Formalization Of Data Flow Diagram Rules At Sydney Central Hospital

Automated Information Management System

Sydney Central Hospital is a general hospital offering generalized and specialized treatment for citizens in Australia. The hospital has been operating on a manual system and the management team decided to implement an automated information management system to be able to handle the functions of the organization. This was after several requests from the staff members who had observed and reported the inefficiency of the current manual system. The functions mostly affected by using manual system included patient registration, data management, managing appointments and production of reports. the board therefore agreed to prioritize on these areas. As a result, an automated system had to be developed with the key operations areas addressed. Later, other parts will be integrated into the system. This decision was arrived at due to the constraints in budget that made it difficult to implement one robust system all at once.

Sydney Central Hospital currently operates on a manual system. The system takes various forms from notebooks, manual records and spreadsheets. Consolidating this data is a lot of work and it is always impossible to prove the accuracy and completeness of the information. When a patient arrives, a new file is opened for them. Their data is recorded using a pen and paper. When the patient visits the doctor, he/she has a form that is filled in duplicate. As the patient checks out, the forms are collected and filed in the patient’s respective file while the patient keeps one copy.  As a result, the manual system has the following disadvantages:

1. The manual system is very tedious and time consuming to work with. Entering gathering all the data from various non-uniform records requires a lot of energy and time. There are days that are set aside just for data entry for the clerical staff and this almost cripples the operations of the hospital
2. The data recorded in the manual system suffers from inaccuracy, incorrectness and incompleteness. Errors are made when transferring the data from one source to another. Other items are left out due to human error, misreading.
3. The data is inaccurate. Most of the calculations are incorrect and the recorded information has a lot of inaccuracies. For example peoples identification numbers are mixed up, names are wrong.
4. Duplication of data. Information about patients is duplicated across various sources. For example, the laboratory will request for patient information when For example, the laboratory will request for patient information when For example, the laboratory will request for patient information when For example, the laboratory will request for patient information when For example, the laboratory will request for patient information when carrying out the tests, and the doctor will require the same information and record it again.
5. Problems in storage and retrieval of patient records. Storing the information using the manual system takes a lot of space. This is because the information is stored in files. Accessing the stored information is also a big challenge as shuffling through the thousands of files can be very difficult.
6. Safety and durability: the manual system also poses security risk to the patients records. It is very easy for any an authorized person to be able to access the information since there is no way of sealing the files. The files can also be destroyed by dampness, or eaten by moth and other insects. Additionally, it is very easy for a file to be lost or misplaced.
7. Cost- the cost of maintaining the system is very high due to the amount of stationery and employees required.

1. Reduced efforts in data entry. Since data will be entered at the first point of entry, it will not be necessary to carry out the process again in other departments
2. Data validation – the new system will validate data and ensure all the required information is recorded and in the right format.
3. Ease of search – the new system will allow the user to search data in a very convenient way and in a very short period of time.
4. Data security- since the system will be secured using a password, unauthorized people will not be able to access the information. Backup of data will also be done hence, no risk of losing information.
5. Ease of storage- because it is easy to store electronic records as opposed to the manual records, there will be efficiency in data storage. The large file cabinets will no longer required.

Sydney Central Hospital has been facing the challenges discussed above and therefore, the Board of Directors decided it was time to move to a more reliable and automated system. Management, due to budgeting issues, the size of the hospital and the urgency of the matter, the board decided to carry out the digitization of the hospital in stages. During this initial stage the system was going to focus of the patient records but in future other modules will be added. Therefore, the board expects the system to be able to carry out the following functions.

It is expected that this new Hospital management information system will be able to record patients and store their details in a database. During this process, all relevant information regarding the patient will be collected and stored for the purpose of treatment. The information will be stored in a central database  where it can be accessed by the FOS and the doctor as well.

Grid Computing Architecture

When the patient information is recorded, such information may change with time. Therefore, the system will allow the FOS to update the patient information in order to be able to keep the system up- to-date.

Some information becomes irrelevant with time and may also be incorrect. This information may clutter the system, occupy system storage space and also interfere with the doctor’s ability to access useful information about a patient.  The system will therefore allow the doctor to delete such information from the system. This will ensure that only relevant information is stored within the system.

Some patients need special sessions with the doctor. Therefore, the system will allow the front office staff to schedule such appointments with the doctor. The system will check existing doctor appointments and schedule time depending on availability.

The system will allow the staff and the doctor to be able to view all the information stored regarding the patients. All information regarding the patient can be viewed within the system including personal details, treatment history and payment details as well. This will also include the ability to search the information within the system.

The system will allow the doctors and the front desk staff to print reports regarding patients and treatments. These reports include treatment history, payment receipts and appointment schedule. The patient can also have a report of the personal details which can be printed for him/her.  

Due to the capabilities offered by modern technology, the hospital wants to utilize the system’s capacity in any possible way. Firstly, the hospital does not want to limit accessibility of the system. The board wants the system to be accessible by anyone at any place using various devices and technologies. This will be achieved using a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). SOA allows uniform communication between devices with varying hardware and software profiles. This will allow the hospital to overcome integration problems that arise due to system changes [1]. Due to the ambition and future expectations, the board agreed on using a computing model that would allow the hospital to integrate more advanced data processing capability. As a result, the hospital will utilize a grid computing architecture for the system implementing a Distributed File System. DFS will allow other machines to replicate data and hold replicas of the same in order to shield the system from single point of failure [2]. Therefore, each computer can act as an independent server and can be forwarded requests during peak request hours. Advantages of using this architecture include:

Modelling Business Activities

Increased Processing power – Grid computing will allow one computer to distribute processing to other computers within the network. Network requests can be forwarded to any computer hence increasing the response rate [3]. As a result, more time will be saved and patients will be served quickly hence increasing customer satisfaction of the hospital’s services.

Increased reliability- Unlike a Client-Server architecture, using a grid computing system with a distributed file system ensures that there is no single point of failure.  Therefore, the hospital operations would not be affected if one of the computers failed. Operations can easily be forwarded to another computer hence users would not even be able to notice that such a failure had occurred.

Cost efficiency- Grid computing enables computers to share resources hence reduce costs [4]. This is in line with the Sydney Central Hospital board objectives of cutting costs when implementing the problem.

Expandability – the Grid computing model is easy to expand since it only requires addition of computers within the network without interfering with the architecture model. This model also allows easy access to resources by other computer, which is desirable.

Modelling business activities allows capturing of the flow of events, processing rules and exceptions that may arise during processing activities[5]. This allows the presentation of sequences that contribute to successful transaction. With this in mind, the system work flow diagram is presented below.

The DFD shows the SCHPIMS’s main processes, data stores and data flows. Data flow diagram is the expanded context level diagram which is used to represent the whole system [6]

Figure 3. Data Flow Diagram

A structure chart allows the decomposition of a large software into small components [7]. Top box represents the main activity while the lower levels represent subproblems that can occur after the main task. The chart does not show the logical flow of events.

Unit test is the testing of individual software components to ensure that they execute correctly as expected [8]. This is very important in production of high software and reduction of maintenance costs [9]

The current system being tested is Sydney Central Hospital Patient Information management system. This is the system used for recording patient information and producing various reports within the hospital

The following features will be tested in order to show that they comply with the design specifications.

The function of this component is to authenticate users to ensure that they have the rights to access the major parts of the system.

Unit Testing

The module allows the users to save the information regarding a patient.

Before testing, the tests must be written in advance. Additionally, test data must be prepared for input during the test process.

The computer running the system must be connected to the network to ensure it can communicate with other devices.

All the criteria that are needed in order to declare a test as either pass or fail must be declared in advance. This is to allow the tester be able to determine the result.

Unit Test Case 1
ID	Test Cases	Input Value	Expected Output
1	Successful User Registration Procedure: Enter the  required patient details. Name: James Peter Date of Birth: 12/12/1994 Gender: male Expected Results: A messagebox with an error will be shown if any details are missing.	All the required patient details	Patient registered successfully

Table 2. Unit Test Case 2

Unit Test Case 2
2	Unsuccessful User Registration Test Procedure: Enter the  required patient details. Name: James Peter Date of Birth: – Gender: – Expected Results: A messagebox with an error will be shown if any details are missing.	Missing required patient details	Error. Enter all the required details

Unit Test Case 3
ID	Test Cases	Input Value	Expected Output
3	Successful Login Procedure: Login with a username and password Username: user Password: abc Expected Results: An error will be displayed for the wrong credentials.	Username: user Password: abc	Login successful

Unit Test Case 4
ID	Test Cases	Input Value	Expected Output
4	Unsuccessful Login Procedure: Login with an incorrect password Username: james Password: abc Expected Results: An information dialog will be displayed for wrong details	Username: james Password: abd	User does not exist. Please enter correct details

Software maintenance is the modification of the software done after development in order to correct faults that may be discovered after development of the system or to add more functionality [10]. Additionally, software maintenance may be to adapt an existing software to new operating environment such as change in operating system or hardware.

Sydney Central Hospital Patient Information system will be maintained by the development team in order to ensure that all the modules are working as required. The maintenance cost will be the responsibility of the hospital and the board will avail funds for the various maintenance activities. The main task that will be included in this activity is modification of the system. This will be done in order to increase efficiency as well as add functionality to the system. Additional components will be integrated into the system. This will increase the functions performed by the system. As a result, a new version will be released after every maintenance cycle. This is important to ensure that the system is able to execute as many operations as possible. Initially the system development focused on a few parts and other parts were postponed for the future. Additionally, bug correction will be carried out regularly in order to ensure that all incorrect operations are corrected to prevent the system from causing errors that may lead to losses of both life and resources. Finally, adaptive maintenance will be carried out to ensure that the system is able to operate with new operating systems and hardware. This is to ensure that Sydney Central Hospital Patient Information Management system does not become obsolete as a result of technological advancement. Therefore all maintenance tasks will be carried out to make sure that the system is operating correctly, new functionality is added and the system evolves with the advancement of new technology.

Conclusion

The Sydney Central Hospital Patient Management Information system has been designed to address the hospitals need from a technological point of view. The comprehensive design specification will ensure that the system developed will be the one that was intended.

References

[1] F. Fayaza, Service Oriented Architecture in Enterprise Application. 2014.

[2] P. Krzyzanowski, “Distributed File Systems,” 2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.cs.rutgers.edu/~pxk/417/notes/16-dfs.html.

[3] C. Crawford, D. Dias, A. Iyengar, M. Novaes, and L. Zhang, Commercial Applications of Grid Computing. 2004.

[4] M. Gerami, Some Basic Concepts of Grid Computing. 2018.

[5] K. Liu and T. Ong, A Modelling Approach for Handling Business Rules and Exceptions, vol. 42. 1999.

[6] R. Ibrahim and S. Yen Yen, Formalization of the Data Flow Diagram Rules for Consistency Check, vol. 1. 2010.

[7] “Structure Charts.” [Online]. Available: https://users.csc.calpoly.edu/~jdalbey/205/Lectures/structurecharts. [Accessed: 29-May-2018].

[8] J. Link and P. Fröhlich, Unit Testing in Java: How Tests Drive the Code. 2003.

[9] S. Misra, A. Adewumi, R. Maskeliunas, R. Damasevicius, and F. Cafer, Unit Testing in Global Software Development Environment. 2018.

[10] T. M. Pigoski, “Software Maintenance,” Swebok, no. May, pp. 1–16, 2001.