Difficulties in moving routine medical checks from the specialist level to the general practitioner level

Abstract

We began a project to move routine medical checks for appropriate patients from the specialist level to the patient's normal general practitioner (GP). The GP's analysis and conclusions would be checked by the specialist, using electronic messaging. The idea for the project came from the top level of the regional health authority. Despite that, the project was closed down before pilot testing began. We used stakeholder theory as a post-project evaluation to analyse what happened and where it went wrong. A common mistake in project planning is to focus the planning effort on system tasks and not to pay attention to a well-thought-out handling of the project's stakeholders. This was what happened in our project. Ideal objectives and good political intentions are not enough to implement a new e-health service.