Module information
Module details
- Title
- Systems Development & Design
- Type
- Specialist
- Module code
- S-HI-S2
- Credits
- 10
- Phase
- 2
- Requirement
- Compulsory
Aim of this module
This module will provide an opportunity for trainees to develop and apply detailed understanding of the different approaches to the specification, design, development, testing and implementation of clinical systems in the context of formal project management methodologies.
Work-based content
Training activities
| # | Learning outcome | Training activity | Type | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| # 1 | Learning outcome 1,2 |
Training activities
Complete preliminary analysis including requirements gathering exercise and analysis |
Type DTA | Action View |
| # 2 | Learning outcome 1,2,3,4 |
Training activities
Draft a project plan and apply appropriate project management principles to a project |
Type ETA | Action View |
| # 3 | Learning outcome 3,5,6 |
Training activities
Develop a small application as part of an Improvement to an existing information system or database |
Type ETA | Action View |
| # 4 | Learning outcome 5,6 |
Training activities
Perform user testing, including: end to end testing |
Type ETA | Action View |
| # 5 | Learning outcome 5,6 |
Training activities
Complete a validation or verification plan |
Type DTA | Action View |
| # 6 | Learning outcome 6 |
Training activities
Develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) or other user or technical documentation for a system development change and provide training |
Type ETA | Action View |
| # 7 | Learning outcome 6 |
Training activities
Plan and carry out the deployment of a system development change or upgrade in a controlled fashion, taking into account the impact on existing functionality and clinical service |
Type DTA | Action View |
| # 8 | Learning outcome 2 |
Training activities
Appraise and risk assess a commercially supplied clinical information management system, including plans for disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity (BC) |
Type DTA | Action View |
| # 9 | Learning outcome 6 |
Training activities
Liaise with third party software providers or an external provider to solve system development or technical issues |
Type ETA | Action View |
| # 10 | Learning outcome 7 |
Training activities
Devise and write project documentation to introduce interoperability between existing systems |
Type DTA | Action View |
Assessments
Complete 2 Case-Based Discussions
Complete 2 DOPS or OCEs
Direct Observation of Practical Skills Titles
- Install a software update following the release process from a development/test environment to the live environment.
- Plan the initial steps to maintain business continuity in response to IT failure according to local disaster recovery plans.
Observed Communication Event Titles
- Report on a project at a project meeting where clinical system requirements are discussed and agreed.
- Complete a requirement gathering exercise with another healthcare professional.
- Present conclusions from a requirement gathering exercise for authorisation for a system development.
- Provide training to another healthcare professional on a system development change.
Learning outcomes
| # | Learning outcome |
|---|---|
| 1 | Perform and document a system requirements-gathering exercise and develop a specification of requirements. |
| 2 | Critically appraise a systems design/development plan to determine suitability of existing services. |
| 3 | Select and apply systems development and project management methodologies to a range of projects. |
| 4 | Summarise the clinical requirements for a system development project considering all stakeholders. |
| 5 | Critically evaluate and manage a system development project within the context of a formal project management methodology. |
| 6 | Implement new applications and upgrades to an existing application using controlled methodology. |
| 7 | Critically evaluate the flow of information between systems and organisational boundaries to identify opportunities where interoperability and system integration can improve outcomes. |
Clinical experiences
Clinical experiences help you to develop insight into your practice and a greater understanding of your specialty's impact on patient care. Clinical experiences should be included in your training plan and you may be asked to help organise your experiences. Reflections and observations from your experiences may help you to advance your practice and can be used to develop evidence to demonstrate your awareness and appreciation of your specialty.
Activities
- Attend a project meeting for a prospective or ongoing systems development project, appreciate the roles of those attending the meeting and how the team communicates.
- Shadow a healthcare professional using an informatics system in their routine clinical work, appreciate the benefit the system brings to the clinical activity.
- Attend a clinic session related to the work of your department.
Academic content (MSc in Clinical Science)
Important information
The academic parts of this module will be detailed and communicated to you by your university. Please contact them if you have questions regarding this module and its assessments. The module titles in your MSc may not be exactly identical to the work-based modules shown in the e-portfolio. Your modules will be aligned, however, to ensure that your academic and work-based learning are complimentary.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this module the trainee will be able to:
- Critically evaluate different approaches to systems development within the broader cycle of development, deployment and maintenance of healthcare systems.
- Critically evaluate different approaches to the development of an enterprise-wide business architecture and the relevance of such architectures to systems design and requirements gathering.
- Compare and contrast the different tools available to a systems analyst to elicit, analyse and record requirements, and critically appraise an existing approach that they are familiar with.
- Describe and appraise the relationship between requirements, acceptance criteria and system testing, and determine a range of key success criteria.
- Discuss and justify the importance of patient record, data and interoperability ‘standards’ in the design of healthcare information systems.
- Evaluate the impact of different technical architectures on potential solution designs and on procurement strategy.
- Explain the reasons why IT projects may fail and be able to discuss how different models of change management, system design and approaches to procurement might contribute to greater success.
- Demonstrate an integrative understanding of the risks associated with systems development, and how these are managed at each stage of the cycle.
Indicative content
- Critical appraisal of past and current projects
- Description of main system design methodologies, e.g. Agile and Waterfall
- Description of main requirements analysis methodologies
- Domain enterprise architecture framework and methodologies
- Building on best practice examples, an explanation of the key stages and activities within the lifetime of an informatics procurement activity
- Description of best practice procurement approaches, including an appreciation of legal aspects of public sector procurement
- An explanation of the logical relationships and dependencies between key stages and activities within the lifetime of an informatics system design/development or procurement activity
- Evaluation of informatics systems design/development/procurement
- Risk management methods and use