DEVELOPMENT OF A HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR MONITORING MEDICATION USE BY HOSPITAL OUT-PATIENTS

Abstract

This study was aimed at developing a health-based information system that can be used by health officials to monitor the intake of medications prescribed to out-patients by medical doctors remotely. This was achieved by identifying the various requirements of the information system, specifying the design of the information system, implementing the data storage data structure and implementing the information system. The various requirements of the information system which included the user and system requirements such as the system users alongside their various roles and system functions were elicited from the system users. The system design was specified using unified modeling languages (UML) such as the use-case for user requirements, sequence diagram for operational timing and class diagram for the data model. The database was implemented using JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) on the Mongo DB, the primary system was implemented using the hypertext markup language (HTTP), Cascading Styling Sheet (CSS) and JavaScript for the web application while Swift was used to implement the mobile application for Android OS as the secondary system. The results of the study showed that the various user and system requirements of the health information system was well captured. The results also showed that the implementation of the database provided a seamless means for the transfer and storage of data across users of the information system. The implementation of the front-end of the web and mobile application for the hospital staff and patients respectively consisted of the various functionalities as required by the system users. The study concluded that the effective functioning of the mobile app and the web service showed that the information system can be effectively used for the purpose of scheduling appointments for drug prescription and for monitoring the intake of drugs.