Plan, build, pilot, then evaluate.
The final project plan organizes AfterNest into four phases: Planning, Build-Up, Implementation, and Closeout. The Implementation Phase includes a six-month soft-launch pilot at one hospital with a limited patient group.
Planning
Conduct needs assessment, hospital and sponsor outreach, market research, board recruitment, and SMART-goal development. The paper identifies UCSF Health, California Pacific Medical Center, and Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center as outreach targets, with UCSF Health as the first priority for the pilot.
Build-Up
Recruit the leadership and administrative team, hold a team launch, establish norms and a team charter, develop volunteer and patient-enrollment SOPs, initiate the website and administrative systems, and finalize the schedule and budget.
Implementation: six-month pilot
Secure startup funding, recruit and train Recovery Navigators, and soft launch at one hospital with a limited number of patients. Track KPIs and feedback, identify pain points and bottlenecks, and refine SOPs throughout the six-month pilot.
Hard-launch decision
Address the issues identified during the pilot before moving to a larger launch. Expansion to additional hospitals should follow only if the initial workflow, volunteer model, funding, and operating procedures are working as intended.
Closeout & continuous improvement
Evaluate the rollout, document lessons learned, update SOPs, and review the organization’s effectiveness. The paper proposes a broader first-year review after the hard launch and continued assessment before further expansion across San Francisco, the Bay Area, and beyond.
What must be true before moving forward.
Before recruitment
Leadership structure, volunteer roles, screening requirements, training expectations, supervision, and operating procedures are defined.
Before patient contact
Hospital referral and opt-in workflow, practical-support scope, escalation pathway, privacy expectations, and core systems are ready.
Before expansion
The six-month pilot has identified and addressed major issues, KPIs and feedback have been reviewed, and the team has a clear basis for the next phase.