Blog Entry 7.1 Securing Informations Systems

There are several primary threats to IS security Accidents and Natural Disasters, Employee and Consultants, Links to outside business contacts, and outsiders ie. hackers, and viruses and or malicious code. By implementing various security systems to secure access, data, and usage, we at ferrum Medical can effectivly deter the damage possible by malicious intent. By safeguarding all of our data and usage with the use of a combination of hardware and software based firewalls as wells as anti-viral and anti-malicious code software; to allow for safe user environmental which doesn't allow for tampering or infection of the database. The IS is also safeguarded by a user time limit, so that after a certain preprogrammed amount of time has elapsed,  the session becomes inactive and the user is logged out to avoid any potential tampering under a logged in account.Through the use of specialized authentication hardware and software, Ferrum medical can ensure that the users accessing the server through the online site or through the in house terminals are authorized to have access. The access is divided into types and location. For one, only secure data can be accessed onsite, and not sensitive data such as appointment data being viewed by a patient can be viewed outside as well as in side the site. There are administrator, employee, and client types of access. The administrator, being the person who runs the business of Ferrum Medical, has complete access to all data, but sensitive data can only be accessed from a terminal located within the physical building. The Employee has access to all patient, and appointment data as well as supply and prescirption requisition, and the ability to edit any of said data. And the Client level access is to allow the patient to view all their personal data and appointments, only allowing them to access and edit such things as address and to apply for an appointment. Also through the use of human verification and biometrics the system is also made much more secure.

Blog Entry 6.1 web 2.0 pillars

There are four web 2.0 pillars Utilizing the web as a platform, Harnessing Collective Intelligence, Leveraging Data, and Implementing Innovative Web Capabilities. At Ferrum Medical by implementing an IS we can utilize all of the four pillars to produce an effective business advantage. With an implementation of a website we can utilize the web as a platform to promote our business by proving both access and information to both customers and employees. This allows for the users of our website to be informed and continually updated at to the changes  being made to the structure, function and amenities offered at Ferrum Medical. By Allowing customers to leave helpful suggestions on our website we Harness Collective intelligence; allowing for a better content experience. We leverage data by collecting non volatile personal data about our patients to better serve our customers by allowing  us to determine what areas we need to improve upon and how we can expand to better serve out customers and advance our edge. By the use of an interactive internet telephony service we can easily allow customers to call our hotline and set up and appointment and streamline the process of booking appointments and confirming patient information so that easy, well kepts records can be maintained. All of these pillars are implemented somehow through our home office server.

Blog Entry 5.3 Intranet

At Ferrum Medical, when an employee or even a patient needs to access their information on our server, they use something called an intranet. From their home office computer or any laptop they can log onto out website and securely access sensitive information. Then through the interconnectivity of a VPN or virtual private network accessed after establishing a connection to the internet, they can access anything they are given access to under their profile. Their data is stored on our home server and after they have gained admittance and after having passed through all the necessary gateways.

Blog Entry 5.2 Extranet

At Ferrum Medical, when a physician logs on to our secure website, they can connect to any pharmacy using our extranet. The physician, being a client uses our server as a proxy between our facility and the pharmacy's server. This client, connects to the internet through a secure firewall to then send and receive sensitive data across a VPN or virtual private network. They after this secure data travels through the VPN it gets verified by the pharamacy's firewall and then get ferried along to its destination, a drug log on the pharmacy server.

Blog Entry 5.1 Website Analysis

As Ferrum Medical is a business, and all businesses have assets, so too does Ferrum Medical. We like our competitors have a web page, a way to get information out to our clients and inform them of their options. And like any good business we need an advantage, and to gain it we must see what it is that makes our competitors so profitable.  So we must delve into their website and analyze it against the six rules of E Commerce. As one of our competitors we chose Centra Health.

www.centrahealth.com

Rule 1: they have various helpful peices of information pertaining to physician selection to ailment symptom categorization.
(5 of  5 )
Rule 2: it is aesthetically pleasing, it is organized and simplistic, not cluttered or chaotic.
(5 of 5)
Rule 3: The website is responsive and quick making it efficient. It is also user friendly, so that many people not just computer elite can utilize the site.
(5 of 5)
Rule 4: It has various multimedia venues and has ways of keeping the user interested.
(5 of 5)
Rule 5: They have enough advertising although it might be possible to do more.
(4 of 5)
Rule 6: Information about Physicians and Diseases is available for the user to easily utilize to become informed and educated.
(5 of 5)

It seems obvious that our larger competitors, given their extensive advertising and marketing budget can appropriatly depict all the important aspects of a good business online, paying special attentipn to the commerce guidelines.

Blog Entry 4.4 Database Design

In this Entity Relationship Diagram, there are three main Entities : Customer, Invoice, and Product.
Within each entity there are different attribute types such as Name, but a specific name such as John Smith is an Attribute. Each entity can be described as a table each containing rows and columns, the rows being records and columns being attributes. Each attribute type has its own data type dependent upon the type of information, such as name being text. The customer entity, contains attribute types such as Name, Address, and gender. It also contains a customer key, and ID number that is specific to the individual, such that it can be referred to later. The Product entity contains attribute types such as the type of product, the price and the Product key. Like the customer key it is a reference key used to compare and correlate data in other entites.

Blog Entry 4.3 Packet Switching Technology

Due the fact that there are many users online all the time and data is being sent and received simultaneously there needed to be a way in which to send information in a way that computers can understand that can be translated into usable information. Through the TCP many different messages can be sent over the internet via packets in any order that are reassembled later. When computer A wants to share info to computer C in the picture above, the binary data of the message sent from A is broken into manageable packets and delivered to C. This message sent from the computer A,  uses TCP to send its message to computer C using package switching. The IP sets the format for the packet and the location it is to be sent, the IP information tells the router where this location is ad sends it on it s way. These packets travel independently of one another and arrive out of order. Each packet has a header and it contains the destination and sending IP address as well as the order in which things should be arranged.

Blog Entry 4.2 Basic Network

When a network connection is made, several important things happen.
 First the client represented by a laptop connects to the internet, via a wireless network connection(in the figure above). Which is a non-physical connection, where by data transmission between the client and the wireless router takes place by way of  the use of radio waves as a medium with which to transmit and receive. The other type of connection is a physical link where an actual wire connects to a router and is then connected to the internet using similar means to accomplish the same goal.

With different transmission media, comes different bandwidth and different pros and cons. Fiber optic though expensive and difficult to install and maintain, has the best possible bandwidth allowing many Gigabytes of data to be transmitted at literally the speed of light. Wireless, though convenient and reliable is easily hacked and or capable or being eavesdropped upon allowing for serious security issues. Wired using coaxial or twisted pair is more secure although the bandwidth for each is different and reduced.

 Regardless of the transmission media, there are specific input output data transmission protocols which are used while connecting to and maintaining a network connection.

 From the router, an internet connection is maintained by an ISP or internet service provider, where for a monthly fee end users gain high-speed access the World Wide Web. The Internet hub as depicted after the wired link often fiber optic cabling (not wire) links the wired or wireless router to the internet and beyond. From there the client can access a secured or unsecured server represented by the last server box at the end of the diagram. When this happens as represented by the top curved arrow the client requests information or an action of the server and the server responds to the request represented by the bottom curved arrow.

Blog Entry 4.1 Hello World

In this image through the use of a keyboard, connected to the system unit (the physical box which all electronic components comprising the computer are housed), an input technology, the user inputs the textual data HELLO. As the keystrokes are made the visual representation are displayed on the Output Technology called the monitor. From there the CPU, (Central Processing Unit) a Processing Technology interprets the data and translates it into machine language. In the translation of the keystrokes to binary data, the ALU and Control Unit use the ASCII code as a means to turn it into binary data and store it in secondary Storage. Theses electrical impulses of on and off data, before being stored is organized into bits and bytes. There are eight bits in a byte.

Blog Entry 3.3 Cost Benefit Analysis

 

In a Cost Benefit Analysis,  there are various components, each of which denoting key pieces of data in relation to cost of starting a business and its returns from the first year and from several years. 

The first year you have non-recurring expenses, such as start-up supplies. The first year also is the time when a negative profit is recorded, since generally the cost of starting a business far out weighs the initial returns.

The table also shows monetary values for such expenses as maintaining the company and paying its employees. 

While the lower portion denotes the amounts gained, attributed to the profits and the error reduction based on each successive years' outcomes.

The total denotes the amount spent minus the amount gained. 

 

Proxy Data is a valuable tool for indicating trends, it is non-profit based quantitative data that is helpful for determining trends.

Blog Entry 3.1 Value Chain Analysis

 

With a Value Chain Analysis diagram, one can represent many important factors dealing with various aspects of a company or organization, specifically the types of IFS involved in each step, coupled with the various support sections involved at the bottom.

When medical supplies are purchased, via a Supply Chain Management System (SCM) a web of inter-connectivity between the supplier, the medical firm, and the patient is established. The firm orders, or rather has set amounts of supplies automatically shipped to them to after a certain amount of the supply has been depleted. The requisition order for said supplies are sent when after a pre-determined number of supplies has been reached in the supply inventory.

  

When patients call to place their appointments a Management Information System is used to coordinate the appointments with times and the specific doctor.

Then when a patient arrives a different system is used called an office automation system.  This allows a log of waiting and attended patients to be made. which then is used to keep track of all incoming and outgoing traffic.

 When a patient has to pay for any visits and or medications, they are then using a Transaction Processing System. Which will process the everyday monetary exchanges for each visit.

With tech support and research and developement, new and more innovating systems can be devised, implemented, and maintained. 

Through the use of Human resources, people may file complaints and or determine the most suitable ways to approach inter-office relations and how to solve problems. 

In the the General Administration department, the decision making and planning for all areas of data and IS usage and implementation for the purpose of advancing future gains of the company is done here.

All systems are connected in an effort to correlate data and make the business more efficient and useful.

Blog Entry 3.2 Buildign a Business Case

Faith : If you use this Information System, then you can gain a competitive advantage over the rival medical firms  because of the fact that it has worked so well for everyone else and as your adviser you should trust in my judgment.

Fear: If you don't wish to go out of business or possibly go bankrupt, then you will need to implement my proposed Information System.

Fact: Due to the increase in sales last year, by several other private practice medical firms in the geographic area, the implementation of a the proposed IFS will be an enormous gain in profit, productivity, and efficiency. Allowing for better business practices and more productive outlook.

Blog Entry 2.2 The Automobile Industry

Many automotive companies, regardless of their base of operations, tend to have manufacturing as well as other various other company subunits located outside of their native geographic location.

Dependant upon several factors such as cultural, geoeconomic, and governmental differences, these companies have to tailor their products to their many different customer needs. 

With the introduction of the Internet in Globalization 3.0, markets became open and free, specifically in the auto industry, cars can be bought and sold on-line and factories need not be where the company originate, in fact in order to cater to a wider market base, tailoring the designs and features to a specific regional or cultural area can actually  be a beneficial financial move.

From a Geoeconomic standpoint, the factors including gas consumption, size, and production materials can, dependant upon the location, drastically increase or decrease the demand for their product.

When it comes to Governmental regulations, factors such as emissions come into play when dealing with the auto industry. In certain areas these regulations maybe lax and in others it may be regulated more severely and adjustments must be made.

Even with the enormous advancements of the technology, a bad economy and bad financial practices, a perfect plan can fail as easily as a bad one.

Blog Entry 2.1 Flicker.com services and globalization

Many online services have fueled globalization, through a network of many people contributing and gathering socially online, the global community has gotten smaller and more intimate. With social networking you can talk to and gather input from people across the world from your very own home.

With flicker.com you can upload pictures, with that you can freely express yourself from the lens of your camera.With the innovative ability to upload personal data, people are propelled into the ever flattening and interconnecting world. allowing people to communicate as never before such that those involved, regardless of their location feel as if they are just a block away.

Due to the advertising costs paid to flicker the service is free, however, there are bandwidth restrictions, but for a small fee those are waived, and you can upload as much as you like.

The feature set at Flicker.com is extensive: from tagging to counting the cash for your wonderful art, the possibilities are staggering!

You can simply "Tag" photos to give a brief description, or you can go even further and use a Clustering feature, which allows you to group similar items together in a common field.

Your personally uploaded photos can be made private or public dependent upon your personal preference; whether it be the whole world, or a small group of intimate contacts, the choice is yours.

With your photos public people can rate them, and daily a pick of the most popular will be displayed on a common page for easy viewing purposes.

You can also edit and change your photos at will. 

With the use of "...creative commons..."(Flicker.com Services and Globalization) a means of copyrighting ones work can be achieved, you can then  sell your work without worrying about someone else taking credit for your hard work.

Flicker.com also participates in Open ID, a free and easy way to log-in, making your log-in to multiple participating site log-on time hassle free and your fun time limitless.

Blog Entry 1.3 IFS Organization

There are three information system career positions that are vital to any successful IT organization, they perform duties ranging  from determining what people want, to making certain that all the IS are properly functional, to being there to fix any problems that may arise. Business Analysts, IFS Auditors, and Database Administrator are essential to the smooth sailing of any good company.

The Business Analysts act as a mediary between those who make the software or product and the customer. They contribute to the necessary network of people in an organization to allow smooth functionality and good business relations between the organization and customer. If a company doesn't know what people want, how can they make something people will buy?

When a program or Information System is in it preliminary stages or when a new product is being planned and there needs to be someone who you can count on to test it and give feed back as to its functionality and to test for errors, then you need and IFS Auditor. 

With all the information that swirls and gestates within an organization, you need a place to put it all and someone to manage it, someone to make sure everything is where it ought to be. Thats where databases and DBAs, or Database Administrators come in, they are in charge of maintaining the integrity of the databases and the data contained within.

These three professions combined make a well oiled machine and a profitable business. 

Blog Entry 1.2 Data Tracking for Ferrum Medical

The three pieces of raw data are as follows: Patients, Doctors, and Appointments.

Patients are assigned a Patient ID code, ex. 5555, this code is raw data which is then formatted into information as  55-55, which is then liked to the individual patient's name John Doe. So then the Patient ID code 55-55 is related to the Patient name John Doe; from that knowledge the Patients ID code and Name are liked to the other two data domains for Doctors and Appointments.

Doctors when hired are assigned a medical ID code to identify each individual Doctor, ex. 22222 this raw data is then formated into actual information, ex. 222-22  linked specifically to the individual doctor. The medical ID is then linked to Dr. David, from that knowledge he can be referenced by patients and appointment domains alike.

When a patient call's our front desk, they are given a date and time as well as the name of the doctor, from that point that number is entered into our database as random number set,  and the raw data of say: 19563 is formated to an appointment ID  to 19-5-63, that individual piece of information is then registered with the date and time of the appointment and the doctor, from that point the information from the Patient Domain can be accessed and correlated.

Blog Entry 1.1 Fictional Company Introduction

Ferrum Medical is a small privately owned and operated general care practice, located in the heart of Ferrum Virginia. We serve the Ferrum community by administering quality medical care in a timely and careful manner.

 Ferrum Medical is adequately staffed for its small size. Our check-in station contains two seasoned secretaries, with qualifications varying from data entry to medical file organization. In our treatment section of our practice we are staffed by four qualified registered nurses and two general practicing MD's.

Since we are a small general care practice we can only serve normal ailments, all other more serious complications are to be referred immediately to the closest and most qualified emergency room as we cannot handle complicated procedures.

Through the administering of quality non-emergency care, we make a profit through medical insurance co-pays and normal payment and private donations for those who cannot afford their own medical care.