Abstract
The systems development life cycle (SDLC), while undergoing numerous changes to its name and related components over the years, has remained a steadfast and reliable approach to software development. Although there is some debate as to the appropriate number of steps, and the naming conventions thereof, nonetheless it is a tried-and-true methodology that has withstood the test of time. This paper discusses the application of the SDLC in a 21st century health care environment. Specifically, it was utilized for the procurement of a software package designed particularly for the Home Health component of a regional hospital care facility. We found that the methodology is still as useful today as it ever was. By following the stages of the SDLC, an effective software product was identified, selected, and implemented in a real-world environment. Lessons learned from the project, and implications for practice, research, and pedagogy, are offered. Insights from this study can be applied as a pedagogical tool in a variety of classroom environments and curricula including, but not limited to, the systems analysis and design course as well as the core information systems (IS) class. It can also be used as a case study in an upper-division or graduate course describing the implementation of the SDLC in practice.
INTRODUCTION
The systems development life cycle, in its variant forms, remains one of the oldest and yet still widely used methods of software development and acquisition methods in the information technology (IT) arena. While it has evolved over the years in response to ever-changing scenarios and paradigm shifts pertaining to the building or acquiring of software, its central tenants are as applicable today as they ever were. Life-cycle stages have gone through iterations of different names and number of steps, but at the core the SDLC is resilient in its tried-and-true deployment in business, industry, and government. In fact, the SDLC has been called one of the two dominant systems development methodologies today, along with prototyping (Piccoli, 2012). Thus, learning about the SDLC remains important to the students of today as well as tomorrow.
This paper describes the use of the SDLC in a real-world heath care setting involving a principle component of a regional hospital care facility. The paper can be used as a pedagogical tool in a systems analysis and design course, or in an upper-division or graduate course as a case study of the implementation of the SDLC in practice. First, a review of the SDLC is provided, followed by a description of the case study environment. Next, the application of the methodology is described in detail. Following, inferences and observations from the project are presented, along with lessons learned. Finally, the paper concludes with implications for the three areas of research, practice, and pedagogy, as well as suggestions for future research.
BACKGROUND
The SDLC has been a part of the IT community since the inception of the modern digital computer. A course in Systems Analysis and Design is requisite in most Management Information Systems programs (Topi, Valacich, Wright, Kaiser, Nunamaker, Sipior, and de Vreede, 2010). While such classes offer an overview of many different means of developing or acquiring software (e.g., prototyping, extreme programming, rapid application development (RAD), joint application development (JAD), etc.), at their heart such programs still devote a considerable amount of time to the SDLC, as they should. As this paper will show, following the steps and stages of the methodology is still a valid method of insuring the successful deployment of software. While the SDLC, and systems analysis and design in general, has evolved over the years, at its heart it remains a robust methodology for developing software and systems.
Early treatises of the SDLC promoted the rigorous delineation of necessary steps to follow for any kind of software project. The Waterfall Model (Boehm, 1976) is one of the most well-known forms. In this classic representation, the methodology involves seven sequential steps: 1) System Requirements and Validation; 2) Software Requirements and Validation; 3) Preliminary Design and Validation; 4) Detailed Design and Validation; 5) Code, Debug, Deployment, and Test; 6) Test, Preoperations, Validation Test; and 7) Operations, Maintenance, Revalidation. In the original description of the Boehm-Waterfall software engineering methodology, there is an interactive backstep between each stage. Thus the Boehm-Waterfall is a combination of a sequential methodology with an interactive backstep (Burback, 2004).
Other early works were patterned after the Waterfall Model, with varying numbers of steps and not-markedly-different names for each stage. For example, Gore and Stubbe (1983) advocated a four-step approach consisting of the study phase, the design phase, the development phase, and the operation phase (p. 25). Martin and McClure (1988) described it as a multistep process consisting of five basic sequential phases: analysis, design, code, test, and maintain (p. 18). Another widely used text (Whitten, Bentley, and Ho, 1986) during the 1980s advocated an eight-step method. Beginning with 1) Survey the Situation, it was followed by 2) Study Current System; 3) Determine User Requirements; 4) Evaluate Alternative Solutions; 5) Design New System; 6) Select New Computer Equipment and Software; 7) Construct New System; and 8) Deliver New System.
Almost two decades later, a book by the same set of authors in general (Whitten, Bentley, and Dittman, 2004) also advocated an eight step series of phases, although the names of the stages changed somewhat (albeit not significantly). The methodology proceeded through the steps of Scope definition, Problem analysis, Requirements analysis, Logical design, Decision analysis, Physical design and integration, Construction and testing, and ending with Installation and delivery (p. 89). It is interesting to note that nearly 20 years later, the naming conventions used in the newer text are almost synonymous with those in the older work. The Whitten and Bentley (2008) text, in its present form, still breaks up the process into eight stages. While there is no consensus in the naming (or number) of stages (e.g., many systems analysis and design textbooks advocate their own nomenclature (c.f. Whitten, Bentley, and Barlow (1994), O’Brien (1993), Taggart and Silbey (1986)), McMurtrey (1997) reviewed the various forms of the life cycle in his dissertation work and came up with a generic SDLC involving the phases of Analysis, Design, Coding, Testing, Implementation, and Maintenance.
Even one of the most current and popular systems analysis and design textbooks (Kendall and Kendall, 2011) does not depart from tradition, emphasizing that the SDLC is still primarily comprised of seven phases. Although not immune to criticism, Hoffer, George, and Valacich (2011) believe that the view of systems analysis and design taking place in a cycle continues to be pervasive and true (p. 24). Thus, while the SDLC has evolved over the years under the guise of different combinations of naming conventions and numbers of steps or stages, it remains true to form as a well-tested methodology for software development and acquisition. We now turn our attention to how it was utilized in a present-day health care setting.
Case Study Setting
The present investigation regards the selection of a software package by a medium-size regional hospital for use in the Home Health segment of their organization. The hospital (to be referred to in this monograph by a fictitious name, General Hospital) is located in the central portion of a southern state in the USA, within 30 minutes of the state capital. Its constituents reside in the largest SMSA (standard metropolitan statistical area) in the state and consist of both rural, suburban, and city residents. The 149-bed facility is a state-of-the-art institution, as 91% of their 23 quality measures are better than the national average (“Where to Find Care”, 2010). Services offered include Emergency Department, Hospice, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Obstetrics, Open Heart Surgery, and Pediatrics. Additional components of General Hospital consist of an Imaging Center, a Rehabilitation Hospital, Four Primary Care Clinics, a Health and Fitness Center (one of the largest in the nation with more than 70,000 square feet and 7,000 members), a Wound Healing Center, regional Therapy Centers, and Home Care (the focal point of this study).
There are more than 120 physicians on the active medical staff, over 1,400 employees and in excess of 100 volunteers (“General Hospital”, 2010). In short, it is representative of many similar patient care facilities around the nation and the world. As such, it provides a rich environment for the investigation of using the SDLC in a 21st century health care institution.
Home Health and Study Overview
Home Health, or Home Care, is the portion of health care that is carried out at the patient’s home or residence. It is a participatory arrangement that eliminates the need for constant trips to the hospital for routine procedures. For example, patients take their own blood pressure (or heart rate, glucose level, etc.) using a device hooked up near their bed at home. The results are transmitted to the hospital (or in this case, the Home Health facility near General Hospital) electronically and are immediately processed, inspected, and monitored by attending staff.
In addition, there is a Lifeline feature available to elderly or other homebound individuals. The unit includes a button worn on a necklace or bracelet that the patient can push should they need assistance (“Home Health”, 2010). Periodically, clinicians (e.g., nurses, physical therapists, etc.) will visit the patient in their home to monitor their progress and perform routine inspections and maintenance on t
Abstract
The systems development life cycle (SDLC), while undergoing numerous changes to its name and related components over the years, has remained a steadfast and reliable approach to software development. Although there is some debate as to the appropriate number of steps, and the naming conventions thereof, nonetheless it is a tried-and-true methodology that has withstood the test of time. This paper discusses the application of the SDLC in a 21st century health care environment. Specifically, it was utilized for the procurement of a software package designed particularly for the Home Health component of a regional hospital care facility. We found that the methodology is still as useful today as it ever was. By following the stages of the SDLC, an effective software product was identified, selected, and implemented in a real-world environment. Lessons learned from the project, and implications for practice, research, and pedagogy, are offered. Insights from this study can be applied as a pedagogical tool in a variety of classroom environments and curricula including, but not limited to, the systems analysis and design course as well as the core information systems (IS) class. It can also be used as a case study in an upper-division or graduate course describing the implementation of the SDLC in practice.
INTRODUCTION
The systems development life cycle, in its variant forms, remains one of the oldest and yet still widely used methods of software development and acquisition methods in the information technology (IT) arena. While it has evolved over the years in response to ever-changing scenarios and paradigm shifts pertaining to the building or acquiring of software, its central tenants are as applicable today as they ever were. Life-cycle stages have gone through iterations of different names and number of steps, but at the core the SDLC is resilient in its tried-and-true deployment in business, industry, and government. In fact, the SDLC has been called one of the two dominant systems development methodologies today, along with prototyping (Piccoli, 2012). Thus, learning about the SDLC remains important to the students of today as well as tomorrow.
This paper describes the use of the SDLC in a real-world heath care setting involving a principle component of a regional hospital care facility. The paper can be used as a pedagogical tool in a systems analysis and design course, or in an upper-division or graduate course as a case study of the implementation of the SDLC in practice. First, a review of the SDLC is provided, followed by a description of the case study environment. Next, the application of the methodology is described in detail. Following, inferences and observations from the project are presented, along with lessons learned. Finally, the paper concludes with implications for the three areas of research, practice, and pedagogy, as well as suggestions for future research.
BACKGROUND
The SDLC has been a part of the IT community since the inception of the modern digital computer. A course in Systems Analysis and Design is requisite in most Management Information Systems programs (Topi, Valacich, Wright, Kaiser, Nunamaker, Sipior, and de Vreede, 2010). While such classes offer an overview of many different means of developing or acquiring software (e.g., prototyping, extreme programming, rapid application development (RAD), joint application development (JAD), etc.), at their heart such programs still devote a considerable amount of time to the SDLC, as they should. As this paper will show, following the steps and stages of the methodology is still a valid method of insuring the successful deployment of software. While the SDLC, and systems analysis and design in general, has evolved over the years, at its heart it remains a robust methodology for developing software and systems.
Early treatises of the SDLC promoted the rigorous delineation of necessary steps to follow for any kind of software project. The Waterfall Model (Boehm, 1976) is one of the most well-known forms. In this classic representation, the methodology involves seven sequential steps: 1) System Requirements and Validation; 2) Software Requirements and Validation; 3) Preliminary Design and Validation; 4) Detailed Design and Validation; 5) Code, Debug, Deployment, and Test; 6) Test, Preoperations, Validation Test; and 7) Operations, Maintenance, Revalidation. In the original description of the Boehm-Waterfall software engineering methodology, there is an interactive backstep between each stage. Thus the Boehm-Waterfall is a combination of a sequential methodology with an interactive backstep (Burback, 2004).
Other early works were patterned after the Waterfall Model, with varying numbers of steps and not-markedly-different names for each stage. For example, Gore and Stubbe (1983) advocated a four-step approach consisting of the study phase, the design phase, the development phase, and the operation phase (p. 25). Martin and McClure (1988) described it as a multistep process consisting of five basic sequential phases: analysis, design, code, test, and maintain (p. 18). Another widely used text (Whitten, Bentley, and Ho, 1986) during the 1980s advocated an eight-step method. Beginning with 1) Survey the Situation, it was followed by 2) Study Current System; 3) Determine User Requirements; 4) Evaluate Alternative Solutions; 5) Design New System; 6) Select New Computer Equipment and Software; 7) Construct New System; and 8) Deliver New System.
Almost two decades later, a book by the same set of authors in general (Whitten, Bentley, and Dittman, 2004) also advocated an eight step series of phases, although the names of the stages changed somewhat (albeit not significantly). The methodology proceeded through the steps of Scope definition, Problem analysis, Requirements analysis, Logical design, Decision analysis, Physical design and integration, Construction and testing, and ending with Installation and delivery (p. 89). It is interesting to note that nearly 20 years later, the naming conventions used in the newer text are almost synonymous with those in the older work. The Whitten and Bentley (2008) text, in its present form, still breaks up the process into eight stages. While there is no consensus in the naming (or number) of stages (e.g., many systems analysis and design textbooks advocate their own nomenclature (c.f. Whitten, Bentley, and Barlow (1994), O’Brien (1993), Taggart and Silbey (1986)), McMurtrey (1997) reviewed the various forms of the life cycle in his dissertation work and came up with a generic SDLC involving the phases of Analysis, Design, Coding, Testing, Implementation, and Maintenance.
Even one of the most current and popular systems analysis and design textbooks (Kendall and Kendall, 2011) does not depart from tradition, emphasizing that the SDLC is still primarily comprised of seven phases. Although not immune to criticism, Hoffer, George, and Valacich (2011) believe that the view of systems analysis and design taking place in a cycle continues to be pervasive and true (p. 24). Thus, while the SDLC has evolved over the years under the guise of different combinations of naming conventions and numbers of steps or stages, it remains true to form as a well-tested methodology for software development and acquisition. We now turn our attention to how it was utilized in a present-day health care setting.
Case Study Setting
The present investigation regards the selection of a software package by a medium-size regional hospital for use in the Home Health segment of their organization. The hospital (to be referred to in this monograph by a fictitious name, General Hospital) is located in the central portion of a southern state in the USA, within 30 minutes of the state capital. Its constituents reside in the largest SMSA (standard metropolitan statistical area) in the state and consist of both rural, suburban, and city residents. The 149-bed facility is a state-of-the-art institution, as 91% of their 23 quality measures are better than the national average (“Where to Find Care”, 2010). Services offered include Emergency Department, Hospice, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Obstetrics, Open Heart Surgery, and Pediatrics. Additional components of General Hospital consist of an Imaging Center, a Rehabilitation Hospital, Four Primary Care Clinics, a Health and Fitness Center (one of the largest in the nation with more than 70,000 square feet and 7,000 members), a Wound Healing Center, regional Therapy Centers, and Home Care (the focal point of this study).
There are more than 120 physicians on the active medical staff, over 1,400 employees and in excess of 100 volunteers (“General Hospital”, 2010). In short, it is representative of many similar patient care facilities around the nation and the world. As such, it provides a rich environment for the investigation of using the SDLC in a 21st century health care institution.
Home Health and Study Overview
Home Health, or Home Care, is the portion of health care that is carried out at the patient’s home or residence. It is a participatory arrangement that eliminates the need for constant trips to the hospital for routine procedures. For example, patients take their own blood pressure (or heart rate, glucose level, etc.) using a device hooked up near their bed at home. The results are transmitted to the hospital (or in this case, the Home Health facility near General Hospital) electronically and are immediately processed, inspected, and monitored by attending staff.
In addition, there is a Lifeline feature available to elderly or other homebound individuals. The unit includes a button worn on a necklace or bracelet that the patient can push should they need assistance (“Home Health”, 2010). Periodically, clinicians (e.g., nurses, physical therapists, etc.) will visit the patient in their home to monitor their progress and perform routine inspections and maintenance on t
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