analyzing the use of databases

Use of database

Computer technology has given many precious gifts to mankind . One of them is the database

technology . It has made administration , trade and commerce very easy precise and fast

Operations which used to take long time , and were still full of errors are now managed in few

seconds , and are cent percent free of errors . At the heart of this remarkable success is the

software program , which helps creation , segmentation , categorization and retrieval of databases

These programs are known as database management systems , DBMS programs have

a long

history . Starting from very simple programs in 1960s they have developed into large , complex

software packages like Oracle . While the management functions remain the same , the utility

value and the facilities offered in newer versions differ vastly from their predecessors . This

essay briefly analyzes the DBMS program used in a particular department of an organization and

proposes hoe improvements could be made over the existing use of DBMS program

The organization is a market research agency . One of the departments is pharmaceutical

research . The function of this department is to gather prescriptions of doctors from various

geographic locations across the country , analyze the symptoms , diagnosis and the drugs

prescribed by the Doctor . These prescriptions are codified according to standardized

international codes . Based on this coding , a generalized report is then prepared , which specifies

which drug is used more in a given geographic location . This market research is very important

to pharmaceutical companies for devising their marketing strategies Here , the database program

used for coding the symptoms , diagnosis and drugs is taken as an example for analysis

First , the function of coding is explained with an example . Visits a doctor with a complaint of

soar throat and difficulty in swallowing , coupled with fever . According to the directory of codes

of symptoms of the company , symptom `soar throat ' has a code 3323 `difficulty in swallowing

has a code 1018 and `fever ' has a code 1286 . If the doctor diagonizes ` throat infection ' as the

cause for these symptoms , the code for it , as specified by WHO is J029 (ICD-10 . Now , the

doctor prescribes ` MOX-500 ' capsules , a drug which has Amoxycillin as its main content . The

code of this drug is 05377-73 , as per the company specification

Those who do this coding job have to frequently refer to each code The sum symptoms , diagnosis and drugs runs into a few thousand entries . Manual reference to these codes

is very cumbersome . A database management program is designed to aids the coders . The

package used is Foxpro . It is a two way system , wherein , the code could be traced if the name is

given as an input and the name is given as an output if the number is given as an input . So , the

coder can trace the code from any name and conversely , the name can also be traced with the

help of a numeric code . Like all the DOS based programs , this program is a very robust program

and easy to use

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