CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
Rationale of the study
Online healthcare services offer an efficient way to ease hospital demand, and in recent
years, their popularity among patients has risen dramatically. The efficacy of such channels
depends on whether, through numerous online consultations, appropriate connections occur
between patients and physicians. Nonetheless, the trust of online patients in doctors and switching
costs are also lower compared to face-to-face consultations. Thus, after the very first consultation,
many of them (in particular those with chronic diseases) could terminate their cases, jeopardizing
the effectiveness of the online platforms. In addition, adopting a perspective of trust creation to
investigate how the online consultation behaviors of doctors can minimize the switching of
doctors by patients and how they increase patient satisfaction, providing insights to make such
healthcare platforms more efficient and successful (Y. Yang, 2019).

It was supported also by (Mendoza et al., 2018) that the happiness and comfort of
patients are the goals of each clinic and hospital. However, several of the patients have
encountered long waiting times with the standard appointment method, which creates frustration.
It may be a nightmare and very difficult to get professional health advice, especially when a
hospital is far away from you, the health issue is minor, or you don’t have time to visit a hospital
and waste long hours in a queue before physically seeing a doctor (Consultation, 2018). Some
people are having a hard time finding a doctor to consult, and sometimes there will be situations
where the doctors are not available in the hospitals and clinics. And especially today, the
uncertain and contagious behavior of CoVID-19 has instilled serious fear among society. People
are apprehensive about the consequences of getting in touch with this lethal virus. Experts believe
that even after the eradication of the virus from the earth, people will remain doubtful for a longer
period. Hence, they would be in favor of scheduling a virtual consultation with their doctors
(Virtual Telemedicine Consultation, 2020).

Furthermore, the Philippine Department of Health (DOH) recently launched telemedicine

services to all residents of Metro Manila. Telemedicine, in its literal sense, refers, to the use of
telecommunications technologies, to the remote consultation, diagnosis, and treatment that
healthcare providers provide their patients. It's like going to your doctor's appointment every
month, except it's done by SMS, landline and smartphone calls, and digital channels like audio
and video conferencing apps from the comfort of your home (Sta Ana, 2020).

However, we noted reports in the literature of a lack of transparency and confusion in the
choice of telemedicine platforms such as lack of medical records and safe prescribing. We,
therefore, sought to summarize the key characteristics of several major telemedicine platforms.
We recognized a lack of clarity regarding the legal status of performing remote consultations and
reviewed advice from medico-legal sources (“The Rules for Online Clinical Engagement in the
COVID Era,” 2020)

Thus, the researcher decided to develop DoKonsulta: A web-based online doctor

appointment and consultation system. It aims to connect patients and doctors without leaving
their homes to consult health problems and to provide immediate medical needs. 
 DoKonsulta offers a convenient way to consult health issues with licensed doctors by
virtual consultation through live chat and video call features. A virtual consultation allows both
doctors and patients to get connected without making many efforts. The live chat feature helps
the patients to chat with qualified and registered doctors anytime and anywhere. Patients may also
upload photos or any proof of the health issues to enable healthcare professionals to understand
any of the patient’s health conditions. Video consultation allows the doctor to look, listen,
examine symptoms, and ask any questions to provide an effective treatment plan without the
patient having to leave their home. 

Additionally, the doctor can send an electronic prescription (E-prescription) and

electronic medical certificate (E-medical certificate) after the consultation. The patients can also
set an appointment online with the doctor for a face-to-face consultation. Patients can select a
preferred doctor and secure an appointment to meet a doctor for consultation at a particular date
and time. And with this way, it will take a short time for the patients to look and search for a
doctor.

Objectives of the study

General Objective
The main objective of this study is to develop DoKonsulta: “A web-based online doctor
appointment and consultation system”.
Specifically, the study will:
1. Provide the status of existing online appointment and consultation system in an effective
manner such as:
1.1. Efficient scheduling and consultation for appointments
2. Develop a flexible features of the proposed system in terms of:
2.1. Online Appointment
2.2. Virtual Consultation
2.3. Generation of Reports
2.3.1 E-prescribing
2.3.2 E-Medical Certificate – Related Literature
2.3.3 Profit -> Related Literature

Scope and Limitation of the study

The system comprises the following scope:

 Patients can do the following:

- Search doctors
- Able to select doctors
- Book a schedule
- Process online consultation
- Process online appointment for face-to-face consultations
- Access video calls/chat consultation
- Generate e-prescription
 - Generate e-medical certificate
 Doctors can do the following:
- Add an account for the secretary
- Manage Schedule
- View Appointments
- Accept Appointments
- Decline Appointments
- Access video calls/chat consultation
- Send e-prescription
- Send e-medical certificate
 Doctor’s Secretary can do the following:
- Manage the Doctor’s schedule
- View Appointments
- Accept Appointments
- Decline Appointments

However, the system is limited to do the following:

1. Does not include the selling of medicines.
2. Does not accept insurance as consultation/reservation fee
3. Cannot process the admission of a patient.

Significance of the study

The outcome of the study will be beneficial to the following entity:
Patients. Minimize the time and effort of searching or looking for doctors to consult health
problems.
Doctors. Boosts their income because it allows them to provide care to more patients. Increased
number of patients resulting in high revenue.
Doctor’s Secretary. Spends less time and makes it easy on managing appointments, thereby
freeing up their schedule for more important and pressing tasks.
Researchers. Helps them to discover other processes in developing this system. And it gives the
researchers the chance to show their knowledge and skills to develop and implement the proposed
system.
Future Researchers. This study may serve as a guide and reference for future researchers
undertaking related studies.
Flow of the study
The figure below shows the flow of the study that indicates the input, process, and output.
INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

 Status of existing  Data Gathering

online  Survey
appointment and Questionnaire DoKonsulta: A web-
consultation based online doctor
system  Agile methodology appointment and
 Flexible features consultation
of the proposed
system

Figure 1: Flow of the Study of DoKonsulta

Definition of Terms
Doctor – a doctor is someone who is qualified in medicine and treats people who are ill. The one
who consults a health problem of the patients.
Doctor’s Secretary – the one who accepts or declines the appointment.
DoKonsulta – web-based online doctor appointment and consultation.
E-medical certificate – electronic medical certificate, is the method of electronically sending a
medical certificate.
E-prescribing – electronic prescribing, is the method of electronically sending a prescription.
Online Appointment – an arrangement online to meet a doctor at a particular date and time.
Online Consultation – is an interaction between the doctor and the patients of formally
discussing and addressing health problems.
Patient – a sick individual and in need of consultation by a doctor.
Web-based system – is an application that is accessed via HTTP. The term web-based is usually
used to describe applications that run in a web browser.
 CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

To understand the study further, the researchers made of different reading materials
related to the proposed system. These materials, such as books, magazines, newspapers,
manuscripts, and other web articles, are essential in broadening the knowledge of the researchers.
These also guide the researchers to achieve their target objectives by getting an idea in other
related studies and make improvements as possible.

Theoretical Background -tangtanga

Online Appointment Online Consultation

DoKonsulta: A web-based Online

Doctor Appointment and Consultation

E-prescribing

Figure 2: Theoretical Background -tangtang

Related Literature

Online Consultation

According to the International Journal of Pediatric Dentistry, Online Consultations now

are very commonly used because of the pandemic, COVID‐19 pandemic has caused more than
7.0 million cases worldwide as of 9 June 2020, according to the World Health Organization. In
China, to control the spread of the pandemic, Wuhan adopted a strict lockdown from 23 January
until 8 April. During the 76‐day blockade period, more than 1.3 million children in Wuhan were
staying at home. At the same time, all dental clinics, as well as pediatric departments, closed
down. The COVID‐19 has been exposing challenges to basic medical service, especially dental
service. Compared to adults, children are more prone to injury, poor oral hygiene, and a high
frequency of intake of desserts because of a lively nature and irregular living habits. It is precise
during the COVID‐19 pandemic period that a specific classification of dental emergencies and
dental non‐emergencies becomes of crucial importance (F. Yang et al., 2020).

In another study by Yefei Yang, In the Internet plus era, online healthcare platforms
provide an effective way of easing the demand for hospitals, and their popularity among patients
has been increasing sharply in recent years. Such platforms' effectiveness depends on whether
there are adequate interactions between patients and doctors through multiple online
consultations. Nonetheless, compared with face-to-face consultations, online patients' trust in the
doctors and switching costs are often lower. Thus, many of them (in particular, those with
chronic diseases) may terminate their cases after the very first consultation, jeopardizing the
effectiveness of the online platforms. We adopt a trust development perspective to examine how
doctors' online consultation behaviors can reduce patients' switching of doctors and how they
enhance patient satisfaction, thereby offering insights to make such healthcare platforms more
efficient and effective. By analyzing 77,248 patients' behaviors on an online healthcare platform
covering the period 2014–2015, we find that the response time, the depth of interaction, and
service content during the first consultation influence the patients' subsequent consultation
behaviors significantly. Also, the effects of doctor response time, service content, and depth of
interaction on patient satisfaction are different in different periods. Our findings offer managerial
insights on managing patients' continuous consultation behaviors and enhancing their satisfaction
by considering the time scope and service type. Also, they offer important insights into how
online medical care can be delivered more effectively, so relieving the demand for traditional
healthcare system capacity (Y. Yang, 2019).
In another study by Zhen Li, as a pandemic emergency, the ongoing coronavirus disease
2019 (COVID-19) has globally affected people in different populations and greatly disrupts their
social lives. Several measures have been carried out by many countries to prevent the
transmission of this disease, including testing and treatment of COVID-19 patients, quarantine of
suspected individuals, contact tracing, gathering restriction, home quarantine, the complete or
partial lockdown of contaminated building or area.  These prevention and control measures have
been effective in controlling the global spread of COVID-19. However, the mandatory
restrictions and lockdown would influence the routine treatments of patients with other chronic
diseases. Home quarantine and lockdown policy have been significantly decreased the number of
patients who request dermatological medical care. For example, as a provincial hospital for
dermatology, the number of outpatients of Shandong Provincial Hospital for skin diseases in the
first quarter of 2020 was 46,320 in the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak, which decrease
29.60% compared to the same period in 2019. Especially, in the initial stages of home quarantine
and lockdown, the number of monthly outpatient visits showed a trend of a sharp decrease in our
hospital. Compared with the outpatient volume in January (18,847), the volume in February
(7782) was decreased by 58.7%. Similar situations were observed in other hospitals in China or
other countries. To reduce the risk of infection in a hospital during the COVID-19 outbreaks,
telephone-based consultation was applied in many countries (Li et al., 2020).

The study of Rules for Online Clinical Engagement in the COVID Era stated that
Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has generated a need to rapidly increase online consulting
in secondary care, an area in which it has previously been underutilized. We sought to review the
guidance on conducting remote consultations and found that while there is a large amount of
information about the implementation of remote consultations at an organization level, there is a
paucity of high-quality papers considering the guidelines for online consultations alongside
practical advice for their implementation at the individual level. We reviewed guidelines from
reputable medical sources and generated practical advice to assist practitioners to perform safe
and effective video consultation. Additionally, we noted reports in the literature of a lack of
transparency and resulting in confusion regarding the choice of telemedicine platforms. We,
therefore, sought to summarize the key characteristics of some major telemedicine platforms. We
recognized a lack of clarity regarding the legal status of performing remote consultations and
reviewed advice from medico-legal sources. Finally, we address the sources of these individual
uncertainties and give recommendations on how these might be addressed systematically, so the
practitioners are well trained and competent in the use of online consultations, which will
inevitably play an increasingly large role in both primary and secondary care settings in the future
(“The Rules for Online Clinical Engagement in the COVID Era,” 2020).
 According to Online health anxiety and consultation satisfaction: A quantitative
exploratory study on their relations that more and more people turn to the internet to seek health
information. A recent study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project showed that 35% of
U.S. adults have gone online to seek specific health information regarding a medical condition
they (or someone they knew) had, and of these, half followed up with a visit to a medical
professional. Similar patterns are found in the European context. People go online to find
information about a medical condition they are facing, use the internet as a diagnostic tool, find
emotional support from peers, get advice on health behaviors or medication, and often use this to
prepare for (offline) meetings with healthcare professionals. Accordingly, partly inspired by calls
of health practitioners to generate more insight on the subject, an increasing number of scholars
started illuminating the effects of online health information on patient-doctor relationships. These
studies show that patients indeed use the information they find online to prepare themselves and
bring this information to the doctor's consultation. When doctors aptly respond to this can help in
making the information personally meaningful, potentially increasing the patient’s involvement in
decision-making. This, however, calls for active collaboration and mutual understanding between
doctor and patient, something that might be difficult to establish, especially when patients try to
validate an erroneous interpretation of the information they found online, or when doctors
disagree with the information patients have found online. Studies by Bylund et al. demonstrated
that the doctor’s disagreement with the information patients brought in resulted in lower
satisfaction with the consultation and a desire by patients to change the doctor’s opinion. At the
same time, when the doctor communicated interest and involvement about the information and
showed that the information was taken seriously, patients were less likely to report a desire to
change the doctor’s responses and evaluated the consultation more positively (Tanis et al., 2016).

The Department of Health (DOH) recently launched telemedicine services to all residents
of Metro Manila. As part of the preventive measures against further infection from COVID-19,
Apart from protecting patients who are prone to get the virus, this initiative encourages everyone
to stay at home without compromising their physical and mental well-being. Telemedicine, in its
literal sense, refers to the remote consultation, diagnosis, and treatment being offered by
healthcare providers to their patients through the use of telecommunications technology. It’s like
going to your doctor’s appointment every month but done from the comfort of your home through
SMS, landline and mobile calls, and digital platforms such as audio and video conferencing apps.
It can be available for free or with payment, depending on the setup agreed upon between the
physician and the patient. It is more convenient and accessible, allowing both parties to set a
schedule without worrying about the dangers of being outdoors, especially during these trying
times (Sta Ana, 2020).

According to Samaya Dharmaraj that The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) is

offering free online consultation to help patients with their medical needs amid the COVID-19
pandemic. During the Laging Handa Public Briefing last week, the PMA Vice President, Dr.
Benito Atienza, cited the importance of online consultation to help patients. He noted that
through online consultation, patients are less likely to contract other infections at hospitals. Aside
from teleconsultations (non-physical contact), doctors can also provide their patients with e-
prescriptions. The medical professional advised the public to visit the Digital Online Consultation
for People’s Healthcare (DOCPH) website and follow the steps upon registration. Clinic hours
are from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM, daily. He also assured that all data that will be provided is
protected by the Data Privacy Act. The PMA official added that their association is closely
working with the Philippine Hospital Association and the Department of Health (DOH), wherein
they also provide referrals to other hospitals that would cater to the needs of consulting patients.
According to DOH, medical consultations over the phone, chat, short messaging service (SMS),
and other audio and visual-conferencing platforms are considered telemedicine services in the
country (Dharmaraj, 2020).

Online Appointment

According to Miao Hu, A hospital appointment system promotes information exchange

between hospitals and patients. Because patients’ no-show behavior wastes medical resources and
compromises the sustainability of medical services, it is of utmost importance to expound on no-
show behavior and its determinants. From a multi-stage perspective, we identify channel
convenience, waiting time, and expected technical quality as conscious determinants and no-show
habit as an unconscious determinant and propose a model for analyzing patients’ no-show
behavior. The proposed hypotheses are examined with data collected from a Chinese tertiary care
public hospital’s appointment system by binary logistic regression. The results show that channel
convenience and expected technical quality are negatively related to no-show behavior whereas
the effects of waiting time and no-show habit on no-show behavior are significantly positive.
Meanwhile, the relationship between no-show habit and no-show behavior is stronger for shorter
waiting times or higher levels of channel convenience and expected technical quality. Our
findings have implications for managing patients’ no-show behavior, improving hospital
appointment system management, and providing sustainable medical services (Hu, 2020). Relate
it your system. Unsai gamit sa inyong system ang Online Appointment.

In another study by Modelling the continuance intention towards the use of mobile
hospital appointment system stated that Effective management of patient flow in the outpatient
unit of a hospital is the key to achieving operational excellence. Hospital X, as one of the major
hospitals in Indonesia, launched a mobile hospital appointment system (X-Go) to increase the
effectiveness of patient flow management. Although the application has a good rating, only less
than 28% of the patients are still using it. This study aims to observe the factors affecting the
continuance intention towards X-Go, using the Technology Acceptance Model. A questionnaire
consisted of 15 questions, using 7 points Likert Scale was used to develop the model. Ninety-
eight respondents were involved voluntarily in this study by filling out the questionnaire. Results
showed that relationship quality has the most significant direct influence on the continuance
intention to use the system. Meanwhile, perceived ease of use has the most significant indirect
influence on the continuance intention to use the system (Taufiq et al., 2020).

The study of Features of Online Hospital Appointment Systems in Taiwan: A Nationwide

Survey stated that in the Internet era, many web-based appointment systems for hospitals have
been established to replace traditional systems. Our study aimed to highlight the features of
online appointment systems for hospitals in Taiwan, where patients can visit outpatient
departments without a referral. Methods: All hospitals online appointment systems were surveyed
in October 2018. Features of first-visit registrations were analyzed and stratified according to the
hospitals’ accreditation levels. Results: Of the 417 hospitals, 59.7% (249) had public online
appointment systems. For first-visit patients, only 199 hospitals offered the option of making
appointments online from 7 to 98 (mean 38.9) days before the appointment itself. Before
appointments, 68 (34.2%) hospitals recommended specialties for patients to choose according to
their symptoms, and only 11 (5.5%) had a function for sending messages to doctors. After
appointments, 176 (88.4%) provided links to real-time monitoring of outpatient service progress.
Conclusions: More than half of the hospitals in Taiwan have public online appointment systems.
However, most of these systems simply fulfill the function of registration and rarely take the
opportunity to improve efficiency by gathering information regarding patients’ medical history or
reasons for making the appointment (P.-C. Yang et al., 2019).

Patient’s satisfaction and comfort are the priorities of every hospital. With the traditional
appointment system, patients have been experiencing long waiting times, which causes
dissatisfaction. This study was designed to reduce the waiting time experienced by patients. It is
designed for patients (booking their appointment), medical secretaries (managing patient list),
doctors, and management (monitoring patients). (Mendoza et al., 2018).

E-Prescribing

The study of Electronic Prescriptions to Improve Patient Safety in Hospital: A Systematic

Review emphasized that Electronic prescription (E-prescribing) automates the manual
prescription process which enables physicians, pharmacies, and payers to gain access to
information that contributes to patient safety, controlling costs, and gaining business intelligence.
E-Prescribing eliminates handwriting errors/illegibility and gives both physician and pharmacist
access to a patient‘s prescription history to reduce the chance of the wrong drug being dispensed.
According to the FDA, more than 95,000 prescription drug errors have occurred since 2000,
mainly due to mistakes when reading a handwritten prescription and dispensing a similar-
sounding, but a different drug (Utami & Nadjib, 2019).

In another study of Impact of electronic prescribing on patient safety in hospitals:

implications for the UK NHS hospitals in England are expected to be paperless by 2020, as set
out in a comprehensive framework published by the National Information Board. The use of
hospital electronic prescribing (EPS) systems is therefore likely to increase rapidly soon. This
review aims to summarize the available evidence of the impact of inpatient EP on patient safety,
with a focus on implications for the UK. MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched to identify
systematic and narrative (Ahmed et al., 2020).

Juergen Seitz and Nilmini Wickramasinghe further stressed that Healthcare has been a
noted laggard when it comes to adopting technology solutions; however, this time lag appears to
be decreasing more recently, in particular, when we look at blockchain technology and its
embracement in healthcare. Examples of blockchain technology in e-health are to date focused
mostly on electronic health records. The process of electronic prescriptions and medication
management has not as yet been considered. We contend that this process offers a variety of
opportunities for automatization and digitalization. Further, there is a significant potential for cost
savings for various stakeholders not only the insurance companies. At the moment, research on
blockchain technology seems to be technology-driven. We suggest that to be truly beneficial,
further research needs to also focus on patients’ acceptance as well as major barriers and
facilitators (Seitz & Wickramasinghe, 2020).

Author Sarah Kooienga emphasized that E-prescribing (ERx) is the ability of a prescriber
to send an accurate, error-free, and understandable prescription directly to a pharmacy through a
dedicated secure network. ERx and, in general, most prescribing occurs in an ambulatory care
setting where prescribing errors occur frequently. ERx is believed to make the prescribing
process safer and easier. Initially, ERx was promoted through the Medicare Prescription Drug,
Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003 and further refined with the
implementation of the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan in 2006. MMA and Medicare Part
D drug plan allowed providers and pharmacists to voluntarily e-prescribe. In 2008, the Medicare
Improvements for Patients and Providers ACT (MIPPA), also known as the “ERx” incentive
program, accelerated e-prescribing for Medicare recipients by offering financial incentives for
physician providers and pharmacists. For ambulatory care settings, the Health Information
Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act and Meaningful Use standards set
by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid incentivized higher levels of electronic health record
(EHR) implementation by primary care and other ambulatory care providers. As of April 2014,
70% of physicians and other primary care providers were e-prescribing using an EHR on the
Surescripts network. In the same year, 96% of community pharmacies were enabled to accept e-
prescriptions. Enabling the Surescripts network in community pharmacies and the impetus of
Meaningful Use standards in primary care have resulted in ERx being fully embedded in
community-based pharmacy settings. Research on the ERx process was conducted in New Jersey
in five exemplar primary care practices. These practices all used a “superuser” – a provider
champion. To assure ERx was successful, both internal IT support as well as vendor support was
available to the practice.4 For rural primary care practice, however, challenges exist with this
model as there are usually no more than four providers per site and it is difficult to have internal
IT support with smaller practices. Besides, the concept of super users might not be meaningful in
a smaller practice setting. Local vendor support may not exist or may be limited in rural areas
(Kooienga, 2017).

The Food and Drug Administration issued an advisory on the use of Electronic Means of
Prescription Circular 2020-007. This Circular shall apply to all individuals vulnerable to COVID-
19 as defined under this Circular and to all licensed physicians authorized to prescribe drugs to
the aforementioned individuals. The same Circular shall cover all Drugstore/Pharmacy/Botica
and similar outlets but shall not include prescription that requires PDEA S-2 license (FDA, 2020).
Related Studies
In this part of the studies, the researchers investigate or inquire about some existing or
similar systems to the DoKonsulta, a web-based online doctor appointment, and consultation.
This study is an essential part of any research to identify the comparison or similarities between
two or more current arrangements with the presently proposed system. In this study, it contains
existing system features and functionalities.

MyHealth Clinic

Figure 3: MyHealth Clinic

MyHealth Clinic is a network of multi-specialty medical clinics offering comprehensive
outpatient healthcare products and services. Believing that healthcare should be not just of
quality, but must also be accessible, we integrated into our clinics the entire spectrum of medical
services that patients need to take better care of their health. Patients can search for doctors and
book an appointment for a face-to-face consultation.
Natrapharm

Figure 4: Natrapharm
The Philippine Online Doctor Finder and Information system. Natrapharm aims to find a
doctor easily in the Philippines and see their schedule, hospital affiliations, and telemedicine
platforms. Search for doctors near your location and book online an appointment.
HealthNow

Figure 5: HealthNow
Easily schedule face-to-face consultations & diagnostic tests through the app. HealthNow
helps simplify healthcare for patients. HealthNow delivers a hassle-free experience by bringing
patients and healthcare services in one easy-to-use app.
SeeYouDoc

Figure 6: SeeYouDoc
SeeYouDoc helps you bring all your online health care needs together. You can easily
book medical appointments and make online consultations at the palm of your hands. More than
that, medical practitioners, organizations, and facilities can organize their profile and services so
that they can maximize their productivity anywhere, 24/7.
Comparative Matrix

MyHealth
Features DoKonsulta Natrapharm HealthNow SeeYouDoc
Clinic

Categorized
Doctors by     
specialization

View Doctors
    
Schedule

Calendar Scheduler  X X  

Virtual
 X X X 
Consultation

Online appointment   X  X

E-prescribing  X X X X

E-medical
 X X X X
Certificate

Rate and Feedback  X X X X

Table 1: Comparative Matrix

 CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Environment
The locale of the study is in the Philippines. Situated in the western Pacific Ocean, it
consists of about 7,641 islands that are broadly categorized under three main geographical
divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The Philippines' 2020 population
is estimated at 109,581,078 people.

Software Engineering Methodology

The technique that researchers have chosen to integrate their system is the agile model.
Researchers select this methodology to have a development phase that best suits their system
timeline and performance rate. It has a lot of advantages compared to other methodologies like
working software is delivered frequently (weeks rather than months), regular adaptation to
changing circumstances, late changes in requirements are welcomed and developers and testers
can constantly interact with each other.

Figure 7: Agile Development Value Proposition

The Agile Development Value Proposition was portraying its difference from the other
development cycle. Agile allows us to cut down risks faster than the traditional methods because
the visibility is maintained at a high level throughout, so something is going wrong then it is
addressed immediately, owing to high adaptability.
 Figure 8: Agile Software Development

The proponents apply the Agile Software Methodology in system development. The
Agile Software Methodology covers the following phases, namely:

Requirements Analysis Phase

           This phase involves frequent communication with the system users to determine specific
feature expectations, resolution of conflict, or ambiguity in requirements as demanded by the
various users or group of users, avoidance of feature creep, and documentation of all aspects of
the project development process from start to finish. 

Planning/Conceptual- Initiation Phase

           The phase consists of the concepts that would help in building the system. In this phase,
the idea for the project is explored and elaborated. The goal of this phase is to examine the
feasibility of the project. 

Designing Phase
This phase focuses on how the system would look and how-to layout the functionalities
as simple as possible so the users can easily understand the policy. User-friendly UI is our
primary goal in the designing phase to promote easy to access content and service.
Developing Phase
During this phase, everything that is needed to implement the project is arranged.
Potential suppliers or subcontractors brought in, a schedule made, materials and tools ordered,
and instructions are given to the personnel, and so forth. The development phase is complete
when the implementation is ready to start. All matters must be clear for the parties that carry out
the application.

Release Phase
This phase involves ongoing support for the software release. In other words, the team
should keep the system running smoothly and shows users how to use it. The production phase
ends when support has been completed or when the release is planned for retirement.

Track and Monitoring Phase

 This phase is very concerned about observing and measuring actual project performance
against the plan and fixing it if it varies — variance from the program considered harmful unless
it is approved by Change management.
Planning / Conception-Initiation Phase
BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS

Table 2: Business Model Canvas

 Table 3
VALIDATION BOARD

Start-up Idea: DoKonsulta

Experiments 1 2
Customer A person who has health issues and
Hypothesis needs to have a consultation with a
doctor.
Problem The difficulty of finding a doctor that
Hypothesis is related to the patient’s health
condition.
Solution Create a website that will help the
Hypothesis patients experience a hassle-free on
finding a doctor, and develop a
website that patients don’t need to go
to the hospital or clinic for
consultation, as they can
conveniently consult health issues in
their home.
Riskiest Patients would prefer the traditional
Assumption consultation system which is the
face-to-face consultation.
Success Survey Questionnaire: 90.9% out of
Criteria 100%.
Results and 90.9% out of 100% agree to
Discussion implement a web-based online doctor
appointment and consultation.
Learning Patients need these services to
eliminate the time and effort of
searching for a doctor to consult
health issues.
Program Workflow

Figure 9: Program Workflow

Functional Decomposition Diagram
The functional decomposition diagram, as shown below, represents the breakdown of
business processes that the system does. It is even useful for understanding the modular nature of
a larger-scale application. The procedures mainly cover activities that the end-user can perform
within the system.

Figure 10: Functional Decomposition Diagram

Analysis-Design Phase
Use Case Diagram
Use case diagrams are referred to as behavior diagrams used to describe a set of actions
that some systems can perform in collaboration with one or more external users of the system. It
shows actors and the relationships between them. The relationships between actors and business
use cases state that an actor can use certain functionality of the business system.

Figure 11: Use Case Diagram

 Figure 12: Process User Account Registration

Use Case Name Process User Account Registration

Actor(s) Patient and Doctor

Brief Description Patient and Doctor want to register, and the system validates
and check the information of a user, upon submission the
system will send an email to the user for verification, once
verified, the system saves the information to the database.
Trigger The patient and Doctor want to register.

Preconditions Enable users to access the system.

Postconditions Users can log in to the system.

Flow of Activities Actor(s) Web Application

1. Display the “Login” page.

2. Click on the “Register”
button.
3. Display User registration
 form page.
4. Fill in all necessary
information.
5. click on the submit
button.
6. Verify inputs.
6.1 If inputs are valid.
6.1.1 Save the input to
the database.
6.2 If inputs are
incomplete or invalid.
6.2.1 Display an error
message.

Figure 13: Manage the Doctor’s Registration

Use Case Name Process User Account Registration
Actor(s) Admin

Brief Description The admin can manage the doctor’s registration. The admin
can approve and decline the doctor’s registration.
Trigger Admin wants to approve and decline the doctor's registration.

Preconditions Enable admin to manage the registration of the doctors.

Postconditions Notify doctors of the status of the doctor's registration.

Flow of Activities Actor(s) Web Application

1. Click on the “Doctor

Registration” menu.

2. Display “Doctor
Registration” page
3. Add and Decline
Registration
 Figure 14: Process Login

Use Case Name Process Login

Actor(s) Patient, Doctor, Secretary, and Admin

Brief Description When a patient, doctor, secretary, and admin want to access
the system, the patient, doctor, secretary, and admin will input
their username and password, and the system will check and
validate, if registered, then the system will display the home
page.
Trigger The patient, doctor, secretary, and admin want to login/access
the system.
Preconditions Enable patient, doctor, secretary, and admin to visit the
system.
Postconditions Patients, Doctors, secretaries, and Admin can access the
homepage.
Flow of Activities Actor(s) Web Application

1. Click Login button

2. Displays the fields for the
user’s information.
3. Input username and
password.
4. Checks if the entered data
is valid.
4.1 If the entered data is
valid.
4.1.1 Display the
homepage.
4.2 If it is invalid.
4.2.1 Display error
message.
 Figure 15: Add Secretary Account

Use Case Name Add Secretary Account

Actor(s) Doctor

Brief Description When the doctor wants to add an account for the secretary.
The doctor will input the information, username, and
password of the secretary.
Trigger The doctor wants to add a secretary account.

Preconditions Doctor’s add an account for the secretary.

Postconditions The account for the secretary was successfully created.

Flow of Activities Actor(s) Web Application

1. Click the “Add

Secretary Account”
button. 2. Display form.

3. Input the secretary’s

information, username,
and password.
 4. Checks if the entered data is
valid.
4.1 If the entered data is
valid.
4.1.1 Add to the
database.
4.2 If it is invalid.
4.2.1 Display error
message.

Figure 16: Manage Schedule

Use Case Name Manage Schedule

Actor(s) Doctor and Secretary

Brief Description This page is where the doctor and secretary manage the
schedule. The doctor and the secretary can Add, Edit, and
Delete a schedule.
Trigger Doctor and Secretary wants to add, edit, and delete a schedule.

Preconditions The doctor and secretary manage the schedule.

Postconditions Schedule successfully added, updated, and deleted.

Flow of Activities Actor(s) Web Application

1. Click the “Schedule”

button.
2. Display schedule page.

3. Manage schedule.
4. Save to the database and
update the schedule.
 Figure 17: Online Appointment

Use Case Name Online Appointment

Actor(s) Patient, Doctor, and Secretary

Brief Description Patients can set an appointment for a face-to-face consultation.

Patients can select a preferred doctor and secure an
appointment at a particular time and date.
Trigger The patient wants to set an appointment for a face-to-face
consultation.
Preconditions Allow patients to choose a doctor and set an appointment for a
consultation.
Postconditions Appointment successfully added.
Flow of Activities Actor(s) Web Application

Patient
1. View Doctors Page.
2. Select Doctor.
3. Set an appointment.
4. Check if the entered data is
valid.
4.1 If it is valid,
4.1.1 Save to the
database
4.2 If the entered data is
invalid
4.2.1 Display error
message
5. Notify Doctor and Secretary

Doctor and Secretary

1. View Appointments for
a face-to-face
consultation
2. Display list of appointments
3. Manage Appointment
4. Notify Patient
Figure 18: Virtual Consultation
 Figure 19: Generation of Reports

Use Case Name Generation of Reports

Actor(s) Doctor, Patient, and Admin

Brief Description Doctor, Patient, and Admin can search report and generate
selected a report

Trigger Doctor, Patient, and Admin want to generate reports

Preconditions The Doctor, Patient, and Admin will select for the report

Postconditions The Doctor, Patient, and Admin can generate the selected
report
Flow of Activities Actor(s) Web Application
1. Doctor, Patient, and
Admin select report
2. Display selected report
3. Download report
Storyboard
The figure below shows the flow of the system. The users can register and login, and the
system will display the homepage wherein the patients can view doctors, set an appointment for
face-to-face and virtual consultation, and access virtual consultation with a doctor.
Database Design

Entity Relationship Diagram

Figure 20: Entity Relationship Diagram

Data Dictionary
Table 5
DATA DICTIONARY OF USERS

Data Lengt
Column Name Type h Description Nullable PK FK
Id –dapat the same tanan sa
entity int 11 Unique ID of the user No Yes No
firstName varchar 50 First name of the user No No No
middleName varchar 50 Middle name of the user Yes No No
lastName varchar 50 Last name of the user No No No
Suffix varchar 50 Suffix of the user Yes No No
Birthday date Birthday of the user No No No
Gender varchar 50 Gender of the user No No No
civilStatus varchar 50 Civil status of the user Yes No No
bloodType varchar 3 Blood Type of the user Yes No No
Province varchar 50 Province address of the user No No No
City varchar 50 City address of the user No No No
Barangay varchar 50 Barangay address of the user No No No
Street varchar 50 Street address of the user Yes No No
Mobile int 11 Mobile number of the user No No No
Email varchar 50 Email address of the user No No No
Password varchar 255 Password of the user No No No
Religion varchar 50 Religion of the patient Yes No No
Company varchar 50 Company work of the patient Yes No No
Occupation varchar 50 Occupation of the patient Yes No No
Telephone number of the
Telephone int 11 patient Yes No No
Father varchar 50 Father of the patient Yes No No
Occupation of the father of the
fatherOcc varchar 50 patient Yes No No
Mother varchar 50 Mother of the patient Yes No No
Occupation of the mother of the
motherOcc varchar 50 patient Yes No No
Contact person in case of
contactPerson varchar 50 emergency of the patient Yes No No
Contact number in case of
contactNumber int 11 emergency of the patient Yes No No
drugAllergy text Drug allergies of the patient Yes No No
foodAllergy text Food allergies of the patient Yes No No
medications text Past medications of the patient Yes No No
historySurgery text History of surgery of the patient Yes No No
History of hospitalization of the
historyHospitalization text patient Yes No No
Diagnosed conditions of the
Diagnose text patient Yes No No
Specialty varchar 50 Specialty of the doctor Yes No No
PCR license ID number of the
pcrLicense varchar 50 doctor Yes No No
S2 license ID number of the
s2License varchar 50 doctor Yes No No
ptrNo varchar 50 PTR number of the doctor Yes No No
Signature varchar 50 Image signature of the doctor Yes No No
Image varchar 50 Profile image of the user No No No
Type varchar 50 Type of user No No No

Table 6
DATA DICTIONARY OF RESERVATION

Column Data Lengt

Name Type h Description Nullable PK FK
Id int 11 Unique ID of the reservation No Yes No
patientId int 11 Unique ID of the patient No No Yes
doctorId int 11 Unique ID of the doctor No No Yes
clinicId int 11 Unique ID of the clinic No No Yes
Start date and time of the consultation /
Start datetime appointment No No No
Date date Date of the reservation No No No
Problem text Problem experienced by the patient Yes No No
problemStart text Starting date of the problem experienced Yes No No
Medication text Medication the patient currently using Yes No No
Allergy text Allergies of the patient Yes No No
Height decimal 11,2 Height of the patient Yes No No
Weight decimal 11,2 Weight of the patient Yes No No
temperature decimal 11,2 Temperature of the patient Yes No No
Other information the patient wants the
Info text doctor to know Yes No No
Image varchar 50 Images of x-ray or lab results Yes No No
Type varchar 50 Type of reservation No No No
Duration time Duration of the consultation Yes No No
Remarks varchar 50 Remarks of the consultation Yes No No
 Table 7
DATA DICTIONARY OF CLINIC

Column Data
Name Type Length Description Nullable PK FK
Id int 11 Unique ID of the clinic No Yes No
Unique ID of the doctor that owns the
doctorId int 11 clinic No No Yes
Name varchar 50 Name of the clinic No No No
Address varchar 50 Address of the clinic No No No
Telephone int 11 Telephone number of the clinic No No No
Days varchar 50 Days that the clinic is open No No No
Start datetime Opening time of the clinic No No No
End datetime Closing time of the clinic No No No

Table 8
DATA DICTIONARY OF TRANSCRIPT

Column Data Lengt

Name Type h Description Nullable PK FK
Id int 11 Unique ID of the transcript No Yes No
doctorId int 11 Unique ID of the doctor No No Yes
patientId int 11 Unique ID of the patient No No Yes
reservationId int 11 Unique ID of the reservation No No Yes
Text of the medical certificate or
Note text prescription No No No
Type varchar 50 Type of transcript No No No

Table 9
DATA DICTIONARY OF CHAT

Column Data
Name Type Length Description Nullable PK FK
Id int 11 Unique ID of the chat No Yes No
senderId int 11 Unique ID of the sender No No Yes
receiverId int 11 Unique ID of the receiver No No Yes
reservationId int 11 Unique ID of the reservation No No Yes
Time datetime Time of the message sent No No No
Message text Message of the chat No No No

Table 10
 DATA DICTIONARY OF NOTIFICATION

Column Data Lengt Nullabl

Name Type h Description e PK FK
Id int 11 Unique id of the notification No Yes No
reservationId int 11 Unique ID of the reservation No No Yes
Message text Message of the notification No No No
Date datetime Time of the notification No No No
isSeen boolean 5 Identify if the notification is seen No No No

Table 11
DATA DICTIONARY OF FEEDBACK

Column Name Data Type Length Description Nullable PK FK

Id int 11 Unique ID of the feedback No Yes No
patientId int 11 Unique ID of the patient No No Yes
doctorId int 11 Unique ID of the doctor No No Yes
Rating int 11 Rating of the feedback No No No
Message text Message of the feedback No No No
Date datetime Date of the feedback No No No

Network Design
Network Model
Network design refers to the planning of the implementation of a computer network
infrastructure and is generally performed before the application of network infrastructure by
network designers, engineers, IT administrators, and other related staff.
In addition to that, Network design involves evaluating, understanding, and scoping the
network to be implemented. The whole network design is usually represented as a network
diagram that serves as the blueprint for implementing the system physically. Typically, network
design includes a logical map of the system to be designed, cabling structure, IP addressing
structure, network security architecture, and overall network security processes.
 Figure 21: Network Model

Network Topology
Network Topology is the arrangement of a network, including its nodes and connecting lines.
 Figure 22: Network Topology

Development and Construction/Build Phase

In this phase, programmers and system analysts understand the application software and
enable them to build it or maintain it after the system is installed.
Technology Stack Diagram
A technology stack is a combination of software products and programming languages
used for web applications. Moreover, the applications have two software components: client-side
and server-side, also known as front-end and back-end.story

Figure 23: Technology Stack Diagram

Software Specification
The system can be implemented with the following Software specifications
 Table 12
SOFTWARE SPECIFICATION

DoKonsulta Web Application System

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATIONS
Back- end:
Operating System Windows 7 or newer
DBMS MySql
Platform Technologies Visual Studio Code and Xampp
Programming Language Php
Front-end:
Scripting Language JavaScript
Design Tools Bootstrap, CSS, and HTML
UI Environment Web

Hardware Specification
The system can be implemented with the following hardware specifications:

Table 13
HARDWARE SPECIFICATION

Minimum Requirement Recommended

1. Central Processing Unit (CPU) 600 MHz Dual Core 1.2 GHz Dual Core
2. System Memory (RAM) 32 MB 1GB

3. Internal Storage 1GB 4GB

4. Graphics GPU 2D Graphics GPU 2D & 3D Graphics
Acceleration
Acceleration
5. Display 3.5-inch screen HVGA 4.5-inchWVGA (480x800
pixels) TFT

Program Specification
List of Modules
 The table shown below is consists of Modules which comprises the whole system, which
will be divided among the member to ensure the success of the development of the system.
Table 14
List of Modules

Programmer Modules Patient Docto Secretary Admin

r
Rhone Lañojan Manage Account    
Rate and Feedback 
Generation of Reports   
Bien Rev Omandac Homepage    
Online Appointment   
Virtual Consultation  
E-Prescribing form 
E-Medical form 
Rene Arong Registration  
Manage the Doctor’s 
Registration
Appointment Form 
Jay Ibon Login    
Manage Schedule  
Manage Appointment   
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