Management Information System Assignment

Jo-anne Horkins (Student Nr: 117665)

4/18/2011

CONTENTS

Question 1: Highlight the challenges faced by the Metropolitan Hospital that is also common to many Southern African Business Enterprises..........................................................................................................................................3

Question 2: Identify and describe the hardware, software, connectivity and security requirements For Milley’s “fantasy medical institution”..............................................................................................................................................7

Question 3: Explain how the TMMI Team could use the structured system developed lifecycle (SDLC) approach to attain their goal..............................................................................................................................................................12

Question 4.1: Explain how TIMM Could solve the problems experienced by each department as specified by Grantt in her preliminary investigation..........................................................................................................17

4.2 Discuss the additional benefits that each department and the hospital as a whole could experience by the implementation of the proposed integrated medical management system...........................................21

Bibliography:................................................................................................................................................................................................. 22

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QUESTION 1: HIGHLIGHT THE CHALLENGES FACED BY THE METROPOLITAN HOSPITAL THAT IS ALSO COMMON TO MANY SOUTHERN AFRICAN BUSINESS ENTERPRISES.

The Metropolitan Hospital lacks Operational excellence.

Information systems and technologies are some of the most important tools available to managers for

achieving higher levels of efficiency and productivity in business operations. – MIS 2011 Study guide

Operational excellence is a very straight forward concept: Put simply, it means doing things well across a

company’s operations – effectively across the entire supply chain – in a way that give a company a

competitive advantage in the market place. (Haddock, R. et al. [2006] )

As the case study indicates The Metropolitan hospital lacks integrated systems that effectively (and

efficiently) links all department and client information together. This causes a lot of frustration for the

medical and administrative staff that could use their time more efficiently by attending to patients needs.

New product, service and business model

Information systems and technologies are a major enabling tool for firms to create new products

and services, as well as entirely new business models. A business Model describes how a company

produces, delivers and sells a product or service to create wealth.

The Metropolitan hospital deciding to develop the Totally Integrated Medical Management

Information System (TIMM IS) will overall improve the service levels at which they are currently

operating from, as well as create room for new products and technologies to assist the

Metropolitan Hospital staff with basic services such as connecting a patient onto a system that can

accurately record blood pressure automatically as identified in the case study.

Customer and Supplier Intimacy

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Customer intimacy is a concept embraced by most orginisations today. When a business really

knows its customers, and serves them well the way they want to be served, the customers

generally respond by returning and purchasing more. The result is increased revenues and profits.

As per the case study not knowing that the client had been allergic to standby medication, should

an incident occur it would not only have fatal repercussion but serious brand reputation as a whole

for the orginisation.

Having a complete medical history such as all treatments, every prescription and patient

interactions available on hand electronically gives more physicians the necessary information to

equip them in important decision making on treating / patients payment information. It gives

patients the peace of mind that they are in good hands, as well as brings us to the next point,

improved decision making.

Improved Decision Making

Information systems and technologies have made it possible for managers to use real-time data

from the marketplace when making decisions.

As per the case study Mills would not have had the challenge of not being able to read medical

charts containing vital patient information not legible, accurate and-up-to date.

The requirement to connect a patient on a system and record blood pressure automatically;

Staff being able to check up on a patients status electronically at any time by accessing this on a

computer system;

A system to connect IV’s to a computer system that automatically record the level of dispensed

medication real time;

The above mentioned will relieve the challenges faced in the hospital, overall assisting with

improved decision making for hospital staff, caring for better for their patients.

Competitive Advantage

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Doing things better than your competitors, charging less for the superior products, and responding

to customers and supplier in real time all add up to higher sales and higher profits that your

competitors cannot match.

In Dr Milley’s ideal hospital having a fully integrated system in place as well as services such as

automated scheduling of surgery and operating rooms whereby staff are able to see what is

available to book would put the Metropolitan hospital a step closer to being not only recognized

but as leading and superior in its industry.

In conjunction with an automated booking system, and world class technology having a fully

integrated system where information is easily accessible for nursing staff will give the

Metropolitan Hospital the competitive advantage they and every orginisation need.

Survival

In this new world economy, resources and markets have ceased to have the indelible national

identity of the past. With the changes in businesses today, information technology (IT) plays a vital

role in business survival.  Information has become one of the main assets in information era. The

efficient use of information is significant in determining the success of a certain organisation.

Making awareness of information value and the ability to manage information organisation-wide

will have great impact on organisation progress results.

Firms also invest in information systems and technologies because they are necessities of doing

business. Information systems are not a luxury. In most business, information systems and

technology are the core to survival.

As the study guide explains, companies have a great need to observe what they competitor are

doing constantly striving to improve. It is imperative to compete with their competitors by either

producing similar technologies and services or inventing better new and improved technologies.

This is not only to stay ahead and relevant in a ever changing world but for ultimate survival.

Human Resources

Having these systems in place will, to an extent, reduce the challenges faced in the Metropolitan

hospital. Even though the suggest changes are technological, i.e. systems and computers one of

the biggest assets of any organization is its people, human resources.

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Extensive employee engagement will need to be included in this process to ensure that the systems

put in place work; correct and enhance where flaws or improvements needed.

Compliance

Compliance challenges such as Record management and Enterprise content management systems

will extensively need to be addressed and implemented. As well as ensure adherence to the

company’s compliance policy and legislations governing business orginasiations.

With record management too, disaster recovery systems would need to be in place to ensure

business continuity in the event of disaster i.e. the building burned down to the ground, main frame

and servers down, unplanned power outages and etc. Protecting data, finance, buildings,

communications, equipment, personnel, customer service, knowledge assets and so on.

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QUESTION 2: IDENTIFY AND DESCRIBE THE HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, CONNECTIVITY AND SECURITY REQUIREMENTS FOR MILLEY’S “FANTASY MEDICAL INSTITUTION”

Managers and business firms invest in information technology and systems because they provide real

economic value to the business. The decision to build or maintain an information system assumes that

the returns on this investment will be superior to other investments in building, machines or other assets.

These superior returns will be expressed as increase in productivity, increase in revenue (which will

increase the firms stock market value) or perhaps superior long-term strategic positioning of the firm in

certain markets (which produces superior revenues in the future).

From a business perspective, information systems are part of a series of value-adding activities for

acquiring, transforming, and distributing information to enable managers in improved decision making

in the execution of a business processes.

The objective in developing the TMMI IS for Metropolitan Hospital assumes that the return on

investment will be expressed as:

Increased productivity (quick and easy access to patient information)

Enhanced Organisational performance (Quick and efficient and lifesaving service)

Increased revenue (Reputation of being a world –class medical centre, attracting more patients)

As illustrated in figure 1. The business information value chain adds value to a business by:

Enabling managers with improved decision making;

Encourages efficient processes;

Lead to increase in profitability

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Figure 1: Business Information Value Chain

Information Technology infrastructures today are composed of seven major components:

Internet Platforms – Apache, Microsoft IIS, .NET, UNIX, Cisco, Java

Computer Hardware Platforms – Dell, IBM, Sun, HP, Apple, Linux machines

Operating System Platforms – Microsoft Window, UNIX, Linux, Mac OS X

Enterprise Software Applications – (including middleware), SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft Microsoft,

BEA

Networking/ Telecommunications – Microsoft Server, Linux, Novell, Cisco, Lucent, Nortel,

MCI, AT&T, Verizon

Consultants and System Integrators – IBM / KPMG, EDS, Accenture

Data Management and Storage – IBM DB2, Oracle, SQL Server, Sybase, MySQL, EMC

Systems

Dr Dick Milly’s fantasy medical institution will need an IT Infrastucture Ecosystem.

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Figure 2: The IT Infrastructure EcoSytem (Source: http://www.digital-ecosystems.org/doc/papers/d5-intro-for-the-press.pdf)

There are seven major components that must be coordinated to provide the firm with a coherent

IT infrastructure.

The illustration above Fig 2 indicates the major technologies and suppliers for each component.

Dr Milleys fantasy medical institution requirements are based on the IT infrastructure Ecosystem.

Therefore the following will be needed:

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Requirements Description Vendors / identified

Companies

Computer hardware

Platforms

Client machines

Desktop PC’s

Mobile computing devices

(to view the availability of

operating rooms and being

able to book them)

IBM / Dell

Operating system

platforms

Operating systems manage

the resource and activities

on the computer .

Windows XP /

Windows 2000

Enterprise and

other IT Software

applications

Operating systems such as

Microsoft windows

operating systems used in

computer hardware /

applications embedded on

hand held devices

Microsoft

Linux

Database

management and

storage

Systems and devises used

to back up data

Networks that connect

multiple storage devises

on a separate high-speed

network dedicated to

storage.

Seacom / Linux

Oracle Microsoft

SQL server

Networking and

telecommunication

s equipment and

services

Telecommunications

platforms provide voice

and data connectivity /

wide area networking and

internet access.

Service providers :

Cisco / Telkom/

Nortel / Juniper

networks

Internet platforms Software applications

Internet platforms overlap

with firms general

Microsoft

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network infrastructure .

Web hosting service

maintains a large Web

Server, or series of servers

to provide fee-paying

subscribers with space to

maintain they Web sites.

Consulting service

and system

integrators

Infrastructure that

integrates different

systems ensuring new

elements of infrastructure

work with one another

Legacy Systems

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QUESTION 3: EXPLAIN HOW THE TMMI TEAM COULD USE THE STRUCTURED SYSTEM DEVELOPED LIFECYCLE (SDLC) APPROACH TO ATTAIN THEIR GOAL.

According to Tim Trott (http://sharpertutorials.com/system-development-life-cycles-sdlc/ ), he details

various software engineering methodologies used by software engineers when developing system such as

what is required by the TMMI Team. One such methodology is the Systems Development Life Cycle

(SDLC).

The SDLC is a conceptual model used in project management that describes that stages involved in an

information system development project, from an initial feasibility study through maintenance of the

completed application. SDLC is also an abbreviation for Synchronous Data Link Control.

Life cycle models describe the interrelationships between software development phases. The common life

cycle models are:

Spiral Model

Waterfall Model

Throwaway Prototyping Model

Evolutionary Prototyping Model

Incremental/Iterative Development & Reusable Software Model

Because the life cycle steps are described in very general terms, the models are adaptable and their

implementation details will vary among different organizations. The spiral model is the most general.

Most life cycle models can in fact be derived as special instances of the spiral model. Organizations may

mix and match different life cycle models to develop a model more tailored to their products and

capabilities.

Various SDLC methodologies have been developed to guide the processes involved, including the

waterfall model (which was the original SDLC method).

The TMMI team will follow the SDLC methodology in the following steps:

1. Members needed to evaluate existing systems and identify deficiencies. All members have to

investigate to gain and understand how their own systems and department operate. This can be

done by interviewing users of the system and consulting with support personnel.

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2. The team has to define the new system requirements. In particular, the deficiencies in the

existing system mentioned by Dr Milley’s experience must be addressed with specific proposals

for improvement . Dr Grantts knowledge, preliminary information and suggestion will add value

as she has first hand experience form the France project she headed.

3. The proposed system is designed by the TMMI team. Plans are laid out concerning the physical

construction, hardware, operating systems, programming, communications, and security issues.

A decision need to made as to what systems will be kept, which will be replaced and how the

integration of the new and old system will take place.

4. The new system is developed. The new components and programs must be obtained and

installed. Users of the system must be trained in its use, and all aspects of performance must be

tested. If necessary, adjustments must be made at this stage.

5. The system is put into use. This can be done in various ways. The new system can phased in,

according to application or location, and the old system gradually replaced. In some cases, it

may be more cost-effective to shut down the old system and implement the new system all at

once.

6. Once the new system is up and running for a while, it should be exhaustively evaluated.

Maintenance must be kept up rigorously at all times. Users of the system should be kept up-to-

date concerning the latest modifications and procedures.

7. By following the mentioned steps the TMMI IS team will be closer in attaining their goal.

The system development life cycle (SDLC) follows a project through from the initial idea to the point

where it is a functional system. It is a core part of the methodology that is used when defining a project.

Each step in a systems lifecycle can be broken down into many smaller sub-steps or processes. Each stage

follows logically after the previous, but it is an oversimplification to say that one stage is a distinct step

after another. It is important to understand that the system lifecycle is iterative as well as the stages

involved along the way.

Different methodologies will have different variations of this lifecycle model. A common iterative

lifecycle is show in the diagram below and each stage is described after the diagram.

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Figure 3: System Development Life Cycle (Trott, 2005-2011)

Here’s a brief description of each these steps as detailed in the diagram above:

Initial Idea

All projects must start with an initial idea. Usually this consists of a brief definition on what is the project

all about, what is its purpose and what the project aims to accomplish. How will the success of the project

be measured?

Feasibility Study

Expanding on the Initial Idea, the Feasibility Study involves drawing up the terms of reference, which

state the objectives and scope of the project, how long it should take and how the results should be

presented. The terms of reference are usually drawn up by senior management. The feasibility study must

determine if development of the project is justified in terms of economic and organisational terms.

The main role of the analyst in the feasibility study is to analyse the current system at a high level. Data

Flow Diagrams (DFD) are used to describe how the current system performs and to illustrate known

problems.

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Feasibility studies are not carried out for all projects, and smaller projects omit this stage.

Requirements Analysis

The Requirements Analysis stage defines a series of possible solutions to the problem and presents them

to management in terms of business options. These options may be supported by technical documents

such as high-level DFD's, Logical Data Models (LDM) and Work Practise Models. The requirements

analysis report must also contain financial and risk assessments to be presented and supported by outline

implementation descriptions.

The steps involved within the requirements analysis will define the flow of data in the system, deriving

system functions and to develop user role specifications, prototypes and process specifications.

Systems Analysis and Specification

The Systems Analysis stage is an extension to the feasibility study. If the project has a feasibility study

then the bulk of the work has already been done. A terms of reference will also be required if one does not

exist. The output from this stage is the System Specification which gives precise details of what the new

system is required to do, but does not go into how it does it. It provides a logical model of the new system.

Once agreed, the specification is the basis for the work done by the system designers.

Systems Design

This stage deals with how the requirements of the new system are carried out (how the logical model is

implemented as a physical system). The system designer will develop a number of design options and test

them against the requirements specification and design criteria. The one that comes closest to the design

brief with the most cost effective use of equipment and personnel is selected and broken down into more

detailed specs.

Because of this the design stage has two phases: produce outline designs based on requirements

specification with input from users and the detailed designs produced from the selected design.

Development

This is the only stage in the development where program code is written. The designs and specifications

provide enough detail for the programmer to code and test individual modules. Each unit is tested to

ensure that it meets the requirements of the specification.

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Testing

Within the life cycle there are various levels of testing as well as the unit testing performed in the

development stage.

Link testing ensures that programs work together, e.g. the data passed from one program to another has

the correct format.

System testing ensures that the system as a whole performs according to the design specification.

Recovery procedures must be tested as well as normal operation procedures.

Finally user acceptance testing is carried out by the users in stages to ensure that the system is usable.

Any modifications are passed back to the design stage where changes are made as necessary and passed to the development team.

Implementation

When the testing has been carried out to the users satisfaction the system, or parts of it, are put live. The

"put live" phase can also be known as implementation, cut over or production. This is when the users start

using the system to carry out their business activities.

There are two main approaches to implementation a project:

Phased: Stand-alone subsets of the system are implemented over a period of time.

Big Bang: The whole system is put live in one go.

Some systems will require special programs or tasks to convert existing data to a format usable by the new

system. The process of changing data from the old system to the new is called conversion.

Maintenance and Review

Once the system is put into place, maintenance is required to ensure satisfactory operation.

Maintenance should include regular reviews and evaluations to ensure that it is achieving its objectives,

identify any aspects that can be improved or any operational problems. Maintenance falls into two

categories, implementation of new features or elimination of errors. (Trott, 2005-2011)

PLEASE COMPLETE YOUR CLOSING STATEMENT HERE AS TO WHICH APPROACH

METROPOLITAN HOSPITAL SHOULD TAKE.

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QUESTION 4.1: EXPLAIN HOW TIMM COULD SOLVE THE PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED BY EACH DEPARTMENT AS SPECIFIED BY GRANTT IN HER PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION.

The premise that an information system is there to empower its users is true. Specifically, a database

simply provides data, but an information system is all about providing the best information the user needs

to do their task more effectively. It also takes into account that different users doing their own specific

tasks may need to see their information presented in differing ways. The benefits of an information system

follow when the user can quickly access, understand and respond correctly to that information.

Drazen, et, al., (1980) explain that in organisations like hospitals the discrete impact of HIS is most

predictable and measurable at the level of the individual.

Medical Department:

The TIMM system in the medical department will no longer only have medical data available

exclusively on paper. In fact with every room having a computer as suggested by Dr Milley, paper

files will no longer be needed as details can be captured and recorded directly from the machines

onto the system.Up-to-date information can be viewed by hospital staff at any given time.

This mitigates the risk of loosing / misplacing the file / not having the file readily available when a

patients is brought in for treatment.

This too diminishes the chances of opening duplicate files, Hospital staff will be able to view all,

patient interaction with nurses and doctors and complete medical history to ensure vital decisions

making is not delayed or result in fatal mishaps.

Claims:

With the TIMM system the Claims department will automatically receive real time updates as soon

as the medical department would capture dates of treatment received.

Charges for treatments, status of third party claims relating to treatments automatically populates

into the update existing data base. The claims department will now be able to have accurate

information to deal with client queries efficiently and timely.

Accounting:

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There will be very little changes to the accounting department as this is the one department that has

the best information system in the form of the software package used prior to TIMM IS. With the

introduction of TIMM IS; this allows for source documents such as invoices, purchase orders,

employee expense reports, time cards for payroll input and asset acquisition forms-must all find

their way from the originator to the accounting department. 

In addition, the hospitals accounts department will have improved the functionality by increasing

the timeliness of accounting information. By improving the timeliness of financial information,

accountants can prepare reports and operations analyses that give management an accurate picture

of current operations.

Accuracy is also improved by limiting the number of accountants that have access to financial

information. Less access by accountants ensures that financial information is adjusted only by

qualified supervisors.

Quicker processing times for individual transactions has also lessened the amount of time needed

to close out each accounting period. Month- or year-end closing periods can be especially taxing

on accounting departments, resulting in longer hours and higher labour expense. Shortening this

time period aids hospitals in cost control, which increases overall efficiency of the hospital.

Purchasing:

Purchasing department having been part of the accounting department, they would experience

similar benefits.

With the entire system being fully integrated into each departments needs; there will be more

visibility into supplier management as well as transparency; as being a government hospital, this

will eliminate fears of fraudulent and mismanagement activities, even in purchasing department.

Development:

Having the development department integrated will also experience benefits of improved visibility

into the whole process of managing donations from donors. It will also create for a good quality

Customer Relationship Management Process; ensuring that there is proper management of all

donors (inside and outside of the hospital).

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Finance:

Automating the finance and accounting system ensures accurate calculation and analyses for the

organization. The automated finance and accounting system will typically help in the following:

Monitoring all expense and income accounts of the organization

Generating a summarized report on various accounts of the organizational and departmental level.

Generating financial statements such as profit & loss account and balance sheet.

Grouping vendors and customers under various categories as per the requirement of the organization.

Managing tax related transactions and applying the same as per the government regulations.

Human Resources:

Human resource management function involves the recruitment, placement, evaluation, compensation

and development of the employees of an organization. The benefits of having the hospitals HRM

processes integrated can include the following:

produce pay checks and payroll reports;

maintain personnel records;

pursue Talent Management

Online performance reviews between managers and subordinates (this wasn’t used before) 

analyzing and better managing personnel usage at the hospital

Online recruiting, which is one of the primary methods that can be employed by HR departments

to garner potential candidates for available positions within and outside the hospital 

Recruiting through online recruiting sites or publications that market to both recruiters and

applicants is another benefit.

Legal:

The legal departments staff will have their client-server database integrated into the TIMM IS;

which will allow for visibility into each departments activities. If a law-suite were to arise from

patients/medical aids through non-payment or filing a suit for whatever reason, then the full history

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of the specific patient is available to the legal team which will give them more opportunity to

protect the hospital and its related staff from a legal stand point.

In a hospitals setting, it is difficult to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the system. In hospitals a

number of different factors can influence the contribution of a HIS system to the efficient running of the

services that it provided. This means that the impact can only be measured by assessing a range of

individual activities carried out in each section, which are then added up in a collective process to form the

whole impact on the outcomes measured.

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4.2 DISCUSS THE ADDITIONAL BENEFITS THAT EACH DEPARTMENT AND THE HOSPITAL AS A WHOLE COULD EXPERIENCE BY THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROPOSED INTEGRATED MEDICAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Insert 4.2’s answer here!!!!

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