CDAP Information Technology Steering Committee

CDAP Information Technology Steering Committee

Technical Sub-Committee Report

Specifications for electronic data processing of CDAP prescriptions.

Scope Identification:

To technically define the necessary functions and operations required for the electronic processing of CDAP prescriptions such that Request for Proposals (RFP’s) may be obtained for a solution.

Methodology of Approach:

The method of approach for this task shall be to first identify the functional needs for the software requirements, then propose suitable hardware architecture and then a feasible communications infrastructure.

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

Stakeholder Identification:

The stakeholders that will use this system is as follows:

1. Ministry of Health – Public Pharmacies
2. Ministry of Health - Administration
3. NIPDEC
4. Private Pharmacies
5. Doctors
6. Patients

The relationship between these entities is as follows:

Stakeholder Matrix of Functions

Stakeholder
Functions / Public Instution Pharmacies / Patient / Private Pharmacies / NIPDEC / MOH-Admin
Inventory Management / X / X / X
Claim Processing / X / X / X
Patient Profile / X / X / X / X
Rx History / X / X / X
Audit / X / X
Reporting / X / X / X / X
Rx Processing / X / X / X
Data Interchange / X / X

Function Descriptions

Description
Inventory Management
Item maintenance / Addition, Deletion and usage patterns of items.
Receiving / Ability to receive items into inventory.
Transfers In and Out / Transfer of qtys to managed locations, pharmacies, sub clinics etc.
Lot Tracking / Manage expiry dates and lot rotation based on FIFO.
Cost / Track average cost for reporting purposes.
Item profile / Common usage instructions for the item and information for printing of labels at pharmacies.
Location Management / Allows each location to view inventory levels for that specific location.
Requisitioning / Allows for automatic or manual requisitions to be generated by location when stock levels fall below pre-determined levels.
Claim Processing
Batching of Claims / Determination of payment cycles and auto submittal of claims for periods on the Pharmacy A/C.
History of Claims / Listing of paid and pending claims.
Details of a Claim / Ability to view down to a transaction level the details of a particular claim.
Status of a Claim / Ability to view the status of a claim as it relates to its path in the processing cycle.
Patient Profile
Patient Information Maintenance / Basic Patient Information such as name, address, etc, as well as patient ID info for validation.
Patient Notes / Special Notes entered, stored and retrieved by each pharmacy. Access is localized by pharmacy.
Rx Processing
Doctors Maintenance / Basic Doctor contact information.
Rx Pad Allocation / Sequence numbering of Rx assigned to Doctors or Intuitions.
Data Capture of Rx / Data Entry Screen to process Rx Information.
Label Printing / Module to print Rx labels to attach to dispensed drugs.
Patient Verification / Module to verify that patient qualifies for the programme.
Rx History
Rx History by Pharmacy / Ability to view/print Rx History for each Pharmacy for a selected period.
Rx History by Patient / Ability to view/print Rx History for each Patient for a selected period.
Audit
Entry of Rx by DEO / Data Entry Operator (DEO) to key in Rx manually at NIPDEC.
Exception Reporting / Comparison of Pharmacy entered Record and DEO Record and exceptions reported.
Location Auditing / Generation of audit sheets by location and data entry of those sheets.
Reporting
Pharmacy Payment Claims / Claims to be processed.
Inventory / Inventory level reporting, Consumption Analysis, Batch/Lot analysis.
Audit / Exception reporting.
Patient / Patient Activity Report on usage.
Pharmacy Activity / Pharmacy usage analysis, Claims analysis and inventory levels.
Rx Pads / Rx pads allocated to doctors and intuitions.
Data Interchange
Import Capability / Ability to load data from text files into the application
Export Capability / Ability to export data to text files from the application

General Notes:

1. The proposed software should be fully web based in its design and execution. This aids in the long term reduction of operating costs.
2. Solution should be based on an industry standard database platform that supports ODBC for future expansion or conversion.
3. As much as possible, standard programming objects should be used in the design and delivery of the application, proprietary systems should be avoided.
4. Software design should be optimized such that the clients can be executed over a 56K Dial-Up connection.

HARDWARE ARCHITECTURE

Design Concept:

The design concept of this system, hinges about a web-application. As such, end-users connecting to the system should only need a web-browser to access and operate the system. The major processing power of the solution lies at the server end of the system which is located at NIPDEC C-40.

The nature of the system utilizes the internet to make point-to-point connections for the transfer of the data between the private pharmacies and the server. The public pharmacies shall also be able to utilize this method of connectivity to link together the HeathCenters and Public Institutions.

Pharmacy (Public or Private) End Equipment:

The following equipment is what is estimated at the end user’s premises to connect to the system:

1. Modem (dial-up 56K or High Speed)
2. Computer Desktop System meeting the minimum requirements:

P4 2.4GHz Processor, 256MB RAM, 40GB HD, 17” Monitor,

Windows XP with Internet Explorer 6 SP1, CDRW Optical Drive,

3 ½ “ Floppy Disk Drive

1. Label Printer
2. Barcode Scanner
3. Firewall

NIPDEC (C-40) End Equipment:

The following equipment is what is estimated at the processing end of the system:

1. 2 Web Servers with the following specifications:

Intel Xeon 3.0GHz Dual Processors, 1GB RAM, 80GB HD RAID 1, 17” Monitors, 4mm DAT Tape Drive, DVDRW Optical Drive, Dual Network Interface Cards, Windows 2003 Server*

1. 1 Database Server with the following specifications:

Intel Xeon 3.0GHz Dual Processors, 1.6GB RAM, 200GB HD RAID 5, 17” Monitors, 4mm DAT Tape Drive, DVDRW Optical Drive, Dual Network Interface Cards, Windows 2003 Server*

1. 1 Integration Server with the following specifications:

Intel Xeon 3.0GHz, 1GB RAM, 40GB HD, 17” Monitors, CDRW Optical Drive, Dual Network Interface Cards, Windows 2003 Server*

1. ADSL Router
2. Firewall

* This operating system depends on the software solution selected and can me changed

NB. All configurations can be modified when the application is selected.

Connectivity Diagram:

Below shows how the equipment should be logically connected:

Equipment Summary:

Equipment Listing / Qty
Pharmacy
Desktop PCs / 240
Barcode Scanners / 240
Label Printers / 240
C-40
Web Server / 2
Database Server / 1
Integration Server / 1

COMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE

Available methods:

1. Lease Line Frame Relay - TSTT
2. ADSL – TSTT
3. Dial- Up 56K – TSTT
4. Fibre Optic Sonnet – CCTT

Feasible Options:

The feasible options for implementation of this system due to cost and availability are the ADSL option and the Dial-Up 56K option both provided by TSTT.

Connectivity Diagram:

Below shows the proposed connectivity diagram:

Equipment Summary:

Equipment Listing / Qty
Pharmacy
Modems / 240
Firewall / 240
C-40
Router / 1
Firewall / 1

General Notes:

1. It is assumed that the Private Pharmacies shall provide their own telephone line for this system at their cost.
ESTIMATED BUDGETED COSTS

Below gives and estimated budget required for the implementation of this programme:

ITEM/TASK / COST
Hardware
Pharmacies – 240 Desktops @ $9,000.00/desktop / $2,160,000
Pharmacies – 240 label Printers @ $3,000/printer / $720,000
Pharmacies – 240 barcode Scanners @ $1,000/scanner / $240,000
Modems – 240 @ $200/modem / $48,000.00
Firewall – 240 @ $800/client / $192,000.00
NIPDEC – Web Servers (2) / $40,000
NIPDEC – Database Server / $22,000
NIPDEC- Integration Server / $20,000
Total Hardware / $3,442,000.00
Software
Web & Database Software / $900,000
Customized Link to Encom System / $225,000
Total Software / $1,125,000.00
Communications - TSTT
Install NIPDEC – 1 -1024K ADSL Line / $2,500
Miscellaneous Items / $30,000
Total Communications / $32,500.00
TOTAL IMPLEMENTATION COST / $4,599,500.00
Recurrent Expenditure/month
Communications – TSTT – 240- 56K Lines @ $300/line + 1024K line @ $3,200.00 / $75,200
Hardware Maintenance / $30,000
Software Maintenance / $25,000
Miscellaneous expenses / $20,000
Total Recurrent Cost / $150,200.00