Better Business
Where there were once thousands of hodgepodge systems used to conduct business throughout Johns Hopkins, now there will be HopkinsOne

The people who prepare spreadsheets on volumes and discharges, order supplies, or issue paychecks at a medical center may not have the glamorous jobs portrayed in TV hospital dramas. But they are the grease that keeps the wheels turning-especially in a big, complex organization like Johns Hopkins.

Over the last several years, it has become more and more evident that the systems in place to run the business of Hopkins haven't kept pace with that complexity. Problems manifest themselves in hundreds of ways throughout our decentralized institutions, from issuing salary increases on antiquated computer systems to the laborious paperwork necessary to purchase just one piece of lab equipment.

"Financially, we've been much more successful than many other major academic medical centers," says Stephen Golding, executive director of finance for the School of Medicine. "In research alone, we've had double-digit annual growth. But we can't continue to grow our lines of business with an outdated administrative infrastructure."

To streamline the fractured system, the University and Health System together have made a $120 million commitment-called HopkinsOne-to overhaul the business systems across nearly all the institution's entities. "We're investing in our future by making ourselves more efficient," continues Golding, executive program director of the initiative. "We feel fundamentally this is as important to us as bricks and mortar." By the time it is fully implemented in 2008, the project will have taken more than five years to complete and will require a staff of up to 200 people to implement.

Hopkins' information technology was first put under the microscope in 1995 with the advent of Johns Hopkins Medicine, when the Health System and School of Medicine began interacting more formally. "Major deficiencies were identified in our business systems," says Golding. "Some of the systems were 20 years old and badly dysfunctional. There were constant requests from departments to upgrade inefficient, costly systems."

Several years later, the University did a similar audit and reached the same conclusions. By last year, a feasibility study was under way to see if Hopkins-a 125-year-old institution where computers were introduced piecemeal-could find a common solution for its business needs, and if a single vendor could possibly provide it. Once the answer was yes, three companies with experience in higher education and academic health care were asked to submit proposals. A decision on the winning vendor is expected by the end of the calendar year.

"We have so many homegrown business practices that are heavily customized and extremely costly," says Golding. "We are moving toward a vanilla solution-a single general ledger, a single master vendor file. More and more of the Fortune 500 companies operate this way."

Just about everyone throughout Hopkins (Howard County General Hospital and the Applied Physics Laboratory are two exceptions) will feel the effects of the change, including the 38,000 employees who get paychecks. They will be able to look up withholding taxes or report a change of address with the click of a mouse. Supplies will be ordered by calling up an online catalogue that resembles an office supply store but with Hopkins-negotiated pricing. Those who hire, transfer or promote employees will find their administrative life vastly simplified.

The new system also makes the institution capable of being fully compliant with government regulations. "It's one of our major goals," says Golding. "Our old systems are not capturing the information we need," even in areas like "effort reporting," a record of how much time is spent on a research grant.

Golding insists the goal of the project is not cost-cutting. "We recognize we're under-invested in administrative support. With improved productivity, we expect to redeploy existing staff to other activities. Rather than running paper around campus getting signatures, employees can help write budgets for a new grant proposal, run a spreadsheet, or make sure we have proper supplies on the floors."

A steering committee, consisting of 14 members and co-chaired by Jim McGill, University senior vice president for finance and administration, and Ron Werthman, Health System vice president for finance, is overseeing the HopkinsOne project. Along with Golding, three full-time program directors-Judy Kilpatrick, formerly director of information systems for the University; Lynne Lochte, formerly the University's director of general accounting; and Lori Norman, formerly with Cedar Enterprise Solutions-are helping to manage the project.

Johns Hopkins is continuing to recruit Hopkins personnel to join the Hopkins One project team. For more information on employment opportunities, go to www.jhu.edu/hopkinsone and click on ERP positions.

--Mary Ellen Miller