Design Considerations

Requirements Gathering

The system must allow a doctor to review data, create notes and have access to medical information such as demographics, tests, labs, to-do lists, medications and notes.
The system must allow the user access to drug information regarding indications, starting dosages, contraindications, drug interactions, and adverse drug reactions.
The system must allow the sharing of information with other users. For example, supporting handovers between doctors during shift changes.
The system must allow billing and the writing of prescriptions electronically
The system must integrate and interface directly with the GI unit’s database of patient records and other relevant databases.
1. The system should be able to receive the latest medical news, therapeutic updates, and medical journal information
The system must be able to synchronize information on the medical unit PC system and also on home PC systems.
The system must be able to support junior doctors in their work with access to training and reference material.
The PDA system will need to utilise special document reading programmes that will allow doctors immediate access to a vast library of news, medical texts and references.
The system must be able to organise a doctor’s tasks and operations during a shift.
The system must include a scientific calculator and a daily calendar to improve efficiency and organisation of operations.

The PDA should be compact, light and portable so that it can be carried in a lab coat pocket or attached in some way to the doctor.

The PDA must allow handwriting recognition so doctor’s can quickly scroll down notes and can transfer them to other PDA’s in typed text.
The PDA interface design must operate simple navigation tools along with other shortcuts to allow speed of data entry into the PDA.
The terms used in the PDA system should be clear, concise and easy to understand.
The required training of the unit users and new users of the PDA system must be less than 2 hours.
Online help and assistance while using the PDA system must be available to the users.
The PDA must include a lightweight, collapsible, medium-sized keyboard that allow for significantly faster data entry and make it more practical when a doctor is required to enter large amounts of data into the PDA.

The PDA’s must be able to be used in networked environments using a wireless-LAN (Local Area Network) or wireless-PAN (Personal Area Network) therefore providing constant access to patient data from anywhere in clinic or in the field.
The PDA must allow 24-hour usage through extended battery life with spare batteries kept for recharging and replacing.
The PDA system must incorporate a safe mode for fast boot up and queue request for available signal when doctor is located in network dead spots.
The PDA should allow connection to a laptop or desk computer. This may prove valuable for inputting or viewing long scrolls of information or printing of documents.

The system must be robust. Slight PDA system crash (in which the recovery time is less than 2 hours) must not occur more than 2 times per month; serious system crash (in which the recovery time may longer than 24 hours) must not occur more than twice in three months in testing period, and must not be more than twice per year in normal working period after testing.
The average response time of the PDA system must be less than 5 seconds when accessed from the unit’s local area network.
The system must allow a regular auto-update of software to allow user’s continuous access to accurate and current clinical patient/medical information.
The PDA must have a high performance search capability to ensure all requested information is retrieved from the database and this is done quickly and efficiently.

The PDA system must enable full and secure database administration functionality over the Internet. The data transmission must be protected from Internet sniffers.
The system must have password access so that unauthorized access to the PDA is not possible.