Strathmore University

‘We love to read’

Bachelor of Business Information Technology

(Faculty of Information Technology)

Research Methodology

Assignment 1

December 5th , 2010

MARK MAKANGA KIILU

Reg. No. 52508
BBIT 3
Kenyatta Hospital Diagnostics System

Background

One of the oldest hospitals in Kenya founded in 1901 and is also one of the largest in
the country with a bed capacity of about 1800. it generally has less than 1 doctor for every
10 patients. They use a paper filing and recording system to store patient’s history.
Medicine and drugs are brought in by demand or availability of government/ NGO funding
and pharmaceutical companies wishing to market their goods. Payment is mostly in cash.

Problem statement

Every year there are more than 100 cases of incorrect diagnosis, neglect or
ignorance due to an overwhelming number of patients. Doctors find it difficult to specialize
with the vast number of diseases and cases presented to them. They also prescribe
medicine according to which pharmaceutical companies endorsed them and depending on
the patient’s financial status. Therefore inadequate and possibly dangerous diagnosis is
done. Nearly 10% of these cases lead to near fatal experiences.

The paper filing system is also slow and tedious. This means that doctors very rarely
get patient’s history records and therefore don’t refer.

Solution

To provide an advanced expert diagnostics system. The system should be able to get
input of patient’s symptoms and give an accurate diagnosis. It should also be able to acquire
and keep track of patient’s medical history and use this to perform an accurate diagnosis.
The system would use expert medical data provided by experienced doctors, scientists and
research facilities to provide a prescription.

The system would also suggest the appropriate medicine. Therefore it would
perform inventory control and give reports on which are the most successful medicines and
order more from suppliers. It would also give prices and recommend cheaper versions and
show side effects.