CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Computerization is defined as the control of processes by computers and its
peripherals. Today it would be difficult to think of any process, business or action
that could not have profited from the numerous benefits of the computer system.
Controlling process or devices with computer started long ago since the invention
of computer. In the 20th century inventors tried to make processes easier with the
use of computers. Secondly computerization has been greatly applied or used in
controlling process that requires frequent action such as drug procurement, drug
management, drug tracking and drug distributions in hospital management
information system in pharmacy departments of hospitals.
This project which is drug procurement and distribution tracking system provides a
computer based information management system in a Pharmacy Department of the
University of Nigerian Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu by designing a cost
effective, user friendly application, incorporating key attributes of data integrity
and system security suitable for use in the pharmacy department of the hospital
using Microsoft Access software in developing the database and visual basic as the
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programming language. The overall aim of this project is to optimize time and
material in the processing of data needed for effective operation of large pharmacy
department of a hospital. By this approach, data integrity, data redundancy, and
consistency will be ensured.
Drugs are the chemical substances that are administered to patients for curative
purposes and prophylaxis. It can also be known as a medicine, because it is the
essential part of peoples care.
The ability of the computer to store and retrieve information at a very fast and
efficient rate makes its application useful in management operations. Drug
management involves drug procurement, drug distribution, drug tracking and its
information management. Drug distribution is concerned with distribution of drugs
within the different medical units or departments in a hospital, while drug
procurement is concerned with the purchasing activities of the drugs by the
pharmacy department of the hospital. In the same vein, drug tracking is concern
with the continuous monitoring of the actual quantity of drugs held in the hospital
pharmacy or any other drug warehouse /store. It also controls the stock level.
Pharmaceutical unit in a hospital is concerned with drug management activities.
They carry out the responsibility of making appropriate selection and drugs used
by formulating an annual, monthly, weekly or daily list of drugs requirement and
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management reports. However, in some hospitals today, some pharmacists still use
the manual system of operation which can lead to inappropriate drug management
errors due to problems of handling voluminous file within a short period of time.
This could make data to be easily inaccessible and also delivery of drugs can lead
to misplacement of patients’ files.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Drug procurement, tracking, distribution and information management in this
regard are routine processes carried out in various hospitals across Nigeria. It is a
common place to observe that these routine processes are still preformed manually
or are minimally computerized even in our Teaching Hospitals. This manual
approach to these routine operations has a lot of problems associated with it,
ranging from poor handling of drug data of patients, lack of good storage
information system for drugs and drug dispensary, delays, to the difficulty in
retrieving information on drugs and patients’ records. In view of all these
problems, it becomes necessary to develop a computer based drug information
management system and distribution tracking system. This is what this research
project is set to address by computerizing the routine processes in our hospitals and
in particular that of Pharmacy Department of UNTH Enugu.
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1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The aim of this research project is to design and implement a computerized drug
information management system, drug procurement and distribution tracking
system. This includes:
(i). To order for drugs without mistake of procuring more than required.
(ii). To take good stock of drugs.
(iii). To prevent dispensary of expired drugs
(iv). To ensure accurate keeping of records of drugs
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The benefits derivable from this work include the following:
(i) It will provide reliable healthcare services.
(ii) It will guarantee hospital management and patients of genuine and safe
drugs.
(iii) It will ensure an efficient and standard drug dispensary system.
(iv) It will provide a data base for stock taking of drugs procured and
dispensed any moment.
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1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This research work will cover only the Pharmaceutical Department of the
University of Nigerian Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu. It will present an up to
date and comprehensive design of the following:
(i) Planning and control system which includes inventory control and drug
distribution
(ii) Drug procurement procedure in a hospital.
(iii) The expiry status of each drugs at any point in time
(iv) The Database of all kinds, types and names of some drugs that would be
store and operate on.
1.6 ASSUMPTION
It is assumed that all the information gathered with the respect to inventory control
is correct as implemented by the university of Nigerian teaching hospital (UNTH)
Enugu.
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1.7 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
1. Time constraint; There is limited time go and meet the hospital pharmacist for
proper information.
2. Due to the sensitive nature of organizational information, there was reluctance to
release vital information which may jeopardize the security of the organization.
1.8 PROJECT REPORT ORGANIZATION
This research project covers almost all you need to know about drug procurement
and distribution tracking system. Chapter one is the introduction and it covers the
statement of problem, objectives of the study, significance of the study, scope of
the study, assumption, limitations of the study and definition of terms. Chapter two
is the literature review; it gives the detailed meaning of every associated word in
my topic. Chapter three is the design and methodology; this involves the operation
of the existing system and the method used. Chapter four is the system analysis and
implementation; which talked about the operation of the proposed system. Chapter
five is the summary, recommendation and conclusion.
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1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Database; A collection of logically related data to meet the information need of
organization.
DBMS; Database Management Software that enable the user to define, maintain
Control the database.
Application Program; A computer program that interacts with the database.
MENU; This is a list of options presented on the screen with each option identified
by short code followed by longer description of its purposes.
Drug; It is referred to as a medicine or chemical substances that are administered
to Patients for curative measures.
Pharmacy; A placed in a hospital where medicine or chemical substances are
kept, stored and prepared.
Flowchart; A diagram that shows connection between the different stages of
process of the system.
Primary Key; The candidate key that is selected to identify the individual within
the relation
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Foreign Key; An attribute or a set of attributes within one relation that matches
the candidate key
Relation; A relation is a named table with columns and rows
Attribute; An attributes is a named column of a relation
Domain; A set of allowable values for one or more table
Null; it represents a value for an attribute that is currently unknown or not
applicable
Database design; The process of creating a design that will support emprise
mission statement and mission required database e system.
Software: These are program for computer which allows certain specific task to be
accomplished e.g. word process etc.
Hardware: Computer equipment used to perform input processing and system
output activates.
Management information system: collection of people, database, and devices
produced to use in providing routine information to manager and decision makers
of the organization.
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