HealthSpire-All in one Covid-19 eAssistant
Use Case
Healthcare has been an extremely important field for millennia. The existing healthcare systems were not designed / built to handle this kind of crisis. Optimizing processes is almost as significant as new discoveries and inventions in this industry. From the world’s most sophisticated European healthcare system to the world’s largest spending healthcare system in US, every country affected by this pandemic is struggling to control it. HealthSpire is designed in such a way that it keeps a user informed about their nearby cases. The application alerts user, how to self-isolate and what to do in the case of their developing the virus symptoms. The application provides mapping platform for finding the best nearby hospitals. It also updates patient records including medical visit, vaccinations, insurance, prescriptions and other information to keep track of a patient’s progress. The HealthSpire application is an all-in-one healthcare application that connects patients, Doctors, Hospitals, Diagnostic centers, Chemists, and Medical Insurance companies in a single platform. HealthSpire brings two seemingly unrelated things together—Blockchain Technology and the Healthcare Industry.
Business Problems:
Business Problem
Human capital and health improvement programs are of essential importance towards sustainable development and economic process in any country. In Malaysia, the health care system has changed from traditional remedies to meeting the emerging needs of the population rapidly after the independence in 1957. Over the past years many things have been changed in healthcare industry and within this change many challenges and problems have been occurred, especially in this pandemic situation many new problems have come to existence and to tackle these problems, we have to adapt some new techniques and technologies.
In this pandemic situation, due to lack of proper knowledge, most of the people are confused and unaware of nearby Covid-19 specialized hospitals and specialized doctors. As far as Covid- 19 situation is concerned, people from all over the globe are expecting a vaccine soon. If we picturize the situation when the vaccine will be available in the market, it will be difficult to make the vaccine available and to get them distributed according to priority basis. Now in this situation, protection kits such as masks, sanitizers and PPE kits have become the daily life essentials of a common person and that is why people are expecting a high-quality protection kits or products from the market and at same time, most of them are confused that from where should they get certified protection kits on which they can really rely. It’s a common Human gesture that everyone expects good things and in a reasonable price. Not only good products, but people also always expect good and satisfied services within a reasonable price.
In this era of technology, in healthcare industries many things have already been changed but there are many things that are done in same old school way still now. One of the most highlighted things in the world is virtual currency or crypto-currency, many of multinational companies are looking forward to crypto-currency but it is regrettable to say that it still least used in Healthcare Industry. In this era, we should expect least use of human effort and a well- maintained centralized system.
Challenges faced by stakeholders in Malaysia:
• Hospitals:
Hospitals are hesitant to adapt Healthcare Analytics. Initial setup and maintenance costs are high because Healthcare staff against the change from a paper-based manual system to a paperless system of maintaining patient records as the most of EHR systems are not very user friendly. it's difficult to share records between hospitals or facilities and supply quick service to patient in Manual health record system. Physicians spend longer entering data into the manual systems, which reduces in productivity.
• Doctors:
Within the other Stakeholders Doctors are one of the stakeholders who faces a lot of challenges as compared to others in healthcare industry. Mostly, Doctors faced a lot of problems in the cases which are not curable within a short period of time. Such as Dermatologist counters a vast challenge to determine and cure medicine reactions which are generally caused due to past medications. People when asked they are unable to say about the past medication which gives rise to delay in treatment and therefore patients are not satisfied with the treatment of the Doctor.
• Chemists:
The increasing number of recent community pharmacies, especially those opened by young, inexperienced pharmacists is a serious concern. The common thing between these pharmacists are likely to lowers price cutting war and undercut the market price to achieve a position within the sector, especially those with adequate financial support. There is still confusion among customers regarding the exact roles of community pharmacists in the Malaysian healthcare system. Some of them cannot differentiate between the distinct roles and jurisdiction of doctors and pharmacists.
• Medical Health Insurers:
In Health Care Medical Health Insurers plays a very vital role. Due to inconstancy, there is high time going on. It has been noticed regularly that medical insurers are unable to keep constancy as far as same satisfied customers are concerned. It is because somehow, they are unable to deliver their offers and skims to costumer. It may be because the medical Insuring company is not willing to spend a lot in advertising in a big platform. To doublecheck or verify any long- term disease within a patient an agent is sent to the hospital which is quite challenging and as well as more time and human effort is needed unnecessarily.
If costumer changes their phone number or address, then most of them are unreachable after that, if a person wants to update their sensitive credential, they should be present physically in insurance office which is least preferable by a person which leads to satisfaction and changing Insurance Company.
• Diagnostic Centers:
Without Challenges no sector can develop and regrettably this one of the lowest competition sectors in healthcare industry. This is Definitely not because of insufficiency but lack of proper knowledge and information among common people. As there is no fixed price rate given for diagnostic center which gives rise to huge price difference between various diagnostic center. An unnecessary extra physical presence is required to collect the report which leads to loss of time and effort. Because of these challenges new laboratories that might a have better work ethic than their older and are better established center and they do not get business because of customer loyalty to inefficient labs.
Proposed Solution to Business Problems:
Appropriate knowledge and information of Covid-19 hospitals and specialized doctors should be provided to common people. After the availability of Covid-19 vaccine in the market, it should be distributed into various groups according to the priority of people for smooth and uniform delivery of vaccine to the common people. DOSH certified protection kits such as: Masks, PPE Kits, Sanitizers should be easily available to the people at a reasonable price. Everyone should have prior access to Covid-19 related information and news updates. For the various stakeholders, a unified platform needs to be designed and developed to make the records preservation and information sharing amongst them quite effective and efficient. New technology such as Blockchain and Ethereum based Crypto-currency should be incorporated in a gigantic scale in healthcare industry. Least use of human effort and physical presence should be ensured in healthcare industry in difficult situations like Covid-19 Pandemic.
Value Proposition of Proposed Application – HealthSpire:
1. Saves valuable time:
Doctors/physicians can easily access patient’s information on their device. just one click in the application, all the medical data is at their fingertips.
2. Improves workflow efficiency:
By using the application, patients need not come all the way to hospital or clinic to book their appointment. They can simply chat whether there is any vacant slot available for booking, if there is, the user can get it booked and if no slot is available, they can get connected to other nearby hospitals.
3. Provides accurate information and updates user regarding Covid-19:
The application is designed in such a way that it keeps user informed about their nearby Covid- 19 cases and it also alerts the user, how to self-isolate and how to take prevention in case they develop Covid-19 symptoms.
4. Reduces Insurance frauds:
People are getting cheated and getting frauded from some fake insurance selling companies because of lack of proper information about their medical policies and their expiry date. The application allows the user to view their medical insurance certificate and policy details uploaded by the insurer to ensure a proper prevention against such frauds.
5. Prevents tempering of medical record of patients:
Many complaints have surfaced that patients often suppress their long-term diseases; allergies records or medical records when they visit doctors and hospitals. This leads to a high chance of being affected by Covid-19 virus; making the whole healthcare system vulnerable.The application keeps a track of all long-term diseases, allergy records and previous medical records securely in the database. Only the empanelled doctors have the authority to edit and create new above-mentioned records.
Unique Selling Point of HealthSpire Application:
1.It provides a common platform for all the stakeholders in healthcare industry.
2. Provides accurate, up-to-date, and complete medical information about patients.
3. Enables quick access to patient’s medical records for more coordinated and efficient care.
4. Helps to promote legible and complete documentation of prescriptions(Rx).
5. Helps in providing potential medical insurance integration which leads to lower premium.
6. HealthSpire provides rewards as SpireCoins (Ethereum based Crypto-currency) when transactions are done using the application.
7. It helps users to evaluate their current health status and get proper feedback from the application.
Assumptions and Justification for Proposed Working Methodology:
The Investigative Team has used Datanamic’s DEZIGN as Database Modelling Tool and both MS Access and SQL Server 2019 for Database Management in our project. The quick and easy way to create databases and the induction of comprehensive programming language like Virtual Basic for Application (VBA) for creating custom solutions in MS Access were the main factors which paved the way to chose this software for the development of the Prototype for HealthSpire.
Some Features of DEZIGN that we liked are given below:
• It is one of the simplest tools to sketch Entity Relationship Diagram that is available in the market right now.
• User can navigate large diagram with pan and zoom window feature .
• Datanamic’s Dezign Software supports a range of Data modelling techniques that are enable in other softwares.
• Datanamic’s Dezign Software can use Entity Relationship Diagram to design database graphically.
• Datanamic’s Dezign Software helps to export ERD and EERD diagrams in other Formats like PNG,JPEG and GIF etc.
Some Features of MS Access that we liked are given below:
• MS Access is easier to understand than normal Client-Server Database Management Softwares like MySQL, mongo dB etc.
• Its easier to import and export data to MS Access.
• ell Me’ Feature provides assistance to users who are new to the software.
• Users can create custom solutions using VBA Codes.
• MS Access allows the user to change the format of the Report to PDF.
Some Features of SQL Server 2019 that we liked are given below:
• SQL Server 2019 has a new feature that helps to accelerate the recovery of Corrupted Databases.
• SQL Server 2019 has a feature of Query Store which helps to store the runtime information and execution plans of all the queries that we have used in the project.
• Custom Capture Option helps to fine-tune data collection to avoid any resource contention issues that users used to face in previous editions of SQL Server.
• SQL Server 2019 helps user to insert large number of sequential data reducing the time taken to manual insert those data.
• SQL Server 2019 enhances the Real-time Operational Analytics of the system hence increasing the workload consistency and optimal transactional Performance of the whole system.
Market Survey:
Rising awareness about the importance of block chain technology for systematic collection of medical records and patient data will augment block chain technology market growth. Several organizations and hospitals are implementing blockchain technology to analyse, record and monitor patient information accurately. In addition, rising risk of counterfeit drugs will boost adoption of block-chain technology in the upcoming years. Stringent regulatory rules and regulations coupled with increasing incidence of medical data breach will influence the application of block-chain technology in healthcare, thereby boosting the overall market growth. Apart from security benefits, blockchain technology will lead to greater efficiency and user-empowerment, interoperability leading to streamlined processes, hence enabling the users to have control of the data they create.
Blockchain Technology in Healthcare Market had a value of over USD 48.1 million in 2018 and is expected to witness 65.0% CAGR from 2019 to 2025.
Competition Analysis
• Patientory:
Founder and CEO: Chrissa McFarlane
Country: USA
Funding: $7.22M
Patientory is building a HIPAA-compliant blockchain powered health information exchange (HIE) intended to enable EMR interoperability and enhanced cyber-security protocols.
• Medicalchain:
Founder and CEO: Dr. Abdullah Albeyatti
Country: UK
Funding: $24 M
MEDICALCHAIN uses blockchain technology to securely store health records and maintain a single version of the truth. The different organizations such as doctors, hospitals, laboratories, pharmacists and health insurers can request permission to access a patient’s record to serve their purpose and record transactions on the distributed ledger.
• Cygen:
Founder and CEO: Tanushree Devi Laishram
Country: INDIA & MALAYSIA
Funding: $10 M
CYGEN HEALTH-TECH is a cloud based, patient-centric, cognitive preventive healthcare platform. The platform creates personalized health profiles which remind users of basic health-checks and provide daily healthcare tips. They also create “Smart Health Care Packages” tailored to each individual.
Software Requirements of Proposed HealthSpire Application: -
1. Operating System
• Microsoft Windows® 10 Professional
• Microsoft Windows® 10 Home Edition
• Microsoft Windows® 7 Professional
• Microsoft Windows® 7 Home Edition
• Microsoft Windows® Vista Professional
• Microsoft Windows® Vista Home Edition
• Microsoft Windows® XP Professional
• Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
• Microsoft Windows NT® 4.0 Workstation
• Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server
(Note: Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition and Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server are not supported)
2. Database Management System
• MySQL: Versions 5.5 onwards.
• Microsoft Access: Versions 12.0 onwards.
Hardware Requirements of Proposed HealthSpire Application: -
1. Memory
• Microsoft Windows® 10 Professional: 240 MB of RAM
• Microsoft Windows® 10 Home Edition: 240 MB of RAM
• Microsoft Windows® 7 Professional: 160 MB of RAM
• Microsoft Windows® 7 Home Edition: 160 MB of RAM
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional: 160 MB of RAM
• Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition: 160 MB of RAM
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional: 96 MB of RAM
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server: 192 MB of RAM
• Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Workstation: 64 MB of RAM
• Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server: 160 MB of RAM
2. Hard Disk
• Standard Edition
2.5 gigabytes (GB) on installation drive, which includes 500 MB on system drive.
• Professional and Enterprise Editions
2.6 gigabytes (GB) on installation drive, which includes 500 MB on system drive.
3. Drive
• CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
4. Display
• Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher-resolution monitor with 256 colours.
5. Mouse
• Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device.
6. Keyboard
• Microsoft Keyboard or compatible typing device.
Non-Functional Requirements of Proposed HealthSpire Application: -
• Usability: -
The users of the Automated Company Management System of Proposed HealthSpire Application shall be able to access the system from computers having MS Office 365 installed in them. Since all users i.e. staffs and MD of Proposed HealthSpire Application are well familiar with the general use of computer, no need of special training will be needed for proper usage of this application. The Proposed HealthSpire Application System should be user friendly so that it has proper notifications and instructions which makes the system easier to use.
• Performance: -
Each time some information is changed or modified regarding the Proposed HealthSpire Application e.g., updating of Customer Details or Staff Details, the system is automatically refreshed and updated. The system will respond to the end users in no more than 3 seconds from the time of the request submission. If there is a greater delay than 3seconds to retrieve the data or process the data, then the system should notify the user through proper notification. The system will take more time to deliver results in the time of large processing jobs.
• Extensibility: -
Proposed HealthSpire Application should be scalable and extendible so that other products or services can be easily added to the system when it is required. The system should easily be able to adapt the future requirements with respect to new customers added or new employees are hired. If new customers are added in the system, then the Employee should easily include it in the Customers Record of the System. The system should be designed keeping in mind the regular sales and inventory structure of company.
• Legal and Regulatory Issues: -
There are certain rules and laws that the Proposed HealthSpire Application should comply to. The system should not store Customer Credit card details which is required in the mode of payment so that the system doesn’t violate any laws of persona infringement. The system should keep the details of Purchase and Customer Information stored safely in the database. There should be a facility to archive these Sales Details Report and Customer Information so that they can easily be retrieved from the database when needed.
• Availability: -
Proposed HealthSpire Application is available 100% of the time for the end users and can be used 24 hours a day 365 days a year. So, there is no chance where the system is not available for us.
• Reliability: -
Proposed HealthSpire Application should meet some criteria such as accuracy precision, recoverability, and failure rate etc. The system should have 2500 hours Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) which signifies the failure tolerance of the system and the number of hours that it is operational before a failure occurs. The system should be 99.99% accurate while retrieving data from the Database and displaying them to the end users. In the event of any software and hardware failure the system should be able to recover to full operational mode automatically. In an event when some part of the system is not functioning properly, the system should be able to be run in a safe mode.
• Security: -
The system should address all the key security issues in a system while being developed so that no security breaches occurs after the installation of the Proposed HealthSpire Application All the information of the Customer, Staffs should be kept secured. There should not be authorization and authentication before Staffs use the system. There Should be Log in and Log out Page so that all the important data are kept secure. Security Updates of the system should be done in regular interval to make it more hack-proof.
Conclusion and Future Scope:
In this covid-19 pandemic time, the world is facing a lot of problems such as lack of proper information regarding DOSH certified covid-19 prevention kits, news update and detailed statistics and much more information.
The application provides an efficient way of showing the identified Covid-19 containment zones to the users in a Google map. With the alarming increase of Covid-19 affected cases throughout the world, this developed application can be employed as a tool for creating further social awareness among the people. This application further tracks the user's location and checks whether it is present in the list of identified containment zones. It sends separate notification alerts to the user on entering. The developed android application further extracts the IMEI Number of the trespasser in the containment zones which can be useful to the local police to track and identify people who are frequently trespassing the containment zones. Thereby this application identifies the containment zones and highlights the need for taking further precautionary measures for combating Covid-19. The application has been tested in various locations and has been found to yield accurate results.
The application can be further used for many purposes like maritime and forest safety to prevent users from entering restricted areas.
We can conclude from the market survey and competition analysis that people are in search of a hybrid application that promises to provide services such as:
• Detailed statistics.
• Real-time news update regarding Covid-19.
• Information of prevention kits.
• Information of Covid-19 specialized hospitals.
• Centralized System for storing Patient/Citizen HealthRecord.
• Risk Monitor for each individuals (Category- Red, Orange and Green).
• Use of Blockchain in Healthcare industry in Malaysia.
• Use of Ethereum based crypto-currency named Aspire Coins.
The HealthSpire application would combine all the stakeholders on a common platform to organize the healthcare requirements quite efficiently.
Joydeep Bhattacharya