New Century Wellness Group offers a holistic approach to health care with an emphasis on preventive medicine as well as traditional medical care. In your role as an IT consultant, you will help New Century develop a new information system.
Background Ten years ago, internal medicine specialists Timothy jones and Dolores Garcia decided to combine
their individual practices in Brea, California, to form New Century Wellness Group. They wantedto create a clinic that would concentrate on preventive medicine and fitness, as well as traditional medical care. New Century has competition from other health care providers, but no other clinic offers the same range of services. New Century's practice has grown and now includes four primary care physicians, one nurse practitioner, four physical therapists, one registered nutritionist, eight nurses, and eight support staff people. The clinic currently has a patient base of 8,000 patients from 325 different employers, many of which provide insurance coverage for employee wellness and health maintenance. Currently, New Century accepts insurance plans from 25 licensed health insurance providers. New Century is also considering opening another location, near a new medical center.
Case Studies
Capstone Case: New CenturyWellness Group
Doctor Jones and Doctor Garcia recently decided that the practice needs a modern information system to support its business and health information management needs. The new system
would replace a mix of paper-based and legacy systems. Dr. Jones asked you to design an information system that could support the clinic's current operations and future growth. In your first meeting, Dr. Jones provided an overview of the clinic's business processes and staff members. He told you that Anita Davenport, who has been with New Century since its inception, is the office manager. She supervises the support staff of seven people. Fred Brown handles human resources and employee benefits. Corinne Summers reportS directly to Fred and works with pay· roll, tax reporting, and profit distribution among the associates. Susan Gifford is responsible for the maintenance of patient medical records. Tom Capaletti handles accounts receivables and Tammy Alipio is the insurance billing specialist. Lisa Sung is responsible for managing appoint·
ments. Her duties include reminder calls to patients and preparing daily appointment lists. Carla Herrera is concerned primarily with ordering and organizing office and medical supplies.After studying this information, you start to prepare for your next meeting with
Dr. Jones.
Tasks
4. Describe the systems development method you plan to use, and explain the pros and cons of
using this metho