A Mobile phone solution for systematically identifying and reporting unqualified practitioners in healthcare, Kenya
Date
2017
Authors
Aradi, Doreen Viduya
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Strathmore University
Abstract
Effective observation and reporting of unqualified health practice demands timely identification and dissemination of information to bodies responsible for licensing , regulation and certification of health care practitioners to warrant necessary action in case of any malpractices. Tools used to identify and report existence of unqualified practitioners and unregulated health facility determine the level of efficiency and effectiveness of the exercise .Traditional way of reporting incidences of unqualified practitioners through the media and crack downs done by the Medical Board reporting procedures compromise on completeness, timeliness and correctness of information. This scenario creates unprecedented opportunities whereby the researcher can use to improve the current way of identifying and reporting unqualified practice in health care. A mobile application was developed to offer an interactive menu where users search for qualified practitioners and report unlicensed doctors and health facilities on their mobile devices. Agile methodology was adopted as the software methodology for developing the application. Tru-Daktari, a mobile application was developed as a tool to offer an interactive menu where users can search for health practitioners and registered health clinics and report unregistered health practitioners through the application installed on their mobile phones. The proposed solution was developed on Android platform. It was developed concurrently with a web application developed in PHP. The testing of the application was successful and it was strongly agreed by the respondents that the system would be effective in solving the existing problem. The recommendations made by users were used to improve the application. Based on the overall statistics of user testing and evaluation it is safe to say that the application fulfils its usability and functionality requirement. Based on the questionnaire responses, the application is generally considered easy to use and understand. The implication of the results of application testing is that the application will come in handy in reporting unqualified practice in health care thus leading to quality health care.
Description
Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Mobile Telecommunication and Innovation at (MSc.MTI) at Strathmore University
Keywords
Unqualified Health Practitioners, Unlicensed Health Facilities, Licensing, Tru-Daktari