Clinic In The Patients Record File example essay topic

Identify "The Saints Private Clinic", has been established in London's Harley Street for 25 years. It also has another clinic in Manchester and consultancies in Southampton, Hove, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Bristol and York. Since the setting up of "The Saints Private Clinic" it has been able to save more than 100 lives in their emergency cases. In places like the Harley street, 25 years ago, there was no necessity for the government to set up a fully equipped hospital for the small population living there, but by observing the requirement for a medical asylum a few of the respected individuals decided to set up a small clinic which would contain enough medical supplies and help for minor difficulties and in cases of first aid and emergencies. But today, after 25 years even although the little town has prospered greatly and the population has increased by 3 folds, the clinic still stands proudly in its former position, covering a much larger area. The clinic which only contained 2 doctors and 5 nurses 25 years ago, now consist of a large medical team which includes surgeons, dermatologists, general practitioners, a number of nurses, physiotherapists, osteopaths and medical administrative staff who are standing by to be of assistance at all times.

The reason why I have chosen this particular clinic for my I.T. coursework is that, although the clinic has now improved a lot from what it was 25 years ago, being just a clinic and not a professionally and highly equipped hospital, the data collections and processes seemed to have also grown increasingly high and difficult to handle along with the number of citizens with medical troubles. This is why I have mainly chosen the administration section of this clinic to study and improve its workings for the benefit of the clinic as well as its patients in the near future. How the department works. And what procedures are involved. The administration department is divided into mainly 2 sectors: the emergency section and the non- emergency section.

The emergency section of course deals with the paper work related to all the emergency cases that come in. It mainly consists of 4 staff members: - the first one (receptionist) sits at the counter and attends to the urgent states of the patients. When a patient arrives, the employee asks whether he / she is a member and is carrying a health card. If the patient is not a member and does not carry a medical health card, issued by the clinic, then the employee quickly writes down the problem as well as the patient's information on 2 cards, marked with the clinic's stamp.

The information written down is mainly the patients full name, gender, date of birth, nationality, address and telephone number (if the patient is aware of his / her blood group, then in that case that piece of information is also recorded) Each of the 2 cards is of a different color: - pink and yellow; one of which is given to the patient (pink) as a temporary health card to be used for the time being and the other card (yellow) is kept as a record and stored in short-term box file, incase the patient wishes to file in as a member later. This short-term box file contains all the yellow cards issued in the emergency section for the particular day. Patients who at the end of the day wish to have a permanent health card have their yellow cards removed and filed into another large box file that contains all the permanent members of the clinic. The other left over cards are cancelled out and trashed. If the patient is a member but is not carrying a health card, he / she is still permitted to meet the doctor due to the emergency case; however his / her details are noted down and checked very carefully for security reasons. Now after the card has been issued or made familiar with, the employee then notes down the patient's difficulty and his / her name on a separate slip, which is then piled up with other slips and taken, by helpers, to the appropriate doctor, available.

On the other hand if the patient is a member and is carrying a health card then employee#2, another of the staff members, who is made responsible for the storage and maintenance of all the yellow cards, checks in if the yellow card corresponding to the patient's health card exists. Now for the reason that it would take a lot of effort for employee#2 to always go up and check the box file containing the yellow cards of the members every now and then, the employee instead keeps a log book besides him which consists of only the names and I.D. numbers of the members. So whenever a search is to be made, he just looks through the logbook and confirms the I.D. number and the name, and also writes the data down whenever a new member has joined. Now after he has confirmed that the health card is a legal one, the slip is made and sent to the doctor. But before the slips are taken away, another employee; employee#3 quickly runs a check through the list of doctors available in the doctors file, in order to get the most suitable doctor to attend the patient as quick as possible.

This also means that he / she has to check if the doctor is free and is not occupied with another patient. The doctors' files are of various types. There is one file for each day, which contains the required details of the doctors that are working that particular day; for example if the day is a Monday, there will be a special file for doctors that are present on Mondays; along with their names the file will also contain their specialties, and the specific times at when they are working. Being a health card holder, the clinic offers a 25% discount on normal check ups and medicines, and also provides free service during emergencies.

In order to issue a new health card, an individual will have to pay a fixed amount after which the same offers mentioned above will be applicable for him. The process of issuing a new health card is not very long. The patient just has his yellow card removed from the short term box file and has more information added to it such as his / her blood group and a unique I.D. number. After the yellow card has been made permanent the patient is given an official health card containing the same information as the yellow card. The clinic enables the members to give their payments after every 3 months. Health card holders have a separate file called as the 'Members' Payment File' where the details such as the name, I.D. number, address and the total payment due are recorded.

Whenever a payment is made the name is simply cancelled out. Incase where the payment has not been made for nearly 3 months then a typed letter, issued by the clinic is sent on the member's mail address along with a receipt, as a reminder. On the other hand for those who are temporary patients and do not hold health cards have to make their full payment to the administration counter on their way out of the clinic. Over here Employee #4 who is the accountant, comes into the picture, as he / she is the one responsible for the payments and all the other financial tasks that take place. Since the accountant is also responsible of maintaining bills for the patient's who are not members, he usually keeps another file named as the 'Nonmember's payment file' which consists of only temporary records of the patient which is later eradicated after the payment has been made. This file will usually include the "patient's number", "patient's name", "gender", "age"", cost of medication"", name of the doctor he / she has checked with", "total amount" and "other deductions (if any) ".

It is also very important for him to keep a good account of the dates as in times of trouble it would be the dates that will be used to prove that a particular patient has paid his bill. Since this part of the job is a bit risky as it deals with money and the economy of the clinic, sometimes a fifth employee is also put to work in order to help the accountant. In the other, non-emergency section of the administration department, the situations are rather cool and calm as all the patients who come in here have their appointments already fixed with the doctor before hand. This part of the department consists of only 3 members. Similar to the emergency section, one of the employees sit at the counter to receive the patients who have come to consult with a particular doctor at a given time.

If the patient is a health card holder the second employee, in charge of the records, makes a checking. Employee #2 along with confirming the validity of the card through his log book, also reconfirms the details of the appointment not only for the patient who comes in the clinic but also for them who wish to confirm through the phone (he / she is also liable for setting appointments for the patients who call by phone; or when told to do so by the doctor). This logbook is mainly known as the 'Appointment file' where the employee records the name of the patient, his / her I.D. number, the name of the doctor he is entitled to meet, the day and time of the appointment and the patient's telephone number. Now after confirming the card, the first employee makes sure that the doctor is free and then admits the patient to the respected doctors' office. The third worker of course handles the payment and financial tasks and his / her workings are exactly similar to Employee#4 in the emergency section. In situations where the patient is not a health card holder, no temporary health card is given to him / her but if the patient wishes to have one then the process of issuing a new health card is the same as in the emergency section.

There are no slips passed around to the doctors in this section because there is no sign of a rush and so there is no need for any sort of written reminders for the doctors who already have a copy of the list of their appointments in their office made by the staff themselves. Along with the various important files, the administration department also maintains complete details about all its staffs. For the doctors, the department keeps a file containing all the detailed information of each and every doctor under employment at the clinic. This file usually consists of the following: -.

Their full and complete names as well as their gender. Their qualifications and the subjects they have specialized in... Their experience in the medical field... Their address, nationality and telephone number... And finally their basic salary per month. For the nurses and other staff a similar file, containing their full names, addresses, nationalities, telephone numbers, experiences as well as their basic salary is also created.

And apart from all these, one of the most important files is the payroll file which contains the complete details of every staff's "name", "profession", "contact number", "wage", "allowance", "commission", "gross salary", "deductions", "total", "net salary", etc. This file is however subdivided to 3 divisions, the first division belonging to all the doctors, the second division belonging to the nurses and the third belonging to the rest of the staff. An attendance file for every employee is also very essential. A separate ledger / file is kept for this. It shows the attendance for every month.

This file consists of the "employee's complete name", which has to be checked again so that fewer mistakes are made. The file should also include the "employee's post", his "wages" and also the dates of the month and also an extra column for the "Present / Absent" record. The records of the employees at different posts are organized so that the employees performing the same jobs are recorded together as a batch. The most important files in the administration department such as the 'doctor's information file', the all 'employees payroll file', the 'employees attendance file' other such files regarding the employees of the clinic are all handled by the head of the department who is the manager. The clinic being a medical center also requires a certain number of stocks of important and essential medicines. Thus to handle such stocks and to make sure that all the necessary medicines are always available a medication file is maintained so that a record of all the medication is held.

Throughout this entire system the manual reports / summaries included are: - 1. The temporary health card slips that contain brief information of the patient. 2. On emergency cases members have their summarized data such as their full names, I.D. number, etc. extracted from their personal files for their doctors 3. From the doctor's working timetable reports such as his / her basic salary, bonuses etc are calculated.

4. From the same file a list of all the doctors available for a particular day is also produced. 5. The members' personal details file and the member's payment file are both involved in the production of the members payment report or bill which includes concise information of the member necessary for his identification and his billing conditions and results. 6.

When members have not paid their bills in time, statements or letters are created in order to remind them. 7. Temporary statement bills are also created for non-member patients. 8. Regular reports based on the staff attendance are formed and sent to the manager, who makes sure the reports are used to update the attendance files. 9.

And at the end of each day a report on the medicine stock is created which is then used to produce another report of all the necessary medicines to be reordered. Problems faced by the department As one should have noticed, the system that I have just described is entirely based on manual workings. The department is observed to consist of the most minimum amount of staff that can be employed. Therefore one of the most serious problems arises when only a single employee carries out a lot of work. In this case, because employees are working for a large clinic, they have to be trained to act fast at all times and as time is a valuable asset to any corporation, having setbacks will prove to be a very bad feature for the clinic. Searching specific information is a confusing task in this administration department; it consists of so many different types of files that not only the extraction of data for reports and summaries becomes difficult but also their maintenance grows to be complicated.

As a result the speed of making reports is very slow. Hence for the employees, to carry out a lot of work as quickly as possible, it tends to give rise to additional errors. In such situations if a name or an I.D. number of a patient is misplaced, the clinic could suffer chaos. Aside from these problems the department is seen to be having difficulty with their current storage system. As the clinic deals with a great quantity of people, storing all of their records seem to get the administration office to get highly crowded and makes the working area look lousy and stuffed; and since it is essential for a working area to be spacious and breathable such problems tend to have a psychological impact on the workers' minds.

It is also seen that the transportation of information and data through the system of the administration department is confirmed to be prone to blunders and very slow in movement. For example by the time the bunch of slips with patients' names written on them, reach the doctor, the patients are kept waiting for quite sometime till the doctor has received the indication that he has got patients waiting. These aspects have a tendency to discourage patients to visit the clinic. Possible solutions Although the clinic might decide to improve its administration system by: -. Increasing the number of staffs working so that the pressure on one staff can be reduced on him / her by having to split one's work into two. Giving each person a specific task...

Increasing the amount of storage space in the office to make storage of data easier, and safer by keeping a few employees in charge of them... And lastly by computerizing the entire manual system according to user requirements But however the best solution that would be wise to utilize, according to my study about the whole system, would be the use of computers. The use of computers would enable the department to save in earnings by having fewer employees and at the same time getting all the necessary work done by the use of a computer. A computer can make searching data easier for the user.

It also provides the user to generate reports with out the need of an employee to write and produce them by hand. Computerization would also help the department to speed up its working as it can perform calculations much faster and accurately; and an operation could be completed with in hours and at the same time be presented in a good quality form. For a system like the administration department a computerized system would be most beneficial if it were to be used along with good packages like a database package or a spreadsheet package. Some objectives of the new system With the new system the department would be able to carry out a number of tasks such as the following: -. Searching whether a patient is a legal health card holder or not can be easily done with in a matter of seconds... As few files such as the 'Doctors' details file' as well as the 'Doctors' total salary' file both consist of the Doctor's names and addresses.

With the help of the new system such details do not have to be rewritten again in separate files but instead links between files can be made so that when the Doctors' name is entered, his address along with other details will appear automatically without the need of even searching them... The user will be able to carry out a number of independent jobs all at the same time for example he could search for a particular patients' data while he is entering and storing the details of another patient in an emergency... Reports can be easily generated by extracting its data from various places. For example a patients report could be created to consist the patients information extracted from the patient's file, it could also consist of the names of the various doctors that the patient had consulted, and it could also consist of the amount of money that the patient had paid, which would be further extracted from the patients' payment files... Letters to be sent to members, who have not paid their full payments to the clinic, could be easily processed and printed in good quality... Important outputs; (1) printed outputs such as the 'employees's alary', 'members' payment bill', 'staffs' yearly attendance roll', 'patients summarized report' etc.

(2) and screen based outputs such as 'staff's basic', 'staff bonus'. Staff monthly / weekly attendance roll', 'doctors available' etc; can all be produced easily and accurately... Computerized backups offer the user further security and assurance that if incase the original data is still altered or lost, the back up could be used to regain the same information with out difficulty... The user himself can create various kinds computerized data entry forms to enter data into a table or update.

Forms can be of many types and can be. And lastly, having computers in the office will provide the department to store 'all' of their data in a very small space and in a much organized manner, with guarantees for the safety of the information Thus, if this large and respectable clinic permanently computerizes its administration department, the entire clinic would benefit in more than one ways Analyze There fore to make various tasks easier for the users using a computerized system, Microsoft has provided them with the new Microsoft Windows XP, which is a worldwide recommended Operating System (O.S. ). The Windows Operating package includes special software packages such as MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Excel, etc. But then, not all the soft wares mentioned are completely sufficient. For example, in MS Word, only a word document can be produced, as it is a word processing package. Rows and columns for tables may be made in the document, but it does not provide unlimited tabular layouts for data to be stored at large lengths.

It also fails to perform calculations. MS PowerPoint being a presentation package might offer high quality presentations and maybe be highly recommended for business in the advertising fields but it cannot be used for working out and analyzing tasks for an administration department as such as it has no functions of calculations, analyzing data, sorting out necessary information etc. Microsoft Excel on the other hand being a spreadsheet package maybe be the most comprehensive spreadsheet application available in the market; as it is able to perform large ranges of calculations and a wide array for data analysis. But this package too fails to carry out other tasks; for example like updating data into files through forms, and at the same time not allowing the current user to view the actual data source and information stored in the file and also prevents him from making any changes in them. Therefore to sustain a better standard of input, process and output operations the most convenient package according to my judgment would be the Microsoft Access application that is a highly integrated database package. This database allows the tracking of information from a variety of sources that the user has coordinated and organized himself.

Using Microsoft Access, one can manage all his information from a single database file. Within the file he can also, divide his data into separate storage containers called tables; view, add, and update table data by using online forms; find and retrieve just the data he wants by using queries; and analyze or print data in a specific layout by using reports. Thus all these features make MS Access a versatile organizational tool and an excellent one for processing as well as presenting information. To support the benefits of using this exclusive database package, it is also necessary to get the latest form of hardware available in the market.

The list of hard wares and other tools, that I have chosen for the administration department of the clinic are entirely focused upon its necessities. They are: - O The Intel Pentium Bridge processor Today the fastest microprocessor is the Pentium Bridge processor, which actually consists of two microprocessors with a 'bridge' between them which causes the C.P.U. to treat them as one processor. The reason why I'm not recommending the previous versions of the processor, for example the Pentium 3 and 4, is because as time has passed the same product has been enhanced according to the new generation. The Pentium Bridge in comparison to the 3rd and 4th versions is that it is much faster in processing and is also compact in size. Thus it is highly convenient to be used for official requirements O A CD ROM writer Nowadays firms do not vouch for CD ROMs because in it CDs can only be read from; and for the safety of top-secret information, companies prefer storing them on CDs rather than floppy disks or tapes (because they are too sensitive and can loose the information through minor accidents). One of the main reason is also that database files cannot be stored in low spaced mediums as database files usually carry a huge amount of data and information in it and thus CDs are preferred for the reason that they can store a lot of data for long periods of time.

Thus to make this service useful firms urge the use of CD ROM Writers with the help of which information can be written into a CD, erased from it, and re written again. O 256 RAM A 256 RAM is vastly commended for companies as it offers them a very speedy service along with brilliant performances in graphics, 3 D views, etc... O Laser Printer For companies to printout high quality reports a laser printer is essential for them. It has the ability for giving high quality printing, and is also the fastest printer, with a speed no other type of printer has.

O Multimedia Keyboard Such a keyboard gives the user access to all kinds of shortcuts to the desktop and other soft wares, with the help of which the user can select an icon, for example the "My Computer" icon, without being expected to use the mouse, but can select the same icon by just pressing a button on the key board which says "My Computer". This makes it easier for employees who are not used to computers, to access the desktop without any inconvenience. O 100 GB hard disk And lastly a 100 GB hard disk may also be very helpful and will satisfy the users need for sufficient storage space, to carry out and store, all kinds of important data in it. So far in the analyze section, I have only been giving general suggestions about what a computerized firm would need. Now to be more specific about the topic, I have conducted a few surveys and interviews with the staff on the administration department for further detailed information of their workings. Following is one of the interviews and a questionnaire I had carried out in order to learn the workings of the clinic Name: - Mr. Kevin Ross Designation: - Accountant (emergency section) Rubaiya- "Good morning Mr. Ross and I appreciate your willingness to help me out in this study" Mr. Ross- "A very good morning to you too, and I'm glad to be of some use".

Rubaiya- "Alright, . so lets start this interview with simple but important question, are you happy with your job?" Mr. Ross- "That sure is an important question... anyway well I'm neither happy nor sad with my job. Well I don't know if this is because I'm used to it but yes, the job does get on my nerves sometimes". Rubaiya- "How is your job carried out, and what kind of data is acquired?" Mr. Ross- "Well as you know that I am an accountant and my profession involves a variety of jobs; it does sometimes get you stressed out as you work under pressure. I have to keep track of each and every patient who comes in and out of the clinic, in the patients' record file. I'm entrusted to handle and keep records of their identifications and things like that. I also have to prepare their pay slips, make sure they are fulfilled with in the right time and if the payment is not made, it is my job to every measure to get it fulfilled.

Rua biya: - "Apart from the records and files you have mentioned do you handle any other type of files or records. ?" Mr. Ross: - "well aside form the patients' record files and the payment file, I also handle the health card member's file, the members' payment file and the medical stock file. Rubaiya: - " what kind of calculations are involved?" Mr. Ross: - " Well being an accountant, it is obvious that I am the one who carries out all the calculations for my section. For each and every file I handle and the other files such as the doctors' details files and the attendance files which are handled by the manager, the information they contain are all, either the calculated results or the information is used to carry out other forms of calculations. For files such as the doctors' details, the patients' and members' details as well as the staff attendance files-the information they contain are used to work out the staff and doctor's salaries and the patients' bills, I usually have to depend on calculators for such calculations. For example if a staff member have not been coming for a few days due to some reason then his basic payment for the entire month is reduced corresponding to the number of days he has missed work.

And in the case of the medical stock file, it is my jobs to see to it that the stocks of medicines are always above reorder level. Therefore as you can see my work mostly consists of using various files to extract and calculate various types of information". Rubaiya: - " How do you manage to keep a track on all the processes and calculations?" Mr. Ross: - " Well for each of the processes reports are generated, usually by typing them out with the help of a type writer. There are usually 2 or more copies of each generated report for security reasons". Rubaiya- "Interesting, now that sounds like a bit of a heavy task u got there, how do you go about your job? What kind of problems, if any, do you face?" Mr. Ross- "I think that no matter what job you do, everything is not always in your favor, there are always drawbacks.

Well according to me, as you already know I work in the emergency department and the word "emergency" tells you that whatever you have to do, u have to do it quickly and accurately. In my department we deal with hundreds of emergency cases as they come one after another, I mean, there is no time to even breath you have to calculate fast, search for a doctor, look up various files, et cetera. It is a very tedious job. And in such situations the insurance of having no mistakes becomes very low.

It is not every day that we are in a mood to work and there are always possibilities of some things to just slip out of your mind while you " re at your work or you can just end up pressing the wrong keys on the calculator while calculating and the worst thing is that because this is a clinic and deals with the medical situations of human lives one mistake can end up in a chaos. The work also tends to 'drag' a lot as the processes are very slow and difficult to cope up with" Rubaiya: - "Do you have any sort of suggestions for the well being of your work?" Mr. Ross: - "well I just hope the management decides on a new system of working, and im not saying this only for sake of my well being but it will also benefit the rest of staff who work here. No one is saying that work is bad, but if there is a chance of making a working situation better then we should of course go for it". Rubaiya- "Well thank you very much sir, for giving me your precious time. And I hope I am able bring in a difference for you as well as your colleagues.

Once again thank you and a very good morning". Mr. Ross- "Well thank you for having me and good morning to you too" END I, Miss Rubaiya Sultana, am carrying out this questionnaire in order to learn the working of this clinic, which I am taking into concern for my Information Technology Coursework. I am very thankful to all the employees and other people who are helping me in carrying out my research. Please fill in the following details if you have time. Name: - Designation: - Please describe in detail your daily job procedure?

(Feel free to express any suggestions.) Are you satisfied with your job? Yes No Do you think that a computerized environment would be an asset? Yes No Thank you for your time to fill up this questionnaire. What the new system will do. As you might have noticed, there are quite many problems faced by the administration department of the clinic regarding their manual processes.

Thus I have highly recommended the application of using a database package as Microsoft Access. In such a database package, you can manage all your information from a single database file. With in this one file data can further be divided into tables that will form the main sources of data storage and data extraction. For the accountant of the clinic, the use of this software will prove to be most beneficent.

He would store tables in the computer corresponding to the files he had worked on, while he was using the manual system. He will be able to perform a number of tasks some of which had proved to be too difficult to perform using the manual system. The new system can be used in the following ways according to the information it is dealing with... Members' details table.

This table would contain fields like the 'patient's name', 'I.D. number', 'Gender', 'Blood group', 'Nationality', DOB, 'Date of health card issue', 'contact number', ' Address' and the 'health card renew date'. There are no specific calculations necessary for any of the fields but there are a few conditions for valid data to be accepted. Fields like the 'patients name', 'address' and 'nationality's hould have only text entered into them. For the 'I.D. number' and 'contact number' the values to be entered have to be of number type. For ID number the input mask as well as the validation rule should be set so that entries made are not more than 7 digits. The fields referring to specific dates should have values stored in them in the DATE format with validations which do not allow null values; and lastly for the other fields like the 'Gender', the values should be either 'Male or Female'; and for 'Blood group' a validation should be set to checked so that the value is either 'A, B, AB or O'.

Using such fields with their related conditions, instead of entering the data of each member on the table and saving it each time he does so, the accountant can just create a form containing these fields and each time a member comes in he can jus fill in the form which will automatically save all the information in the table. The user is not required to save every time, and he can include as many records as possible in the tables through using forms. This form could be called as the 'members' detail forms'. From this table screen based queries such as all the records on the members whose card is going to expire with in the current month can be created. Even a couple of more queries can be made one may contain only the name of the member along with his / her contact number; in this case 2 different types of queries can be extracted, one could be the entire list containing all the records and another one can be of only a few specific records matching the criteria.

Other queries might include all the fields of the records or only selected fields like only the name, gender, address and contact number. Using the similar fields and conditions print out reports could also be produced... Member's payment table This table would contain the fields 'members name', 'I.D. number', 'Date of last visit', 'total amount', 'deduction (if any) ' and 'amount due'. The name and I.D. number of the member can be linked to the name and I.D. number fields in the "Members' details table" and so a relationship between the tables can be build so that the same member is recognized by both the tables carrying its information. Here too the validation must be set so that a 7 digit value is entered. The date field will be in the DATE format and the total amount and amount due should have its values in currency form.

The "deductions" field can have its data entry to be of number form because this might include deductions in the form of percentages. This table can have a form called the ' members' pay form' where the data according to the fields is entered and stored in the table. A query concerning the members whose payment has been due for over 3 months can be extracted. Also for these members, letters can be issued informing them to pay their payments as soon as possible. This can be done by using the feature in Access that allows the user to use certain information like the address and names of the member from a database table and merge it with a letter typed out in MS Word. In this way the same letter is printed out for all the members with in minutes and with out any genuine effort needed.

For this table more queries can me made such as the 'last visited' dates of the members, the amount they are due to etc. For a report, a list of all the new members who have just joined for the past 3 months can be printed out to calculate the increasing the demand. And a few others ca be produced maybe containing similar information as the queries but only these will have long lists of data... Doctor's details table This table would contain all the details concerning his / her information with fields like 'name', 'specialized in-', 'gender', 'medical experience', 'address', 'contact number', 'nationality', DOB, 'Date of join' and ' basic salary per month'. An OLE object can also be included in order to display the doctor's photo for identification The 'name', 'specialized in-', 'medical experience', 'address' and 'nationality' fields will have text and alphanumeric data entered in them. DOB and 'Date of join' will be in the DATE format.

The 'contact number's hould contain an integer value and the basic salary should be in the currency form. It should be kept in mind that the values for DOB, Date of join and Basic salary should not include null values. Also the 'medical experience' field must be set to only accept number values and the 'gender' field should have a validation rule to allow entries of only "male" or "female" This table will be an essential part for calculating the total salary of the doctors and to obtain pieces of personal information like a particular contact number or address. Forms can be used to either input the information of new doctors or a form can also be designed to make changes in salary etc. To enter information of doctors working in a particular specialized field can be done by inserting a SUB FORM in the form. The form should only ask the user the data for the 'specialized in-' field; the sub form will be the actual place where the rest of the information would be entered.

In this way the information of different doctors belonging to different fields are appropriately organized causing no confusion. Queries can be formed to find out all the details of a particular doctor, or specific parts of the total data like only their contact numbers or basic salary etc... Reports of all the doctors whose salaries are below a specified range can be printed out in cases when the clinic decides to give them a bonus... Staff's Details table This table contains all the personal information of the staff members such as their 'Name', 'Staff ID number', 'Address', 'Designation', 'Experience', 'Contact number', 'Basic salary', DOB, 'Age', 'Date of Join', and the 'Nationality'.

The Staff's ID should have an input mask so that only a code of 5 digits long can be entered, a validation should also be set so that a null value in it is avoided. The name, address, designation, address, basic salary, DOB, age and the date of join, all should have a validation rule so that none of their values contain a null value. All the dates in the table must be in the Date format and the contact number should contain an integer number. The staff's information is to be entered through the staff's details form, parts of which maybe viewed or printed out through queries such as, the staff's address details, the staff identification details, and even a query which will give the information of all the new staff. Detailed reports of the same sort of information but for a numerous number of employees can be made. These can be further organized according to the employees' name, designation etc...

Staff's payroll table This table consists of the fields, 'Staff I.D. number', 'over-time pay', 'Tax', 'Deductions' and 'Total salary'. The name, basic salary, designation and other personal information will be extracted from the Staff's details table. In this table the over-time and deductions should be in currency form. The 'tax's hould be added in percentage form. The staff I.D. number should be numeric values not less than 7 digits. The I.D. Number is linked with staffs' personal details through a relationship.

There should be a validation check for Total salary to avoid zero values. The basic salary usually remains the same and so it is on the over time pay that has to be inputted through the 'salary form'. The form contains all the fields in which only the I.D. number and the over time pay and deductions have to be entered. When the I.D. number is imputed first the computer already searches and finds the corresponding name to and the other details. The over time pay by default remains as it was the last time the form was used for the individual; and it is only after the user enters the deductions and the over time pay that the total salary is calculated and used to update the table. For such tables the query can either consist of the information of only a handful of people or the complete list.

However if only particular information like the staff's basic salary is required or his / her over time pay, tax and other such fields are to be checked in such cases a few more queries can me produced The staff's pay slip is usually a printed report given to the staff when paid, detailing the basic pay, the over time pay (if any), the total amount of pay, the tax and amount deducted. Backup and security strategies One of the most greatest and important requirements for a user would be concerning the security and back up strategies, which would insure the safety of all his important data and information. Such sort of facilities can be very well acquired by putting passwords on important documents and files, stored on the hard disk of the computer or the mainframe in a network. In such cases where the medical reports of the patients, the results of these reports are to be known only to the doctors or a few of the other staff who have been involved in the patients state of affairs.

These are not to be exactly kept as a secret but the information is not allowed to accessible to everyone, therefore in that case the respectable patients details can have passwords on them; such that the document can only be read and not written into, until and unless one of the doctors enters the password and makes the necessary changes. Such passwords assure the user on the strict security of the information or data. For the back up strategies, the user is given a choice to store data in a hard disk or keep a copy of it on mediums such as compact disks. (The use of CDs is essential for a portable backup storage because it is capable of storing a large amount of data and because we " re dealing with a database file here, which usually contains a huge amount of data, the use of CDs is seen to be indispensable.) On such mediums the user can take daily, weekly, monthly as well as yearly back ups as required and store them in backup folders. The user can also put passwords on such information and data. In this way the user is free from the threat of losing or corruption of his data as well as fear of outsiders tampering with undisclosed information User Feed back After some more research, I have learnt that there maybe reasons behind my suggested tables, queries and reports, where the user might not agree to the fields I have specified or the type of data entry required.

For example, for the 'Member's details', 'Staff's details' and 'doctors details' the user might feel the need of specifying the 'Age', even when the DOB is at hand to avoid unnecessary calculations. And considering the blood groups of the members in the member's details table, the grouping must be more specific and thus a validation rule should be set so that only the following values can be entered: -A, +A, -B, +B, AB, -O and +O; along with this an input mask should also allow values involving only a - or + sign following with an alphabet. The user might also have a problem with the address field as it does not specify any particular information in that case, instead of the 'address' field we could include 2 other fields such as the 'P.O. Box' field and the 'City' field. The two fields should have a validation rule so that the entry does not involve a null value. The user might also want to have all the names in all the tables to be segregated to their first and last names to ovoid confusions. The necessity of mentioning the doctor's code in the doctor's details table might be very essential.

For the Staff's details table, the user might want to include the corresponding staff persons photograph for security. Because the system is new the user might have problems in locating different tables, files, queries, etc at different places, this could be made easier to get over with by the use of the Access 'Switchboard ' management feature which enables the user to interact with all the tables or reports or whatever he wants without any problems. Such changes in the database tables, queries and reports can be made very easily, without any problems for the user. For further help the package also has a help option from which the user can solve most of his simple problems.

Testing the system. The following system that I have created is now going to be tested in order to experiment its capabilities and integrity. Various forms of data will be inputted in order to carry out the testing, some of the data will be correct and some incorrect, by entering such variety of values we can check whether the system is doing as it is supposed to do or whether it contains errors and does not display the correct message when an incorrect value is entered. Although such errors can prove to be negative aspects for the system I have created, there always remains many other ways in which the system can be improved. Aside form all the other testing methods; testing the functionality of the menus in the application is an essential test.

This is because it forms a guided path for the user to travel from one part of the database to another via easy and simple ways, like selecting options or buttons on the screen. The links by which the menus are all related to each other are very important and should be tested as many times as possible. In my case I have made thorough checks and rechecked them a number of times, because if any one link is inappropriate, the outputs produced by the system could be subjected to contain faulty information. However, up till now I have not been able to locate any major errors in my system.

Apart from such major tests, I have also carried out a wide range of calculation checks for my system. And to be double sure of the accuracy of my calculations carried out by the system I even carried out the same calculations manually myself using a calculator. I have tried my best to create satisfying reports by my system, applying suitable layouts and alignments and at the same time pertaining clarity in terms of data. The queries have been experimented with various types of criteria in order to check if the correct information is displayed.

Name: - Mrs. Patsy Woods Designation: - Accountant (non- emergency section) Rubaiya: - "What do you think about the new system?" Mr. Ross: - "Well the new system does look very impressive. The results seem to be were quick and accurate, as you had said earlier. Well I think the new system is really good although I would require some more time to learn more and get used to it". Rubaiya: - "Any suggestions or problems you or any of your colleagues are facing with the new system?" Mr. Ross: - "Well yes, I was going through the various forms u had suggested and the various kinds of functions you told me we could perform, I noticed the need of including another table for the blood group only. This is because up till now in the forms you have used option boxes for each group, because its quite a headache of designing all those option groups, we can just have another table named the 'Blood Group' table and then we could just link it with the corresponding tables using relationships.

What do you think?" Rubaiya: - "Well that's a very good idea, and by now I think you " ve learned quite a lot of how the system works. Do you have any other problem?" Mr. Ross: - "Well I'm still learning, by the time I'm finished I might have a bunch of questions to ask you later". Rubaiya: - "Any way despite a few problems, would you still prefer to use this system?" Mr. Ross: - "Yes, sure, its much better than working manually". END User Feedback Throughout the working of my project, my difficulty was discovered only in minor things.

The overall idea of setting up an improved and more sophisticated working system for the clinic has been very exciting and enthusiastic. Although the data collection and study was something very different and new, it gave me a complete new view of what computers are actually capable of. I am sure that studying the working of a computerized system is as interesting as working in it. It gives access to knowledge through a small machine. According to me the computer is the result of years of hard work and learning without which the existence of such a system would not have been possible.

On the whole, the main purpose of a computerized system is nothing but to serve people and make their jobs much easier. As I had introduced the various kinds of options and functions to the users, I have felt difficulty in minor things. On the whole the entire look and feel of the system as been proved to be highly impressive. I have achieved all by objectives such as carrying out calculations faster, and performing a wide range of activities without taking up any useful space.

Sorting, extracting and presentation of data is simply the best characteristics of the Access package. But aside from all that my main objective of bringing into recognition a powerful, reliable and accurate system has been successfully been accomplished. Minor consequences might be irritating for the user at times, for example when he / she is unable to carry out a particular task; but at the same time, in most cases, the Microsoft packages have a user friendly environment which provides the users with menu bars, data options, error messages etc. containing simple words and phrases which often encourages and informs the user of what his next step will be and what he would have to do in it. After the test run of the new system was complete, I carried out an interview with the same Accountant Mr. Kevin Ross who belonged to the emergency section; to get a clear view of the difference the new system had brought in his work and also to inquire about the difficulties they are facing. Name: - Mr. Kevin Ross Designation: - Accountant (Emergency sector) Rubaiya: - "How are you finding your job now?" Mr. Ross: - "Well the new system does look very impressive.

I've tried out all the functions necessary and have also experimented on the system using a small amount of data, just for the time being. The results were quick and accurate as you had said earlier, and I hardly even had to work out anything. Rubaiya: - "Any suggestions or problems you or any of your colleagues are facing with the new system?" Mr. Ross: - "Yes, actually there is a problem, as I said a little while ago, along with me a few of my other colleagues are also not familiar with a computerized system. This is actually because most of them including me have been working here for more than ten years at least. The access package according to most of us is rather confusing and might take a long time since we fluently learn how to use the system to its full efficiency. I have noticed that although we can do various types of things, in them, to perform the most simple operations, and that kind of get very hectic.

And apart from this I don't think that most of the new employees would be facing any problem, as nowadays computers have become very common to youngsters and most of the candidates pass out of college with at least a brief knowledge of computers, so I don't think it's a very big problem for most of them". Rubaiya: - "And anything else?" Mr. Ross: - "Well I have noticed that because Access is a vast package it is not possible to store simple backups on floppy disks. So now in addition to the problem we " re facing of getting used to the access package we also have to learn how to handle CDs and CD ROMs. So what I'm actually trying to say is that even simply to prepare a backup is so confusing.

Ii would be much better if the backup strategies could be much simpler". Rubaiya: - "Can you comment on the new system comparing it with earlier manual system?" Mr. Ross: - "It is obvious that the new system is much better and efficient than the manual system in more then one way. It is faster and can perform a wide range of functions. The security systems, verification methods are all pretty convincing and naturally!

If the whole worlds progressing ahead with the help of computers, why shouldn't we?" END As u can notice from the above interview that the employee was overall satisfied by the new computerized system except for a few drawbacks. In case of the first problem considering the employees who are not used to the system, I have suggested the clinic to carry out a small computer-training course for the ones who need it. This course will be simple as well as useful for them as computers are the latest and 'in-demand' this century. Even such courses might not be so necessary as there is already a HELP option provided in each and every package, program or software.

Still, the managing director of The Saints Private Clinic was very helpful and also agreed on making the course free for its employees. Now considering the second problem about making backups on CDs, what I would suggest is, the clinic can purchase a high tech CD Rom Writers and deal with re-writable CDs so that they can be used over and over again. It is a misfortune that the back up procedure cannot be made simpler but good training and a frequent practice will make such procedures easier for the user Thus in these ways such problems may be solved. A Further scope of improving: - The Administration section might be one of the most important sectors in a clinic, but it still remains a part of a massive system, which drives enormous amounts data and information in a rather complex circle. One of the main aims for the computerization of the administration department is so that it can carry out all the jobs accurately and quickly. Although there is a guarantee that all the information and data that are inputted, stored and outputted by the adminstration department is accurate, safe and to most measures at least satisfactory, the assurance of the same data to being of 'good quality' cannot be confirmed once it leaves the department, as it is only the department which is computerized and not the entire system.

Thus even after the computerization of the administration department, it would be incorrect to state that this would be an advantage to speed up the 'entire's ystem. Therefore the further best scope of improving the working of the entire clinic would be the massive computerization of the whole system, with the computers in each of the sectors of the clinic being specialized according to its user requirements. There fore I conclude that aside for the minor personal problems of the users, Microsoft Access can be officially stated to be a very efficient and reliable package..