service. A project fact sheet is attached.
What is Changing?
The project team has been hard at work on the process of configuring the Salesforce platform to meet the business requirements for HELMS. In this process, they have discovered some things that will have an impact on the project schedule and budget. As a result, the go-live date for HELMS is shifting out seven months to February 2023 and the project cost is increasing by $6.5 million.
Why is this Happening?
A number of factors led to the change in project schedule and budget including:
· Higher than expected costs for the Salesforce platform
· Incorrect assumptions regarding data migration
· Data migration progress was slower than expected
· Unanticipated additional security design reviews/approvals
· Unanticipated additional time needed to setup infrastructure
The above items revealed additional complexities, requiring our integration services vendor to add resources and time to the project.
What is the Impact on Licensing Fees?
The total cost of this increase per licensee will be $3 per year of the project, for a total increase of $16. As you may recall, we will be charging the cost of HELMS to each licensing program based on the number of licensees. For health professionals that hold multiple licenses, the cost will be spread across each program.
By September, we will have updated information on the financial status of each licensing program and identify whether any will require a fee increase. We do not expect the HELMS project cost increase to have an effect on licensing fees unless a program is already struggling financially.
What is DOH Doing to Control Cost?
· Continuing to partner with the vendor to control costs
· Continuing to partner with the vendor to manage cost-related risks and issues
· Increasing status reporting with more detailed data
· Increasing process efficacy checkpoints (performance indicators)
· Applying lessons learned
Please let me know if you have any questions. As always, we appreciate your continued support of the HELMS project and look forward to delivering the benefits the new system will offer in terms of service, efficiency, and data access!
Thank you, Christie Spice, MPH (she/her) Acting Assistant Secretary Health Systems Quality Assurance Washington State Department of Health christie.spice@doh.wa.gov 360-480-2109 | www.doh.wa.gov