MIS for Veterinary Clinic
Introduction
The Management Information System (MIS) for Veterinary Clinic is a tool designed to streamline the day-to-day operations of a veterinary clinic. It features a three-user interface—admin, veterinarian, and staff—and allows users to manage both pet and pet owner information. The system includes modules for appointment scheduling, laboratory management, transactions, inventory, reporting, and user management.
Role
As the designer for this project, the user interface was created from scratch through development. Additionally, programming duties were handled, including designing and managing the system's database.
The Problem
Manual transactions may result in data redundancy.
Difficult to monitor the patient's medical record
Booking an appointment is not organized.
Difficult to monitor the collection report.
Difficult to monitor the inventory.
The Solution
Provide a management information system for the clinic.
Design an easier way to monitor the patient's progress and medical record.
Provide an appointment module on the system.
Provide a collection report on the system.
Provide product features and an inventory report on the system.
Goal
The goal of the veterinary system is to automate clinic operations, including transactions, accurate reporting for collections, inventory, audit trails, and laboratory results. It enables real-time access to information for veterinarians and staff, helping to reduce clinic costs and increase efficiency.
Project Development Framework
The project team utilized an agile model for the software development lifecycle throughout this project.
The agile software development model consists of five stages: Requirements Planning, System Design, Development, Testing, and Deployment.
The first stage was Requirements Planning. An interview was conducted to establish a general understanding of the veterinary clinic’s business processes and transactions. Based on the gathered data, the required features of the system were determined, and the hardware and system requirements were identified.
After Requirements Planning, the next stage was System Design. The blueprint for the front-end was created using Figma, and the database structure for the system was designed.
The next stage was Development. This phase involved creating the functional web MIS to meet the veterinary clinic's requirements. It included both front-end and back-end development using HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, Bootstrap, WAMP for the server, and MySQL for the database. Development began with the login module and dashboard, followed by the patient module, appointment module, laboratory module, transaction module, product module, report module, user management module, system settings, and finally the help module.
In the Testing phase, quality assurance testing was conducted to evaluate the system's performance and reliability. This ensured that the system met the required standards and was ready for deployment.
After completing the development phase, incremental and iterative changes were made based on feedback from the testing phase. The system was adjusted to meet user requirements using the Pareto principle and exit criteria.
Testing
The system’s User Acceptance Testing criteria ratings are as follows:
User Login: 100%
Client Profile Management: 100%
Appointment Management Module: 100%
Transaction Module: 100%
Product Management Module: 100%
Laboratory Management Module: 100%
Report Management Module: 100%
User Account Manager: 100%
System Settings: 100%
The findings indicate that the system is acceptable to the respondents. It suggests that the system is well-structured and capable of processing the operations of a veterinary clinic.
Final Design
Challenges
The project was allocated one year for completion, but managing the timeline was challenging due to other university commitments.
Working on the project with limited knowledge about developing a functional website proved difficult.
There were times when motivation was lost, causing a temporary halt in progress. However, reflecting on the initial purpose of the project provided the needed encouragement to continue.
What I Learned
Effective time management was crucial, requiring careful planning both during and outside of project work.
Experience was gained with various tools.
Skills were developed in designing systems, managing databases, and coding websites, leading to personal and professional growth.
Feedback proved essential for improving the project and achieving better results.
Collaborating with a project team highlighted the importance of working with individuals of diverse personalities.
Short breaks and time spent with family helped maintain motivation and stay on track.
Future Plan
Enhance features and functionality, particularly for the appointment and transaction modules.
Develop a client-facing website interface.
Implement a dark mode option for the interface.
