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Ollscoil na hÉireann, Gaillimh GX_____
National University of Ireland, Galway
Autumn Examinations 2009 / 2010
Exam Code(s) 3BF Exam(s) B. Sc. in Business Information Systems Module Code(s) MS Module(s) Applied Systems Analysis Paper No. Repeat Paper External Examiner(s) Dr. D. Ivanov Internal Examiner(s) Dr. T. Acton Mr. C. J. Barry Instructions: Answer Question 1 and two other questions. Duration 2 hours No. of Pages 6 Department(s) Course Co-ordinator(s) Martin Hughes Requirements : MCQ Handout Statistical Tables Graph Paper Log Graph Paper Other Material
Question 1 Using the interview transcript below of the Dermatology Practice case study, answer the following questions. Note that all question parts do not carry equal marks. (a) Model the existing activities of the medical practice described below, in the following way:
- Draw a Context Diagram
- Draw a Functional Decomposition Diagram for the whole system. 15 marks (b) Having identified all the data entities described below, draw an entity relationship diagram with primary and foreign keys specified. You do not need to specify other attributes. 15 marks (c) Draw a UML State Machine Diagram to represent the various states that patient billing progresses through within the system. 10 marks (d) Discuss how the systems analyst, Wojciech Czalka, has performed in his work. In your discussion consider how well he directed and controlled the interview. Also, identify any shortcomings in how the interview was conducted and what you might have done differently. 10 marks Total: 50 marks A Dermatology Practice Dr. Claire Washington has recently taken over a dermatology practice from an older physician, Dr. Halwell, with whom she has practised for the past ten years. A recently qualified physician, Dr. Frank Jefferson, will be joining the practice shortly. Claire and Frank will run the practice as a partnership. The other staff are:
- Ms. Teresa Liu, office manager.
- Ms. Jennifer Carrington, secretary.
- Ms. Sally Farnham and Ms. Trudy Hynes, nurses. The practice operated reasonably well but is creaking under the weight of antiquated procedures. The old patient record software system in use is called Patient CarePlus but it has been very slow and inflexible as the practice has developed. Furthermore, many procedures remain manual and they would like to automate these where possible. Thus to improve efficiency and profitability, Dr. Washington has decided that many office practices will need to be changed. She has contacted Computer Consultants with a view to commissioning a computer-based system to help with patient scheduling, ordering supplies, accounts receivables (billing), ‘reminder’ generation and patient treatment. Wojciech Czalka, Senior Systems Analyst of
appointment takes place.) Other patients will arrive unscheduled and if time is available, the patient will be given an immediate appointment, otherwise they will be scheduled for some later date. In both cases Jennifer enters patient details (if it is a new patient) and the appointment date and time. This is achieved by searching the doctor’s diary in the system and identifying suitable dates for the patient. The appointment is created and communicated to the patient over the phone or by email. The next day’s daily appointment schedule is printed off at close of business the day before and distributed to all staff so that a clear picture of the next day’s activities are known by all. For some patient visits, Dr. Washington marks on the form that the patient should return in a certain length of time. These appointments, perhaps several months ahead, are usually scheduled before the patient leaves the office. Dr. Washington tried to establish a patient appointment reminder system, but the receptionist was just too busy to notify patients about their appointments in advance. Ideally, patients should be called and reminded about appointments, especially those scheduled a long time ago. Unfortunately, most patients are never called, so some of them simply forget about their appointments. Later on, they usually call to reschedule their appointments, often because the condition has recurred. Dr. Washington is particularly concerned about this situation because timely intervention can often prevent serious medical problems. Whenever Dr. Washington is called away due to a medical emergency, Jennifer must reschedule appointments for several patients. Before the patients can be contacted, their phone numbers and/or email addresses must be located by searching the file records. It is a laborious task, but she asserts that she always accomplishes the appointment rescheduling in a satisfactory way. Finally, Wojciech investigates the record-keeping system for patient histories. A physical file folder exists for each patient. After each patient visit, Dr. Washington enters her own notes about the ailment and the treatment prescribed as well as essential details into the Patient CarePlus system. Unless the patient has a long medical history, this system seems to be satisfactory for Dr. Washington. However patients with complicated histories are troublesome because Dr. Washington needs to review both the physical patient file and the Patient CarePlus system to be sure that no vital information is overlooked. The nurses express a different view of the patient history system. When patients call, they have to pull the correct file folder, search for the information in the computer, and answer their questions. They feel that a single source for all the information is important. Having obtained an in-depth view of the various systems pertinent to Dr. Washington’s practice, Wojciech also examines the accounts payable system and drug records. Although the accounts payable system is functioning well, Wojciech becomes concerned about controls in this area. He discovers that an audit has never been performed on accounts payable. Ms. Liu has the authority to pay bills without any supervision from Dr. Washington, since these amounts, apart from drugs, are relatively small compared to the monthly salaries. Ms. Liu writes cheques on a separate current account designated for this purpose. The payments from the patients are placed in a second (deposit) account from which only Dr. Washington is authorised to withdraw funds, which she does so every so often to float the current account. Since Ms. Liu can draw funds only from the first account, Dr. Washington believes that the patient receipts placed in the second account are secure from fraud.
Wojciech is not satisfied with the controls in this area, however, and marks this matter for discussion with Dr. Washington. Wojciech then interviews the nurses about the procedures for issuing drugs. The nurses both agree that the record-keeping system is adequate. The distribution of controlled substances, drugs that are strictly regulated by law, is recorded in a special book. The inventory of other drugs is simply checked once a week by one of the nurses - drugs are reordered by writing the drug name and quantity on an order form. From there Ms. Liu takes over, ordering the drugs and paying the bills. There have never been any problems in this area. The quantity of each drug in stock is written in the Drug Book. The nurses are emphatic in their disapproval of any change to this system. Question 2 (a) “Keeping projects on-time, within budget and achieving a high level of quality is difficult. Failures and limited success far outnumber very successful information systems.” With this statement in mind discuss the importance of project management in IS development and how effectively it might be achieved. State also what you believe are the critical issues that face project managers. 12.5 marks (b) The following activities describe the six major tasks of an information systems development project for Loopy Systems Ltd. Draw a PERT/CPM chart suggested by the activities listed above, showing all activity relationships. Identify the critical activities and the critical path. Activity Precedence Duration (weeks) A - 6 B - 18 C A 5 D B 4 E C,D 8 F B 11 1 2. 5 marks Question 3 (a) Describe the principal fact finding techniques that an analyst can use during systems analysis in the elicitation and determination of user requirements. 15 marks (b) Discuss group interviewing (e.g. Joint Application Design) as an alternative to one-on-one interviewing. 10 marks
