Healthcare & Systems

 ICT is a tool to better productivity, give insights and save resources. How this is used by organization goes down to having a team that can envision the use of the system now and its sustainability.

The first task is to have a good scope for what the system will do and envision what the system might do in future then provide for an API. An API in lay man language is basically something like a USB port inside the system where you can extend functions for the future. This functions could be something like extend different types of payments i.e VISA, Mastercard etc. The world has evolved and we now have standard APIs (REST, SOAP) that are recognized by most programming languages, but before this becomes a lecture in systems, lets focus on Health Care systems.

The Natural Death of Technology

I work in the healthcare industry and I have interacted with its systems. My views might be limited to my experience or inspired my thoughts on how this can be handled differently. I personally think that the organizations that will envision what technology will become and use it while the technology’s growth path is still steep on the chart will have a big advantage over its peers. Referring to below diagram, it will be a risk for any healthcare because of how sensitive the data is to embark on the curve while the growth is still in it embryonic stage. Take technology as a human being, you invest on it while its on its prime and youth and it will give more returns. Some technologies that now long dead are Walkmans, CRT Televisions, Floppy disks and those that are its prime are the smart phones. Flatly some technologies will fail.

Nokia heavily invested on its Symbian OS and a few years after its release, a free Linux based operating system came on board. The name is android. Those companies that would hardly rival Nokia a decade before in the phone market like LG made a killing by taking the risk of Android at its embryonic stage. However, for medical systems it would be safer to let the growth path get slightly positive and steeper. ICT companies on the other hand will need to focus on having R&D departments in order to pick the right technology whose curve will yield good returns. How does a healthcare provider embark on the good growth curve and enjoy the yields? It boils down to setting up a good system.

Keys to successful Healthcare ICT systems

1.      Data Driven systems

Health systems have a unique characteristic; the Data is king, Data on patients, their health records, the demographics. The data is King in the chess board, the application running its functions are pawns that can change at a planned time, however the data is cannot be changed. Healthcare providers who handle their patient data well, will give better treatment, give better services.

Applications are built round the data and it will cost less if the design is designed around the data instead of tying the data to applications. The scope of developing the system should be drawn from how the data will be handled.

Data driven systems will enable something I think will be big for healthcare providers that is Big Data Analytics. Big data analytics can give predictive insights such as disease patterns, disease patterns for a certain area, patient habits. This is a big topic for another day.

2.      Single ERP

All functions of the healthcare provider should be tied to one system. I couldn’t even emphasize more on that. One systems for all. The same system that handles patients, should handle finances, procuring, stocks, employees. Or at the least have capability to extend to such functions and still operate the same ecosystem. This system should be tied one single source for authentication and permissions.

There is a big problem in having operating many systems, from resources, to cost, to system security. Having one system means you will a lean team to manage it, a cheaper supplier to support it. Many systems also create loop holes that can be exploited by users with malicious intentions.

3.      Use a Standard Language

Have one system written in one standard language, and a language that is always evolving. I.e. Java, C#, Python and enterprise databases such as Oracle, MSSQL. Languages that have proven to evolve into better robust, reliable languages. There is a danger in using scripting languages such as Php or other web based scripting languages.

A lot of languages are moving to having reusable code, for multiple platforms such that you write code once and for all devices e.g. web, desktop applications, phone applications (IOS, Android). My advice is be cautious about using certain scripting languages now, at this moment we might be witnessing the beginning of the end of growth curves for certain languages such as Php as it happened to Pascal, Fortran etc. If someone offers to implement a system using scripting languages, BE CAUTIOUS. It might be good now, but what of the future? It’s more costly to replace systems than grow them.

4.      Documentation

The most boring work for most ICT organizations is to do documentation both in the code through comments and system documentation. System documentation is important because it ensures smooth continuity and support.

Documentation also lays out the responsibility of the developing company. Ambiguity means more costs since companies can charge for services that they were supposed to offer in the first place.

Documentation also ensure that patient data which is very sensitive is protected in a well laid out manned and structure. Documentation should also include an SLA, Service Level Agreement because the system is used in real time and any delays causes a lot of setbacks.

5.      Cloud your Data

Lastly, this is the resort if anything to limit the biggest risk in healthcare system. Which is data loss. Equipment can get damaged, destroyed but data shouldn’t. Have data, especially patient data backed up in a cloud somewhere. This reduce the biggest risk which is data loss.

References

http://www.slideshare.net/magamawi/chapter-four-technology-life-cycles-v2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history

http://blog.livecoding.tv/is-php-dead/

https://enewsletters.constructionexec.com/riskmanagement/2013/09/scope-creep-increases-risk-and-decreases-profitability/

Boarding School...Am Not Boarding.

I was 8 Years 9 Months when I joined boarding school. A nice well performing school in the heart of Nakuru. Then, the only thing that excited me about going to boarding school was 2 litres of Quencher juice and a 'budget pack' of Manji biscuits as we cruised down from Eldoret to Nakuru in a Peugeot 504. See, I didn't come from a home where I would just go open the fridge and voila! there is juice. There wasn't even a fridge in our home back then. Juice was a preserve of birthday parties and Christmas, and when juice wasn't bought on these occasions it was consumed like medicine, not even the neighbours had a hint. But now I had two litres in my tin trunk, for me and me alone, that made journey pretty pretty long. For a long time it didnt hit me I was going to be left alone,well yes, I was going with my big brother, but our sibling rivalry ensured technically I was going to be alone. On our arrival, all the necessary documents were processed, my brother and I got admission numbers, our respective classes and dormitories. We got our beds made really well and just about then my life in boarding began. We bid our middle aged parents bye, they had the best interest at heart for us. Our Future.

Well for me, NO SOONER THAN they had left, the Orange diluted Quencher was hitting my mouth. I ripped the budget pack open and I had an assorted brand of biscuits looking at me, Christmas of 1997 came in May. Biscuits tasted like never before, no hungry friends beckoning from all over, "nipee haki woiye nipee" like  the previous government school I was in. None! The supper bell rang and we were all driven to the dining hall with two cane wielding teachers. Mr Kariuki aka Karis and Mr Maina. Their cane whipping techniques were dreaded and were discussed in hashed tones among pupils. That evening we had  poorly done Ugali and boiled Kales. I struggled through the whole meal. Announcements followed that our foodstuffs(my dear juice and biscuits) were to be finished within a week. The final day of finishing was branded, FINISHING DAY (I bet the teacher who came with that was very creative). For the whole of the entire life in boarding school, my juice didn't last three days and so did the budget pack. What did you expect?

Within a week, life got tough, no food stuffs like biscuits, by this time, we had one slice of bread for breakfast with some whitish baige over diluted liquid thing they called tea. Supper was a constant of Ugali and boiled kales. The only exciting on the menu, was Sunday's lunch chapati. Which, as many boys would do, is fold it, put it in your pocket, to be devoured later under the covers of your blanket during the after lunch Sunday siesta. Well that was just food. As a young boy I came with baggage.

In my ealry life, I was a bedwetter and so were many other kids in junior dormitory. There were those Ligi Ndogo bedwetters and Ligi Soo bedwetters. Like one guy Orenge, a serious Ligi Soo bedwetter. I was in Ligi Soo and I didnt sleep far from Mr Karis's cubicle. On my first night, I wet my bed, i took it out to dry and so did a huge class five boy called Charles*. My mattress was thicker than his and as events later had it, he swapped his with mine, I ended up with a thin mattress with flowers, it was so thin I could feel the mesh on the bed if slept at a particular spot for long. As my bed wetting would have it, and my mattress not assisting, Mr Karis would wake up to River Nile every morning and I would wake up to some serious whipping for my biological dysfunctions. So I had to wake up earlier than him, dry the river Nile, squeeze to the corner of the drier side of bed and catch some of the sweet morning sleep. Some pupils, in the same class were lucky to have had matured bladders by then, and they walked in their matured-bladder clicks, talked matured-bladder stories and walked in matured-bladder bounce, sometime they would be wikileaks of the class telling girls of the boys who wet their beds. Well the River-Nile drying click had gotten used to it to a point, it was not shame but just order of life. Our friendships were bound by our biological tribulations.

I had my moments, I was among the clever kids in class, I was revered in some subjects. The school, had one big day for announcing results called RESULTS DAY(Damn that teacher knew how to name occasions, how creative?). Every soul would be in attendance even the dogs of the school because of the smell emanating from the Kitchen. Top performing pupils would be rewarded, with nothing but GOOD FOOD. Chicken, sausages, pilau, soda, chapatis. I read for food, I performed for food. The high table of results day had a spot for me, I rarely missed.

Then came the whipping. I wished we were whipped with pipes, or sticks but we were whipped with a fan  belt. A black hard rubber. The first time I got a taste of the fan belt on my butt, was by one Mr. Ongonga, the class 3 Swahili teacher. He gave us homework to write Insha. Coming from a government school and in class 3, I wrote half a page of Insha, little did I know i needed to write two pages. Mr, Ongonga, gave me three of the best, by this time I didnt know the butt clenching technology ,aka "kukaza", that the more experienced boarders were using. Me and one Duncan Ong'oi didnt know that. Boarding school had turned from Quencher loving experience to a fan belt whipping hell.

In boarding, your teacher is not your mother, the teacher has her own kids. You spend 9 months a year, without your parents, with time, boarding schools becomes your home, the food (a slice of bread for breakfast) becomes your home food and that non caring teacher becomes part of your life. Slowly, your siblings you left at home almost become strangers, my small sister at one point didn't know who me and my big brother were. We were strangers visiting after every three months. Do I regret boarding, no, it shaped my character to be whom I am. Tough question though is, forget the tribulations, and assume a perfect, good food, good teachers and nice homely conditions, is it really worth it to take your kids to boarding school for the sake of grades? Well my take is no, you will miss more than half of their early childhood and that is time you will never recover. Will kids succeed despite boarding, yes. Life is not about grinding good grades but developing a successful character from them, and thats a role that is God given and God driven.