Only Permanent Department of Health Or Permanent Health Service

EOI-62 EXPRESSION OF INTEREST Only Permanent Department of Health or Permanent Health Service employees may apply for EOI’s

SENIOR PROJECT OFFICER, 9/10 (TEMPORARY) INFORMATION DEVELOPMENT UNIT NSW HEALTH DEPARTMENT 73 Miller Street, North Sydney

SALARY: $60,182 to $66,319 PER ANNUM

UP TO 12 MONTHS SECONDMENT OPPORTUNITY

Expressions of interest are invited from suitably qualified and highly motivated persons to fill the above position.

The successful applicant will manage, or assist in the management of specific information development projects at the state and national levels, including the development of models, standards, definitions, codesets, policies, guidelines and research in order to review, evaluate, develop and implement information requirements, protocols and strategies for NSW Health.

Applications should address the following:

Selection Criteria:

 Demonstrated experience and sound skills in project management.

 Sound knowledge of information management principles.

 High-level negotiation skills and written and verbal communication skills.

 Effectiveness in consultation processes with a variety of stakeholders.

 Strong analytical skills, both verbal and quantitative.

 Ability to analyse and interpret complex concepts and recommend action.

 Communication and facilitation skills.

 Ability to prepare complex reports and correspondence.

 Experience in using office computer systems, word-processing and spreadsheets.

 Commitment to EEO and OH&S principles.

 Demonstrated effective staff leadership and supervision skills.

 Tertiary qualifications in, for example, social science or information management or equivalent experience.

For further information contact Elizabeth Hanley on (02) 9391 9164 Applications to: Elizabeth Hanley A/g Assistant Director, Health Informatics PO Box 961 North Sydney 2059 fax (02) 9391 9015 EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST CLOSE: Friday 30 November 2001 EOI-62

Position Description

POSITION DETAILS

Position No: IAS063.722 Position Title: Senior Project Officer Reports To: Manager, Information Development Unit Division: Information Management Division Branch: Information Management and Support Unit: Information Development Unit Location: Level 5, 73 Miller St, North Sydney Job Analyst: S.Doyle Date: August 2001

MAIN PURPOSES OF POSITION

Develop, implement and monitor specific information development projects, including the development of models, standards, definitions, codesets, policies, guidelines and research.

Review and evaluate information requirements and develop and implement information protocols and strategies to support and enhance the delivery of health services in this State.

KEY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Manage the development and implementation of projects relating to health information structures, protocols and strategies. 2. Establish project management structures in alignment with the corporate plan and other major statements of direction, including developing project plans, resource estimates, tender methodologies and project reports. 3. Manage, evaluate and report on specific information initiatives including the development and testing of data models and data sets. 4. Develop relationships and partnerships, and collaborate and consult with key stakeholders in the information management field, including Area Health Services and non-government and community based organisations. 5. Provide expert advice, training and support to data providers and data users in Central Office and Area Health Services. 6. Liaise with and provide advice to external agencies on information projects which will impact on NSW Health. 7. Identify specific information needs through qualitative and quantitative analysis and define options for meeting those needs. 8. Ensure that appropriate state and national information standards and agreements are complied with. EOI-62

9. Organise, support, co-ordinate and facilitate workshops, meetings and seminars to ensure stakeholder involvement and endorsement. 10. Design and develop data collection and survey instruments and methodologies. 11. Provide high level advice to the Department, the Minister and other parts of Government on information management issues. 12. Manage and supervise contractors and consultants to achieve agreed performance levels. 13. Contribute to monitoring the performance of Area Health Services and Non Government Organisations in key areas of information management. 14. Represent the NSW Health position on information management issues at State and Commonwealth level when required. 15. Participate in whole-of-government planning initiatives relating to information management. 16. Prepare ministerial briefings, correspondence, responses to parliamentary questions, speech notes and discussion papers as required. 17. Apply Equal Employment Opportunity, Occupational Health & Safety, Culturally Diverse Society and ethical practice principles and policies in the workplace. 18. Maintain sound current knowledge of research and factors impacting on information management.

LOCAL BACKGROUND AND ENVIRONMENT

The NSW Health Department is a large, complex and dynamic organisation that undertakes various core and support roles to set the directions for the NSW health system, ensure implementation of Government policy and support the Minister for Health.

The public health system, including the NSW Department of Health and Area Health Services, employs approximately 100,000 people and has an annual budget of approximately $7 billion. More than 1 million people are treated as hospital “in patients” each year in 250 hospitals across the State.

The NSW Department of Health comprises some 850 staff employed at three sites (North Sydney, Gladesville and Surrey Hills) under either the Public Sector Management Act 1988 or the Health Services Act 1997.

The key roles of the Department are developing policies for improving and maintaining health; allocating resources to health services; developing and managing the regulatory framework for health services and health issues; monitoring and evaluating health services; working with Commonwealth, other State and NSW agencies to ensure policies meet the health needs of the public and are managed intersectorally; developing and implementing human resource management and quality improvement policies and protocols for the Department and the public health system and supporting the Minister.

The Department is organised into four Divisions and two Units: Policy, Public Health, Operations, Executive and Corporate Support Divisions; and Health Public Affairs and Audit Units.

The role of the Information Management Division (IMD) is to provide leadership in delivering business solutions and better use of information for more informed decision and improving health systems performance to achieve NSW Health goals. Information is used to EOI-62 support responsive, effective, quality service delivery and continuous service improvement. IMD comprises a small unit of the Office of the CIO and four branches: Health System Performance Branch, Information Management and Support Branch, Information and Business Solutions Branch and Enterprise Information Technology Branch. The IMB has over 100 staff members.

The Information Management and Support Branch is responsible for supporting NSW Health (managers, clinicians and consumers) to make more informed decisions through the effective development, collection, storage, access, use, audit and disposal of information to support agency business processes. This involves the management of statewide and national standards, privacy, quality and accessibility of information through all stages of the information strategic planning and operational lifecycle.

The above are achieved by:  developing information management policies, strategies and standards;  facilitating the identification of information needs across NSW Health;  facilitating access to and use of information;  managing statewide data collections;  providing reporting, analysis and decision support services; and  developing information skills.

The Branch consists of three sections: the Data Management Section, the Information Analysis and Resource Centre and the Health Informatics Section.

The Health Informatics (HI) Section is responsible for supporting health care, health education and research by improving the value of health information. HI brings together data, technology and information systems to provide users with the information needed both to manage effectively and to enable desirable changes in health care delivery and management. It achieves this by:  working with health care practitioners to identify information requirements and priorities and assisting them to develop information management skills and awareness;  developing and maintaining information management policies, strategies, standards and protocols and information and application architectures;  promoting alignment of information management projects with NSW Health information management strategies and standards;  working extensively with business areas in the health system to foster cooperative and business focussed information management strategies and solutions;  maintaining a corporate view of information standards and architectures; and  promoting an interagency and national approach to information management across health and human services.

The Information Development Unit (IDU) is one of four units within Health Informatics. IDU is responsible for:  the identification and analysis of business processes and information requirements;  the development of information management policies, plans, strategies and protocols; and  the development of information models, data standards, casemix classifications and data collections.

During the information development process, IDU coordinates key stakeholder involvement, and manages consultation processes undertaken with data users, clinicians and the wider health community. IDU develops functional requirements, and provides advice on information system selection, development and implementation. The projects are generally handed back to the sponsors at the stage of an information system. EOI-62

IDU operates largely on a consultancy basis, with many projects referred from other Branches within the Department. These projects all have competing timeframes and levels of urgency, and it is essential to be able to prioritise effectively. Projects vary in their requirements considerably, necessitating a wide skill base for staff in the unit. Flexibility is essential as it is critical to be able to identify the most effective approach for each project and to be able to understand the range of complexities that occur.

ROLES OF POSITIONS SUPERVISED

Supervise consultants, contractors and temporary/agency staff engaged to assist with projects managed by the position.

KEY INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL RELATIONSHIPS

The Senior Project Officer will be required to establish and maintain relationships across a range of partners and stakeholders.

 Branch – close working relationships with the Manager, IDU and Associate Director, Health Informatics, to consult and report on policy and projects.

 Extensive contact with staff across the Branch as leader or member of project teams.

 Department of Health - Frequent contact with managers and staff in other units including Clinical Information Systems and Data Management.

 Information Management Committees – regular contact with committees such as the Department’s Information Management Committee and Area committees.

 Area Health Services - the position works closely with Area Health Service information managers, service providers and other staff.

 Commonwealth and State Government Departments and Agencies – frequent contact with managers and staff in the Branch’s counterpart in other States and peak organisations concerned with information management issues, such as the national Health Data Committee and the National Health Information Management Group.

 Non-Government Organisations – frequent contact with specific non-government service organisations and associations for certain projects such as the Family Planning Association, Aboriginal health services and the Council of Social Service of NSW (NCOSS).

 Health and medical research institutes, such as the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

 Project Steering Groups or other Committees and bodies with responsibility for oversight of projects being undertaken by the Branch.

 Committees and conferences of government and other stakeholders - The position liaises with and may represent the Branch and Department on interdepartmental and intergovernment committees and working groups such as the Health Information Management Association.

CHALLENGES/PROBLEM SOLVING

 Devising viable project plans and methodologies for complex, multi-faceted projects.

 Developing policy in areas of complexity and diversity of viewpoints, such as ethical management of health information. EOI-62

 Managing a number of projects concurrently, with varying timelines and workloads, in a high pressure, high volume work environment.

 Achieving project deadlines and program milestones to the required standards and targets, within budget / allocations and with limited staff support.

 Balancing project workloads with the unpredictable and uncontrollable volume and response times of briefs and ministerials.

 Negotiating and planning total workload when involved in cross-Branch projects oversighted by different managers.

 Using consultative and steering group processes as a vehicle for bringing about change and development in the information management field.

 Aligning the competing information needs of different levels of health care management required from the one data source.

 Acquiring an understanding of operational level issues impacting on information development.

 Ensuring that the costs/ burden of data collection do not exceed the benefit.

 Keeping data collection to a minimum without loss of strategic information.

 Negotiating industrial resistance to new data initiatives.

 Identifying and understanding the flow-on effects of issues raided by, for example, the Medicare agreement and AHMAC.

 Ensure a balance between the potentially competing interests of clinicians and operational data users.

 Maintaining familiarity with the extensive range of current research, policy and initiatives impacting on the rapidly changing field of information management to ensure that projects and policy advice reflect current knowledge and best practice.

 Exercising judgement when representing the Branch and Department on state and national committees.

 Balancing the best interests of the Department and the best interests of the program under development when representing the NSW health position in supporting the development of whole-of-government initiatives.

 Participating constructively in the introduction of new technology to enhance efficiency and productivity while maintaining the quality and volume of work.

DECISION MAKING

Decisions which can be made by the position holder include:

 day-to-day decisions relating to work priorities and workload management, for themselves and any project staff supervised.

 content of advice and information provided to the Department, in response to inquiries to the Branch, or as the Department’s representative on Committees and Working Parties.

 selection/nomination of key stakeholders to be involved in projects;  establishing issue resolution mechanisms. EOI-62

 content of draft Ministerial correspondence, discussion papers and reports.

 conduct of negotiations with Departmental and external stakeholders and partners on projects, for example, regarding scheduling of meetings, quality of information provided, development of consensus policy positions, etc.

Decisions which are referred to a supervisor, include:

 any decision which will substantially alter the outcomes, timeframe or funding requirements of individual projects.

 major policy issues or conflicts arising in the course of project and representational duties.

 all matters which require a higher delegated authority such as approval for expenditure, appropriation of resources and/or travel.

 determination of Branch membership of Committees.

 sign-off of reports and papers for public distribution.

 matters requiring submission to the Executive or Minister’s Office.

SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE USED