PROJECT SCENARIO.

Oscar works for Middletown Hospital, a midsize community hospital in the Midwest. The hospital is in need of a modern, efficient software system to allow for the scheduling of 500 doctors, nurses, and other direct care staff. The system must interface with the hospital's existing human resource software programs (but not patient data), which track payroll, time off, and other employee benefits. The current scheduling system is very cumbersome. It does not interface with other hospital programs and does not update quickly enough, requiring staff to post daily handwritten changes to the schedules. The solution the hospital is looking for does not currently exist. Oscar is the hospital's IT department manager. He oversees the entire IT department for the hospital and is tasked with forming a new relationship with a vendor to provide a system that is right for the hospital. Oscar contacted a relatively new company called MedSure (located in Delaware), which claims to specialize in software systems specific to the healthcare industry. MedSure connected Oscar with one of their designers, Johan, who works remotely in Sweden. Oscar chooses to work with MedSure and begins contract negotiations. Johan calls Oscar and tells him that he and a subcontractor can easily complete the work on schedule. Johan says that his subcontractor has an awesome code that they can use to provide an efficient, user-friendly scheduling system. He also says that he has a team of support staff who can handle any software maintenance and troubleshooting needed by the hospital. He then forwards Oscar a contract on Monday and says it has to be signed by Friday in order to meet the hospital's three-month deadline for completion. Oscar's boss has emphasized that it is essential that the software company and its staff be competent and reliable. The contract needs to include price terms that are clearly spelled out with dates for each phase identified. The source codes need to be provided or escrowed. The testing process should be spelled out and should include corrective and maintenance terms favorable to the hospital. Twentyfour-hour-a-day maintenance support is mandatory for a one-year period. After one year, either party can opt out upon a 90-day notice. Also, the three-month project deadline is absolute, as the license on the current system will expire. As this is his first time negotiating a vendor contract, Oscar is concerned about ownership of the new system and its design codes, the security of the data, and what happens if the system turns out to be not functional and user-friendly upon completion.

The following critical elements must be addressed:

A. Provide an executive description of engagement in which you briefly describe what Middletown Hospital is hoping to accomplish in this scenario.

B. Describe vendor personnel and staffing concerns that the hospital might want addressed in the contract. Cite specific evidence to support your description.

C. Describe the intellectual property concerns regarding the use of a contractor's delivered product that Oscar should consider during negotiations. Be sure to do the following:

1. Describe possible ownership issues.

2. Describe possible licensing issues.

3. Determine the patent issues that will need to be addressed. Cite specific evidence to support your description.

D. Explain the purpose of source code escrow and how it applies to the scenario. Cite specific evidence to support your explanation.

E. Describe the purpose of warranties in an IT contract.

Cite specific evidence to support your description.