HI540 Unit 5 Schedule and Critical Path Example

Course	HI540 Project Management of Health Information Systems
Unit	Unit 5
Paper type	Schedule and critical path analysis
Length	About 1,080 words, 6 pages double-spaced
Format	APA 7 student paper
School	Purdue University Global
Program	MS in Health Informatics
Updated	October 2026

Free sample paper for HI540 Unit 5

Two Chains at Zero Float: A Unit 5 Schedule and Critical Path Analysis for a Two-Wave Perioperative Go-Live

[Student Name]

Purdue University Global

HI540: Project Management of Health Information Systems

Unit 5 Schedule and Critical Path

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

Ashby Valley Health, its activities and every duration are composite; the sources cited are real.

What this part is doingStating the basis of each estimate next to its duration lets the grader see that the dates come from evidence, not from the go-live target worked backward.

Scope of the Schedule

The schedule covers all sixty-three work packages from the Unit 3 breakdown, decomposed into eighty-four activities. Each activity carries its package code, a duration in working days, a basis of estimate and its predecessors. Durations come from three sources: the vendor's implementation plan for build activities, the lead build analyst's estimates for configuration, and measured rates for conversion, such as the four minutes a surgeon takes to validate a typical preference card in the pilot. Working days exclude weekends and the six holidays observed by Ashby Valley Health. Day 1 is the charter's approval date. Most links are finish-to-start. Five are start-to-start with a lag, used where a later activity can begin once part of an earlier one is done; for example, training delivery may start ten days after curriculum build starts, because the first modules are finished early.

How the Critical Path Was Found

In the critical path method, a forward pass sets every activity's early dates from its predecessors and a backward pass sets the late dates that still protect the finish; their gap is total float, and the chain of zero-float activities is the critical path (Kelley & Walker, 1959). With eighty-four activities, doing this by eye on a bar chart is unreliable, so a script of about forty lines reads the activity table, sorts the activities so every predecessor comes first, runs the forward pass to set early dates, runs the backward pass from the wave 2 go-live to set late dates, and prints total float for every row. The script was checked against a hand calculation of six activities from the conversion chain before it was trusted. The hand calculation and the script agreed on every early start, late start and float value.

What this part is doingValidating the script against a hand calculation before trusting it shows the grader the analyst understands the method, not just the tool.

Hand Calculation Check

1. 3.1.1 Card extraction: 8 days, no predecessor. Early start 1, early finish 8. Late start 1, late finish 8. Float 0.

2. 3.1.2 Card cleansing: 15 days, after 3.1.1. Early start 9, early finish 23. Late start 9, late finish 23. Float 0.

3. 3.1.3 Orthopedics validation: 40 days, after 3.1.2. Early start 24, early finish 63. Late start 24, late finish 63. Float 0.

4. 3.1.4 General and vascular validation: 30 days, after 3.1.2. Early start 24, early finish 53. Late start 34, late finish 63. Float 10.

5. 3.1.5 Remaining specialties validation: 25 days, after 3.1.2. Early start 24, early finish 48. Late start 39, late finish 63. Float 15.

6. 3.1.6 Card load to test: 5 days, after 3.1.3, 3.1.4 and 3.1.5. Early start 64, early finish 68. Late start 64, late finish 68. Float 0.

Orthopedics, with about 1,100 cards and the longest validation, governs the conversion chain; the other specialties have float because they have fewer cards.

Key Dates

Wave 1 go-live at Ashby Valley Medical Center, the flagship hospital with fourteen operating rooms, falls on working day 196. Wave 2 at Corbin Hill Hospital and Pell Harbor Hospital, with seven and five rooms, falls thirty working days later on day 226. Vendor support for the old scheduler ends near day 290, leaving sixty-four working days between wave 2 and the support deadline. That margin is real but not large, since the decommission work in package 8.4 needs about thirty days after the last wave.

The Two Critical Chains

The script reported two chains at zero float that meet at the second round of integrated testing. The first is preference card conversion: extraction, cleansing, orthopedics validation, load to test, the first integrated test round, card corrections, and load to production. Any day lost in orthopedic validation moves wave 1 by one day. The second is the implant charge interface: implant item master mapping in materials management, supply feed build, charge code mapping, charge link build, interface unit testing, and then the same second integrated test round. This chain had not looked critical on the bar chart because its bars sit in a different part of the page, and because the item master mapping starts late, after the materials team finishes a separate inventory project. A tie at zero float means the project has two places where a single slipped day moves go-live, and only the calculation, not the chart, made that visible. After the second integrated test round the chains merge into one path: charge reconciliation testing, user acceptance testing, the dress rehearsal and wave 1 cutover.

Near-Critical Activities

Activities with under five days of total float are listed so that small slips are caught before they become critical.

1. 4.3.2 Instrument tracking link build, 3 days of float.

2. 7.1.4 Classroom training for the flagship, 4 days of float, limited by room availability.

3. 6.2.3 Downtime drill at the flagship, 2 days of float, since it must follow the final build and precede the dress rehearsal.

4. 3.2.1 Future-scheduled case extraction for wave 1, 4 days of float.

Three of these four depend on people outside the project team, which means their float can be lost to other demands without the project manager noticing.

What this part is doingListing near-critical work separately, with the reason each could slip, shows the grader the schedule is meant to be managed rather than admired.

Implications for the Next Units

The tie changes where attention goes. The orthopedics section chief already owns the validation risk; the interface chain now needs an equal owner, and the interface analysts' availability during testing becomes the question for the resource plan in Unit 6. Research on health IT schedules suggests large projects run late far more often than planners expect, often because dependencies outside the team were not modeled (Kaplan & Harris-Salamone, 2009). For that reason, the schedule is rerun every week with actual dates, and any activity whose float falls below five days moves to the near-critical list. The guide to project management describes a schedule as a living model, revised with actual progress, not a promise made once (Project Management Institute, 2021), and the script makes weekly reruns cheap enough to keep that true.

Appendix Note

The script, its input layout and the full eighty-four-row output table are kept in the project folder. The input is one row per activity with an identifier, duration, predecessor list and link type with lag, so anyone on the team can rerun it after updating a duration.

References

Kaplan, B., & Harris-Salamone, K. D. (2009). Health IT success and failure: Recommendations from literature and an AMIA workshop. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 16(3), 291-299. https://doi.org/10.1197/jamia.M2997

Kelley, J. E., & Walker, M. R. (1959). Critical-path planning and scheduling. Papers Presented at the December 1-3, 1959, Eastern Joint IRE-AIEE-ACM Computer Conference, 160-173. https://doi.org/10.1145/1460299.1460318

Project Management Institute. (2021). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide) (7th ed.). Project Management Institute.

HI540 Unit 5 instructions, in plain terms

The fifth unit usually asks you to turn the work breakdown structure into a schedule with durations, dependencies and milestones, then identify the critical path. Expect an activity list with predecessors, a basis for each duration estimate, a network or bar chart, early and late dates and total float. Many instructors want the critical path explained in words as well as shown, along with what the result means for managing the project. Working days are the usual unit, with holidays stated once. Spreadsheets, project software or a hand calculation are all generally accepted, as long as the logic can be followed. Near-critical work is worth listing, because small slips there can become critical. Cite the project management guide and, where useful, a source on the critical path method itself. Appendices hold full tables if the body runs long.

Inside the HI540 Unit 5 example

Scope and estimating sources open the analysis, so the reader can see that durations rest on vendor plans, analyst estimates and a measured four-minute validation rate. Link types are explained, including start-to-start lags. A method section describes the forward and backward passes and the short script, and a margin note explains why it was checked by hand first. Six conversion activities follow with early and late dates and float, showing how orthopedics governs that chain. Key dates place both waves against the support deadline. The two critical chains are traced step by step, and the highlighted sentence explains why only the calculation revealed the tie. A numbered list of near-critical activities gives the reason each could slip. The closing section hands the interface question to the resource plan and commits to weekly reruns.

Reading the HI540 Unit 5 grading rubric

The critical path assignment usually rewards accuracy above everything else. Graders recompute a sample of dates, so arithmetic errors in early and late values cost points quickly. Dependencies are checked for logic: a load that starts before validation finishes loses marks even when the dates add up. Estimates earn credit when each carries a basis rather than a round guess. Interpretation is often its own row, judged on whether the student explains what the path means for managing the project. Milestones tied to the charter, a readable diagram or table and APA format share the remaining points. Students lose the most by naming a path without showing float, by reading the path off a chart by eye, or by ignoring holidays and resource limits that change real dates.

HI540 Unit 5 help: mistakes that cost points

Arithmetic slips in the backward pass are the most common reason this paper comes back. Check a few activities by hand before trusting any tool. Another frequent problem is durations with no stated basis, which makes the whole schedule unverifiable. Some students treat every link as finish-to-start, even where partial overlap is normal, and so overstate the duration. Many drafts stop at naming the path and say nothing about near-critical work or what the result means for the next decisions. Calendar dates mixed with working days in the same table cause errors. For a version built around your own breakdown, collect your activity list, any estimates you already have and the prompt, and a worked schedule with a traced critical path can be prepared for your project.

Get an HI540 Unit 5 example written to your instructions

The script travels well; the activities do not. Send the activity list or scenario your section supplied with the Unit 5 instructions and the rubric, and within 24-48h a first sample comes back free, both passes computed and checked, the critical and near-critical chains named for that project. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.

More HI540 papers and MS in Health Informatics samples

HI540 Unit 5 questions, answered

Is writing code required to find the critical path?

Rarely. Most sections accept a spreadsheet or a hand calculation, and the criteria look at logic rather than method. The example uses a short script because 84 activities make hand passes error-prone. Whatever the method, show the passes or the formulas and check at least a fragment independently, since unexplained output earns little credit on its own.

Should the schedule use working days or calendar dates?

Working days for the calculation and calendar dates for presentation, with the conversion stated once. The example counts a five-day working calendar with the health system's holidays removed, then maps working day 196 to a calendar date in a single note. Mixing the two inside one table is where most date errors in these schedules begin.

Where can I find a free HI540 Unit 5 sample paper?

Every part of the Unit 5 analysis is here: the hand calculation, both critical chains, key dates and the near-critical list.

What does a tie at zero float mean for the project?

Either chain can move go-live by a single slipped day, so both need owners and weekly attention, and speeding up only one gains nothing.

Why check a script against a hand calculation?

Matching six activities by hand shows the logic is right before the tool is trusted with eighty-four, and graders can follow the same steps.