INFOSYS110 Deliverable 2

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INFOSYS.110 BUSINESS SYSTEMS: DELIVERABLE 2: BUSINESS SECTION2014

Name Robert Lim YockNetID rlim796Group Number: 155Website Link: http://infosys1102014fcgroup155.blogspot.co.nz/

Tutorial DetailsTutor: Day: Time:Mira Lee Tuesday 2pm

Time Spent on Assignment: 30 hours Word Count: 1645

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SOFTWARE TO END ALL ERRORSINTRODUCTION

A major problem facing the world today is medical errors in hospitals. Bad hospital care

leads to around the death of around 180,000 patients, and is estimated to be a third highest

cause of death in America, behind cancer and heart disease (Anderson & Townsend, 2010).

These errors often stem from overworked nurses without sufficient training about correct

medicine procedures. Also, mistakes as simple as a misplaced decimal point can have fatal

consequences (Chilton, 2006). Our business has created a software solution that streamlines

the medical application process to prevent these causes – and therefore medical errors –

from happening.

3. BUSINESS SECTION

3.1 Vision

Providing patient supervisors with innovative, customer-focused software solutions to

eliminate medical errors worldwide.

3.2 Industry Analysis: Medicine Distribution Systems Industry

Industry: Medicine Distribution Systems Industry. Our business operates in the medicine

distribution systems industry, which is the link between the medical supplies and the

patient.

Force: High/Low: Justification:

Buyer power: Low The medicine distribution systems industry is

very small, and while other companies exist

(such as Epicor) our business is the only one to

offer this specific software which caters more to

getting the right medicine to the patient. Buyer

power is therefore low as customers have little

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choice.

Supplier power: Low Supplies needed for a software company such as

computers can be sourced from a wide range of

companies, who would all offer low prices to

beat their competition. Possible suppliers

include Hewlett & Packard, Toshiba, Dell, etc.

Threat of new entrants: High There are very little entry barriers to enter this

industry as the supplies can be easily sourced.

Also, it is quite easy for other software

companies to emulate our software and offer a

similar product.

Threat of substitutes: High There are several other methods that have a

similar outcome to our software such as manual

instructions by the doctor or having a

medication chart which the nurses check.

Rivalry among existing

competitors:

Low Because the insustry is so small and the

companies within it, such as Epicor, offer slightly

differing products (Epicor, 2013) there is very

little rivalry amongst existing competitors.

Overall attractiveness of the industry: The industry is moderately attractive. Because it is

such a small industry, each company has its own niche within it, therefore having low rivalry

and buyer power. This company, for example, focuses on the patient aspect of medication

distribution. However, if the industry became very profitable, the ease in which new

entrants can come into the industry (as the supplies needed for a software company are

easy to obtain) makes the long-term attractiveness of the industry lesser.

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3.3 Customers and Their Needs

Our product’s main customer is hospitals. The product is designed specifically for a hospital

room environment, with the patient supervisors in mind. A secondary customer would be

private practictioners or GPs who supervise patients. The main needs of the customer is a

simple system that will make it easier for nurses to obtain and administer the correct

medication to the patient. This will lessen the workload of the nurses, which is one of the

biggest causes of medication errors. (Anderson & Towsend, 2010)

3.4 The Product and Service

The product our business provides is a software system that can be installed on monitors by

the patient’s bed. This system streamlines the medication application process. The doctor or

head supervisor can input the medication details of each patient (on a centralised

computer), which will be automatically be checked against the pre-installed database for

errors such as a misplaced decimal place or clashes with other medication. When it comes

for the nurses to apply medicine, the information about dosage amount, time and

administering process will be displayed immediately on the screen, simplifying the process

and minimizing the margin of error.

3.5 Suppliers and Partners

The first supplier our company needs is a computer supplier, who will provide the

computers on which our developers will design and create the software. Because software

development can be done on any computer, it can be sourced from a range of companies

such as Dell or Hewlett & Packard. The second supplier our company needs is an electrical

company as all of the development and manufacturing of this product requires a large

amount of electricity to power the computers.

One partner our company would have is with a monitor manufacturing company, such as

Samsung, who can provide the hardware on which our software would be installed on. By

partnering with them we could optimise our software for a particular monitor and share

profits. A second partner would be with the government’s medical research department.

Our software uses a deep database which would be constantly updated. By partnering with

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the research department they can provide us with reliable and in-depth information while

we can provide them with constant statistics as medication is used in our software (with our

customers permission).

3.6 Strategy: Focused Low-Cost

Our company is focused on a very narrow portion of the market, which is specifically

hospitals. Other customers likes GPs may benefit from the product but the product

development is focused on use in hospital wards. Prices will be at a relatively low price as

our product, although unique within the industry, will need to be kept at a low cost for our

customer to see it as a viable alternative to existing substitutes.

The overall strategy is therefore Focused Low-Cost

3.7 Value Chain Activity: Research and Development

The most important value chain activity for this business is Research and Development

Research and development is the key value chain for this business. Without this stage our

product cannot be up to the standard needed for our customer to use it compared to other

substitutes. Thorough research has to be taken place to find out where the main problems

lie in terms of medical errors, and this has to be translated into the finished process by

finding solutions for it within the development process. The software has to be easy to use

and well tested, as it cannot fail within a hospital environment.

3.8 Business Processes

3.8.1. CUSTOMER SERVICE PROCESS –

One of the main business processes of this company is the customer service process. This

process begins when the customer receives the product and their information is logged into

a database. The customer retainment system will automatically notify our company to ask

the customer for feedback. This feedback is then sent to the research and development

department, and with the help of a complaints analysis system, possible updates to the

product are made and sent to the customer. The main goal of this process is to provide the

customer with cutting-edge software that they are happy with.

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3.8.2. SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS –

Another main business process is the software development process. This process begins

with the research and development department as the research and design the software. 6

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Using a department management system, the R&D department works together with the

manufacturing department to create the initial product. This is then tested for errors and

modified several times until an error-free product is created.

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3.9 Functionalities

3.9.1. CUSTOMER SERVICE PROCESS

Store and update data on a database Send update to customer

3.9.2. SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Identify industry trends Test products for errors

3.10 Systems

3.10.1. CUSTOMER RETAINMENT SYSTEM – Maintaining customers is key to developing a

strong relationship with a customer. This is important to uphold our vision of ‘customer-

focused’ software as by retaining customers the business can better understand how to

cater the software to the customer. This system has a key part of the customer service

process as stores and updates customer data, and in doing so alerts the company to when a

customer should be contacted. This communication is key to receiving the feedback and

making use of it.

3.10.2. COMPLAINTS ANALYSIS SYSTEM – The complaints analysis system is another key part

of the customer service process. It is also very relevant to the ‘customer-focused’ part of the

company’s vision. The complaints analysis system runs through all the feedback received

from the customers, and identifies the most common complaints so the research and

development department can plan modifications to the product, which are then sent to the

customer. This ensures that customers are happy and able to use the product,

differentiating the product from competitors and substitutes.

3.10.3. DEPARTMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - The departmental management system is

key to the process of software development. This system provides a way for departments

to communicate and work together. In this case, the research and development department

provides the manufacturing department with research on industry trends, as well as a

design for the manufacturing department to follow. This system also allows the two

departments to work together on testing and modifying , ensuring the product is innovative

and usable by the customer, fulfilling the company’s vision.8

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3.11. Summary Table: Value Chain to Systems

Value Chain Activity

Processes Functionalities Specific Information System(s)

Broad Information System(s)

Research

and

Developmen

t

1. Customer Service Process

1. Store and update data on a database

2. Send update to customer

Customer Retainment System

Complaints analysis system

Customer Relationship Management System

Decision Support System2. Software

Development

Process

1. Identify industry trends

2. Test products for errors

Departmental Management System

Collaboration System

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CONCLUSION

Our company has one goal in mind – eliminating medical errors worldwide. Distribution

systems have been identified as one of the best ways to help prevent the causes of medical

errors (Paparella, 2008). Our company is dedicated constantly developing its distribution

system software to cater to hospitals and to prevent the causes of medical errors such as

work overload and miscommunications. Information systems are a integral part of the

company achieving its goals. Systems such as the complaints analysis system ensure that the

product is constantly kept up-to-date and the departmental management system allows

different departments to integrate their work seamlessly to create a well designed and

manufactured product.

REFERENCES

1. Anderson, P. Townsend, T. Medication Errors: Don’t let them happen to you. American Nurse Today, 5(3). Retrieved from http://www.americannursetoday.com/article.aspx?id=6356&fid=6276

2. Allen, M. (2013). How Many Die From Medical Mistakes In U.S. Hospitals? Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/09/20/224507654/how-many-die-from-medical-mistakes-in-u-s-hospitals

3. Chilton, L. (2006). Medication Error Prevention for Healthcare Providers. Retrieved from http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/550273

4. Epicor. (2013). Distribution Software for Medical Supply Distributors. Retrieved from http://www.epicor.com/Industries/Distribution/Pages/Medical-Supply-Distribution-Software.aspx

5. Paparella, S. (2008, April). Medication Distribution Systems: An Interdisciplinary Conundrum. Paper presented at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, Chicago, United States of America.

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