IBM Business Analyst - Capstone Project
MY ROLE
Business Analyst
PROJECT OVERVIEW
PROJECT OBJECTIVE
HealthFirst Care: analysing hospital operations
IBM Business Analysis capstone | Simulated hospital case study
I analysed a hospital scenario involving appointment scheduling, patient waiting times, resource allocation and communication. Using course materials and datasets, I developed requirements documentation, process models, a risk register and operational dashboards to support proposed improvements.
Improve hospital operational efficiency and patient experience by analysing current processes, identifying operational issues, and presenting evidence-backed improvements to scheduling, resource allocation, communication, and workflow management.
TOOLS USED
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Excel
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Word
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Lucidchart
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IBM Cognos Analytics
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Powerpoint
Requirements gathering and prioritisation • Stakeholder analysis • Requirements traceability • Process mapping and workflow analysis • Data cleaning and analysis • Dashboarding and data visualisation • Scope Management and WBS development • Risk assessment and mitigation
Methods Used
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Business Problem
HealthFirst Care faced long patient wait times, appointment disruption, poor communication, limited visibility, and fragmented hospital systems
Key Findings
Investigation
Average wait time was 41.5 minutes, appointment disruption was significant, resource usages varied by department, and communication and handoff processes were inconsistent.
Stakeholder requirements, current workflows, appointment data, patient feedback, resource usage, future-state process improvements, and operational risks were all analysed.
Recommendations
Success measures
Introduce automated scheduling, real-time resource visibility, automated patient notifications, improved digital check-in, standardise handoffs, better system integration, and live operational dashboards.
Reduce average patient wait time by at least 20% to 33.2 minutes or less, achieve >95% timely appointment-change notifications, reduce exact double bookings to 0, reduce appointment disruption, and improve patient satisfaction from the current 86.4% high-satisfaction baseline.
REQUIREMENTS DOCUMENTS
Business Requirements Document (BRD)
The BRD establishes why the HealthFirst Care improvement initiative is needed. It translates identified operational problems into clear, structured business requirements, providing a foundation for keeping later project activities aligned with the original business needs. In development I used techniques including: stakeholder analysis, requirements elicitation, data analysis, requirements prioritisation, separation of business needs into functional and non-functional requirements.
Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM)
The RTM ensures that every functional and non-functional requirement remains connected to a clear business objective, relevant stakeholders, and supporting evidence throughout the project lifecycle. It is a structured way to track requirements, their justification, approval status, and avoids letting requirements become disconnected from the business need. To prioritise the requirements, I used the MoSCoW prioritisation method.
Stakeholder Analysis & Project Scope Management (with WBS)
Stakeholder Analysis Matrix
The Stakeholder Analysis Matrix identifies the key stakeholder groups and determines how they should be managed and communicated with throughout the project. I completed identification, influence-interest analysis, classification, requirements analysis, and communication planning to ensure the right stakeholders are involved at the right level throughout the project.
Scope Management Plan & WBS
The Scope Management Plan and WBS define what is included in the HealthFirst Care initiative, control any changes to the scope, and break the project down into manageable work packages. I used scope definition, change control, impact assessment, milestone planning, and requirements traceability to ensure alignment with the BRD and RTM while reducing the risk of scope creep.
PROCESS ANALYSIS DOCUMENTS
BPMN and Swimlane Diagrams
The BPMN and Swimlane diagrams provide a more detailed view of HealthFirst Care's workflows by showing process steps, decision points, stakeholder responsibilities, hand-offs, and dependencies. BPMN and Swimlane diagrams make the responsibilities, interactions and decision more clear to demonstrate how workflows can become more efficient and standardised.
Appointment Scheduling Swimlane Diagram
One of the future-state process models with BPMN and Swimlanes
Risk Assessment and Mitigation
Risk Register & Matrix
The Risk Register systematically identifies, assesses, prioritises, and manages risks that could affect the delivery of the initiative. The Risk Matrix is used to visualise and prioritise risks according to their likelihood and impact. Development of the risk register employed qualiitative risk assessment, likelihood-impact scoring, mitigation planning, contingency planning, and risk ownership management to provide a structured way to reduce uncertainty and improve preparedness.
DATA / ANALYSIS
Operational Performance Dashboard
I used IBM Cognos Analytics to turn the cleaned data into a fully interactive dashboard with filters to help gain in-depth insights into the data. The dashboard allows for quick and clear identification of performance patterns that might have gone unnoticed. Overall supporting evidence-based improvement decisions.
