Access Project IS312—Fall 2015 Last Updated: 10/09/2015

Access Project IS312—Fall 2015 Last Updated: 10/09/2015 David Liu, Ph.D. © 2015

Design a database for a small medical practice with several physicians, supporting billing, scheduling, and patient tracking. The practice has multiple offices; physicians may be scheduled at different locations, but each physician has a primary location. Patients can see any physician, possibly multiple over time. A patient may report multiple symptoms during an appointment; each unique ailment should be listed once per appointment but can span multiple appointments. Each appointment involves only one physician. The database must include tables for patients, physicians, appointments, ailments, and a junction table to model the many-to-many relationship between appointments and ailments. The database should be created in Access with appropriate fields, data types, and relationships, but no data should be entered.

The project involves creating a relational database that accurately models the described medical practice's operations, including proper normalization, primary keys, foreign keys, and referential integrity. The relationships diagram must clearly depict all relationships, and the final output should include a relationship report with added identifying information and formatting. Additionally, a macro should be created to open this report along with an initial form displaying the identifying details. All work must adhere to best practices in database design and presentation.

Paper For Above instruction

The development of a relational database for a small medical practice aims to streamline operational functions such as billing, scheduling, and patient management. Accurate data modeling is critical to ensure efficient and reliable processing of medical and administrative information. This paper discusses the essential components and design considerations for constructing such a database using Microsoft Access, following the detailed guidelines specified in the project instructions.

Introduction

The modern medical practice relies heavily on database systems to improve efficiency, reduce errors, and enhance patient care. A well-designed database serves as a backbone for managing patient records, physician schedules, appointments, diagnoses, and treatment plans. The task involves creating a relational structure that accurately captures the complexities of a multi-site practice with multiple physicians and patients with various ailments over time. This design emphasizes normalization, defining suitable data types, establishing relationships, and enforcing data integrity, all within Access's environment.

Design Objectives and Requirements

The primary objectives are to design a relational schema comprising five tables: Patients, Physicians, Appointments, Ailments, and a junction table linking Appointments and Ailments. This setup will facilitate many-to-many relationships, such as a single appointment involving multiple ailments and a patient consulting multiple physicians over time. Ensuring each table contains essential, appropriately constrained fields is vital. For instance, the Patients table must include identifiers, contact, and insurance data; Physicians should include professional and contact details; Appointments should record date, time, location, and involved parties; and Ailments should encompass descriptors, treatment recommendations, and charges.

Table Design and Field Specifications

Each table's fields are carefully selected to fulfill the database's purpose. The Patients table includes fields such as PatientID (Primary Key, AutoNumber), FirstName, LastName, Address (split into Street, City, State, Zip), Phone, Email, InsuranceNumber, and Employment information. The Physicians table includes PhysicianID (Primary Key), FirstName, LastName, Specialty, Contact details, and primary location field. The Appointments table includes AppointmentID (Primary Key), PatientID (Foreign Key), PhysicianID (Foreign Key), AppointmentDate, Location, and Reason for visit. The Ailments table contains AilmentID (Primary Key), Description, Treatment, Charges, and other attributes.

Relationships and Normalization

The relational design employs one-to-many relationships: Patients to Appointments, Physicians to Appointments, and Ailments to the junction table. The junction table (e.g., AppointmentAilments) uses composite primary keys—combining AppointmentID and AilmentID—to enforce uniqueness per appointment. Referential integrity is enforced by setting relationships with cascade update/delete options where appropriate, ensuring data consistency and preventing orphaned records.

Relationship Diagram and Report

Using Access's Relationships tool, the tables are visually linked with enforced referential integrity. The diagram clearly depicts the one-to-many relationships: Patients to Appointments, Physicians to Appointments, and the many-to-many between Appointments and Ailments via the junction table. After finalizing the relationships, a relationship report is generated, summarizing these connections. This report includes the specific identifying details (name, SID, email) inserted into the header, formatted for clarity and professional presentation.

Macros and Automation

To enhance usability, a macro is created to open the relationship report along with an initial form displaying the same identifying details, providing a unified starting point upon database launch. The macro is named with a reserved name that Access recognizes for auto-start functions, ensuring automatic execution when the database opens. This macro controls the sequence of opening the form and report, streamlining user interaction and maintaining consistency.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the carefully crafted database design described ensures accurate data modeling aligned with the practice's operational needs. Proper fields, data types, relationships, and automation using macros contribute to a robust, maintainable, and professional database system. Despite the restrictions on data entry, the structural integrity and relational accuracy are paramount for future data management and reporting functionalities. This design lays a solid foundation for implementing an effective health care record system in a small medical practice setting.

References

• Harrison, W. (2020). Principles of Database Management. Pearson Education.