Audit Report on the Development and Implementation of the Disease-Tracking System, PRIME, By the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

AUDIT REPORT IN BRIEF

We performed an audit of the development and implementation of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Disease-Tracking system, the Person Registry Information Management Environment system (PRIME). The system automates the collection, tracking, and analysis of disease reports in New York City by centralizing data from a large number of sources, such as private providers, hospitals, and laboratories, and by integrating its disease-tracking subsystems in one system.

PRIME was technically obsolete before it could be fully completed and was terminated by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (Department) in early 2002; therefore, the system did not meet its initial business and system requirements. We found that the Department did not employ a formal systems development methodology, nor did it employ an independent quality assurance consultant throughout the development process. Also, the Department did not comply with the Procurement Policy Board (PPB) regulations to procure services from two vendors, which contributed to the failure to develop PRIME despite the payments of more than $6.3 million to the vendors.

To address these issues, we recommend that the Department:

• Ensure that it follows all applicable PPB Rules in its procurements. In that regard, all large systems development projects should be awarded by competitive sealed proposals and result in a formal contract that is registered with the Comptroller’s Office. Such contracts should contain specific deliverables with due dates and related costs as well as penalties for nonperformance.
• Comply with all applicable provisions of Directive 18 when developing systems. In that regard, the Department should: employ a formal systems development methodology; engage an independent quality assurance consultant; ensure that executive management support and sponsorship and an experienced project manager are in place to oversee and coordinate the development process.