The Software Requirement Document - Essay Example

1 Introduction 1 Document Purpose 1.2 Product Scope 1.3 Intended Audience and Document Overview 1.4 Definitions, Acronyms and Abbreviations1 1.5 Document Conventions 1 1.6 References and Acknowledgments 2 2 Overall Description 3 2.1 Product Perspective 3 2.2 Product Functionality 3 2.3 Users and Characteristics 3 2.4 Operating Environment 3 2.5 Design and Implementation Constraints 4 2.6 User Documentation 4 2.7 Assumptions and Dependencies 4 3 Specific Requirements 5 3.1 External Interface Requirements 5 3.2 Functional Requirements 6 3.3 Behaviour Requirements 6 4 Other Non-functional Requirements 7 4.1 Performance Requirements 7 4.2 Safety and Security Requirements 7 4.3 Software Quality Attributes 7 5 Other Requirements 8 1. Introduction The following subsections of the software requirement document (SRS) will provide an overview of the entire SRS. 1.1 Document purpose This document is intended to be used in health institutions to ease the keeping of records of patients, monitoring the procurement activities, monitoring the financial transactions in the hospitals and managing the public relation activities of the health institutions. Practice management system (PMS) integrates these robust activities in one central server. They are then spread out through a local area network connection to each department through a user interface. 1.2 Intended audience and document overview This software requirement document (SRS) document is intended for the medical practitioners working in the health sector. They include medical doctors, nurses, hospital management officers and the public relations officers. It is also intended for my professor. 1.3 Definition of acronyms and abbreviations 1. SRS- Software requirement document. This is the name given to a document containing details of software. 2. PMS-Practice management system. This is the name given to the software contained in this document. 3. HTTP: Hypertext markup language. 4. FTP: File transfer protocol 5. Data integrity: This refers to the correctness of data. 6. User: The person who directly interacts with the system. 7. Database: a collection of related information logically organized and put in a sequential manner. 8. Server: A central device that holds vast data amounts and distributes it to all the necessary interfaces. 9. LAN: local area network 10. OS: Operating System. 1.4 Document conventions 1. Formatting convention: The document topic headings are written in Times New Romans, bold and font size 12. The document body is written in Times New Romans and font size 12. Also paragraphs are written ½’’ from the margin. 2. Naming convention: Tables and diagrams are named in Times New Romans , font size 10 and in italics. 1.5 References and acknowledgements International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Information processing systems – Open Systems Interconnec-tion – Basic Reference Model – Part 2: Security Architecture (ISO 7498-2), 1989. NAPRA Pharmacy Practice Management System available on http://napra.ca/Content_Files/Files/NAPRA_Pharmacy_Practice_Management_Systems Canada Health Info way. Pan-Canadian Drug Messaging Standard (CeRx and MR2009). Available via: https://www.infoway-inforoute.ca/index.php/programs-services/standards-collaborative/pan-canadian-standards/drug-standard Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. Health-Care Requirements for Strong Encryption, July 16, 2010. Available at http://www.ipc.on.ca/English/Resources/Educational-Material/Educational-Material-Summary/?id=969 http://www.healthcare-administration-degree.net 2.Overall description 2.1 Product perspective Practice management system (PMS) is a member of the wider family of medical practice management software packages which are developed to aid in the management operations in the health sector. This software is capable of keeping records of patients treated in the hospital, monitoring the transactions made in the procurement department, monitoring the monetary activities of the financial department and management of the public relation activities. Practice management System (PMS) is integrated with an electronic record management system and an electronic database to organize the data and this completes the loop of customer care within the health care system. 2.2 Product functionality Practice management system (PMS) has the following functions: It keeps records of patients in a hospital. It monitors the procurement activities carried out by the procurement department. It monitors the monetary transactions carried out in the hospital. It helps in the management of the payment of salaries to the staff. It helps in management of the public relation activities of the hospital. It also helps to keep pharmaceutical records of the drugs available and hence monitor their distribution. Figure 1: data flow diagram of the software The practice management system (PMS) is composed of three main subcomponents which are a central database, central server and departmental interfaces. The central database holds all the records from all departments. This database is linked to the various departments via the central server. The server stores all the files of the software and links the database to each department. 2.3 Users and characteristics Practice management system (PMS) has different users and each has very unique characteristics. These users are: Finance officers 1. They monitor all the monetary transactions in the hospital. 2. They keep records of the financial transactions. 3. They make payments for the salaries of all workers. 4. They collect all the cash paid in by patients. Pharmacists 1. They monitor the distribution of drugs to the patients. 2. They keep records of all the available drugs and make recommendations on what drugs are needed. Management officers 1. They manage the activities of the hospital. 2. They include doctors and nurses who enter patients’ details. 3. They monitor the progress of patients. 4. They keep staff records and identify areas of deficiency that require hiring. 5. They ensure that ethics are adhered to in the hospital environment. Procurement officers 1. They are very important to the hospital as they make orders for all purchases. 2. They keep records of the goods purchased. 3. They ensure that the hospital has all the material it needs to run effectively. The most important users in this system are the doctors, nurses, procurement officers and pharmacists in that order. 2.4 Operating environment Practice management system (PMS) operates effectively in an environment with the following components: 1. Hardware components required are: desktop computers with a memory of at least 4GB of RAM, scanners, digital cameras. 2. Operating system: Windows operating system, Mac OS or Linux Operating systems. 2.5 Design and implementation constraints 1. The memory requirement for the software is quite high. 2. The software uses local area network, requires a number of hardware and software components and therefore makes its installation expensive. 3. Practice management system faces security problems and data must be backed up. 4. Maintenance of the software must be done by the developer. 5. The databases integrated into the system do not have a guaranteed security as they are drawn from the existing electronic records. 2.6 User documentation This software requirement document for Practice management system (PMS) will be submitted alongside a user guide manual, Installation guide, and user license and warranty documentation. Online user help links will also be availed with this report. 2.7 Assumptions and dependencies Practice management system (PMS) makes some general assumptions that are applied across all its processes. They include: 1. All the hospitals have five departments which include the finance department, procurement department, finance department, pharmacy department and the public relations department. 2. All the medical centers have a central database containing all the past records. 3. All hospitals take daily records for the patients and the staff. 4. All staff are paid through the hospital finance department. 5. The hospital makes decision on the hiring and recruiting of new staff. 3. Specific requirements 3. 1 External interface requirements User interfaces The practice management system software has five interfaces available for each department which have different functionalities. The financial interface, procurement interfaces, management interface and the public relations interface have roles that are closely related. These interfaces have a number of buttons on their graphical user interfaces which include: 1. Enter data buttons: This allows the user to enter new records of information into the system. 2. Update data button: It is used to update records. 3. Delete button: This button is used to erase information wrongly entered or not required in the system. 4. Cancel button: This button can be used to cancel any transaction as necessary. 5. In addition, the pharmaceutical departmental interface may have extra buttons such as the Assign button: Used to assign a particular patient a certain dosage of drugs. Hardware interface Since the activities carried out in each department have are closely related, it is recommended that each interface has the following hardware: desktop computers with keyboards, scanners, printers, digital cameras and connected to the main server through the local area network (LAN). Software interface All the interfaces are supported by windows operating system, Macintosh Operating System and Linux operating system. Communications interfaces Practice management Software(PMS) supports communication through email, web browsers including Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome; Local area network, and supports communication through file Transfer Protocol( FTP) and Hyper text Transfer Protocol(HTTP). Data in Practice management Software (PMS) can be synchronized using a hosted system. 3.2 Functional requirement Practice management system (PMS) has additional functions to those outlined in section 2.2 which include: Monitoring the progress of the patients’ health. Creating an automated billing system where each patient is billed accordingly. Monitors the drugs assignment to patients in the pharmaceutical department and makes sure that a stock record is available at all times. Makes sure that all staff records are kept including their work progress and adherence to their terms of service agreement. 3.3 Behavior requirement Figure 2: structure of the practice management software The general structure of the software appears as shown above whereby the user interfaces are connected to a number of input and output devices which are attached to the system. Each interface is linked to the databases available through the server. The departments are connected using local area network. 4. Other non functional requirements. 4.1 Performance requirements 1. The single data transaction will not take more than 1 minute. 2. A hospital will not serve more than 500 patients in a day. 3. The existing database is efficient and is capable of holding data of up to 4 GB. 4. The existing database system is upgradeable and can be reconstructed into a different architectural structure. 4.2 Safety and security requirements It is important to note that the data contained in the Practice management Software(PMS) system requires to be backed up as it is prone to security threats which may lead to data loss. The following security standards must be fulfilled by all users of the Practice management Software (PMS): 1. Authentication of the user must be done before he or she is allowed to access the system. 2. Active dictionary reporting must be done constant to ensure data security. 3. Decryption of data is not allowed to ensure data security. 4.3 Software quality attributes 4.3.1 Reliability: Practice management Software (PMS) has a guarantee of reliability and can work without any failure in different environments such as Windows, Mac OS and Linux. 4.3.2 Flexibility: Practice management Software (PMS) can be incorporated into newly developed software without causing system failure or malfunction. 4.3.3 Adaptability: Practice management Software (PMS) is able to change its architectural behavior even during runtime. 4.3.4 Robustness: Practice management Software(PMS) has the ability to operate effectively even in strenuous conditions without breaking down. 5. Other requirements 1. The developer is not liable to any damage or loss that may be incurred while the software is in use. 2. For all international sales outside the USA, modification can be done with permission from the developer to adapt to the health system of the country. 3. Any use, sale or transfer of materials related to Practice management Software(PMS) documentation either by hand or by electronic is prohibited and can lead to legal prosecution. Read More