Animal After Hour Services: Providing Emergency Veterinary Care

AAHS: a veterinary hospital that offers after-hours care

“Animal After Hour Services” (AAHS) is a veterinary hospital that has been running for a few years in Brisbane Southside and Gold Coast.

The hospital was started by Dr Terry King as a small practice to help injured animals during after hours when the regular veterinary Practices would be closed. Most veterinarian practices in Brisbane and Gold Coast work Monday to Friday 7 am to 6 pm and Saturday half days, so if an animal owner experiences an emergency outside of those hours or on public holidays the Animal After Hour Services is there to help those owners and their animals.

A few example scenarios in which owners present their animals to the AAHS staff are snake bites, consumption of a foreign bodies like toys, balls, household chemicals, or consumption of toxic substances are chocolate, coffee or plant items. Other cases involve animals that may have injuries as a result of being attacked by other animals.

Dr Terry King along with his nephew Josh King started the first AAHS clinic at Compton Road in Underwood around 7 years ago. At that point the practice was really small and between the two veterinarian’s and a few nursing staff was easy to manage.

However, it seems that Dr Terry had unknowingly unearthed an area where there was great demand, and as a result in a matter of last few years he has had to expand AAHS to other locations like Jindalee and Carrara. This expansion has resulted in Dr Terry employing a lot of other veterinarians and support staff to run the Branch offices (Practices). The organisation now employs 15 vets, 30 nurses and 10 admin staff, one handyman and a book keeper.

Dr Terry is excited about the growth but at the same time worried about the complexity and cost of the IT setup that will be required across the branches. He is concerned about how he can make systems shareable across sites, without unnecessary duplication. He is also worried about safety and security of data across sites, and logistical issues such as patient treatment notes, staff files, staff timesheets, payroll processing, and conducting regular staff meetings.

Sharing of patient notes is crucial, so if an owner presents their animal to different branches at different points of time, the treating veterinarian can easily access the previous treatment records. Dr Terry also wants an interface so that AAHS veterinarians can access animal treatment records from the animal’s regular veterinarian’s. He realises this may imply that a lot of veterinarians would have to agree to share this information and also ensure that the client and animal data are adequately protected while it is shared.

Dr Terry wants when an animal is at the hospital their owners can get online updates of their well being, as he feels that this will reduce the constant phone calls to practice’s and also put the owners at ease.

Dr Terry also wishes that a client’s data is stored in a secured location which they can access online so that clients can print / download a consolidated statement and treatment notes, as clients often require these to lodge pet insurance claims after the treatment has finished.

Dr Terry decides to engage you as a consultant. Your job is to provide him with solutions that address the following issues and provides advice on what needs to be implemented in the future.

Case Study Questions

1. In order to help AAHS management, define what information systems are and briefly explain how information systems are important to future operations at AAHS. While answering this question, explore the different kinds of information systems that could be beneficial to any small business.

2. What are the key information requirements of AAHS? For each information requirement you have identified, discuss how this information would enhance or improve AAHS competitive position.

3. Which specific information system(s) can help AAHS in managing their business problems, making business decisions and fulfilling the information requirements identified in the previous question? Be specific in how they will help in these areas.

4. Explain how AAHS could strategically utilise the Internet, intranet and extranet to engage with key stakeholders and fulfil communication and collaboration requirements.

5. “Change management” is an important concept to business organisations. How could AAHS best manage the organisational changes that would occur with the implementation of the information systems changes you are proposing?

6. For various stakeholders at AAHS, including its customers and employees, what are some of the possible security and ethical issues that may arise with the introduction of their information system? What could be done to resolve such issues?

AAHS: a veterinary hospital that offers after-hours care

Dr. Terry and his clinic are one of the fast-growing businesses. As we can see, within a short time, he is able to establish more firms which assist people in various places. However, the clinic does not meet various standards which are to be used in while dealing with information systems. These include the security, maintenance of the systems among others which have been mentioned in the essay. For that reason, he requires guidelines on how well he can improve his facility to ensure that completion is equal to other organizations like that one. It will be the consults duty to help Terry achieve his desirable goal of getting effective information systems.

For the assignment, an annotated bibliography is written specify the article helpful and why they have been chosen. It is helpful to an individual why reading to ensure that they get the concept and can even refer to the article which has been used.

In order to gather, process and store data, there need to be some set of components which will aid in the process. These tools will help in providing information, digital products and knowledge in relation to that. They are referred to as information systems. Without information systems, most firms including business and other organizations would not be able to control their clients while they interact with them. Also, competition in markets would not be visible as both suppliers and buyers would not associate with major business (Srisa-ard, 2010).

In order for the AAHS to adequately run their products and market them to their customers all over, they need to have an information system which will enable them to be able to manage the inventory and security at the place. This is typical of their situation in that they are a small company offering services to large retailers according to the article. Thus, having good computer hardware will do them a great deal. Other small business could also use this as a way of improving their information systems since it is also one of the low-cost forms as far as this issue is concerned. Also, accounting systems could be beneficial in small business as it will help keep track of business records. Lastly, payment processing and communication technology could aid the small business in their information systems (Srisa-ard, 2010).

Despite AAHS being in business for quite a long time, it seems to lack some major requirements in regards to information technology. First, they need to improve their service delivery. That is, it should be diversified across all the branches. Secondly, information is a crucial thing. Thus it should be treated with much attention and confidentiality (Thakurta, 2015). Thirdly, we are a revolutionizing world. This means that as trends in every institution changes, we should be able to cope up with them. For instance, Dr. Terry is a conservative in a way that he still uses hardware that is not updated. He should consider replacing his entire computer store which will make his work effective. Also, everything is changing to become online thus he should put that into consideration. This includes stuff like the book records, vets and nurses register among others.

Dr. Terry King: founder of AAHS

The article provides a variety of small business which has grown recently as they have adapted to the current world. This means that anything pertaining to being online and the internet has been executed (Thakurta, 2015). If well implemented by the veterinary institution, they would realize increased income generation and an excellent service providence as they will fit in the market competition too.

Specifically, there are two critical issues which the organization should consider. First, it could be more comfortable if all branches built could have a standard system which they use in checking up their clients. This lacks in that institution. This affects their competitive nature by slowing down the day to day activities. If a patient visits another branch, they will not be able to find information about their pets (Shihab & Rahardian, 2017). This is a great deal. By them streamlining information across all branches would make work easier thus, the number of patients would even increase as less time will be required when dealing with one client. Secondly, there is no protection of data shared. As earlier discussed, they will need a good security system to ensure this is corrected. Many clients could have a fear of visiting the place with a view that information they share might not be confidential hence a need to secure systems. Also, this should be accessible to their clients despite their location. It would save time and resources.

The relevance of the article relates to how the institution used their flaws to increase their competitiveness in the market. If these issues are correctly worked upon, the institution can realize a greater impact (Shihab & Rahardian, 2017). Whether in their daily routines or their online work, they will experience change.

The critical issue with the institution has been on the use of the latest technology. This involves proper utilization of the extranet, internet, and the intranet. First, the internet will aid the company to diversify its service. This includes having an online conversation with clients which will make them even refer friends (Tang & Lu, 2012). Also, without the clients having to go to the clinic to inquire about their pets, checking from the internet would be convenient. Secondly, records kept online would reduce the resources needed while purchasing some goods such as books used record keeping. With knowledge on the intranet, the whole organization could be able to share ideas within themselves. That is, branches could share information as they will be interlinked to each other. This will also enhance privacy within the institution. Lastly, the extranet is useful when creating bonds with other institutions (Tang & Lu, 2012). When there is a link between one institution and the other, it is easier to know where one is going wrong and areas where perfection is needed.

How AAHS has grown and expanded its services

The article is relevant as it shows ways in which the institution can use the current resources to establish relationships and enhance service to their clients(Tang & Lu, 2012).Also, the article shows how it is important to stay up to date with the world as it slowly revolutionizes.

For every single business institute, it is important to embrace change. As it is always said, change is inevitable and can produce either positive or negative results, despite that, either way, the business is able to learn from the changes. For instance, if the feedback is negative, the institution will learn by way of correcting while if it ispositive, they will work on ways of improving it (Jain & Sohoni, 2014). Management of the proposed changes would not be a big deal. However, the way the organization will work on their startup will determine everything. Starting with the crucial things, such as the communication and security should be a priority. For the betterment of the clinic, this will enhance the operations both internally and externally. Proper funds and personnel allocation could result in a positive result.

In relation to the article, we consider change as an important asset towards any development of an organization. This led to using it as reference material. If Dr. Kerry could keenly follow the arguments in it, he should expect maximum results (Jain & Sohoni, 2014).

With the implementation of these information systems, it will be notable that there will be effects on both the clients and the employees. To the clients, there will be a proper service delivery. One, they will be checking for the progress of their pets through the internet for those who are far. Secondly, data storage would mean that once a client has been registered to the system, their information would be available for as long as they want. However, for the old and illiterate it would be hard to come up with such changes ("Recommendations Based on List wise Learning-to-Rank by Incorporating Social Information," 2018). For this, help from the family or friends would be appropriate. On the other hand, the employees would find a smooth system to run their daily activities. This includes recording keeping and having them sign their roll call online. Also, here, knowledge of the internet and technology is needed. Thus, it would be appropriate for the employees to undergo training and development to enhance their skills.

With relation to the article used here, it shows how much training and development could increase an organizations productivity ("Recommendations Based on List wise Learning-to-Rank by Incorporating Social Information," 2018). Also, it talks about the negative effects that are found in every institution which is meant to incorporate changes.

References

Srisa-ard, S. (2010). Understanding Information Systems: What They Do and Why We Need Them20059Lee Ratzan. Online Information Review, 29(3), 333-334. https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/14684520510607704

Thakurta, R. (2015). Projects as temporary organizations: insights from requirement volatility management practices. International Journal of Project Organization and Management, 7(2), 184. https://dx.doi.org/10.1504/ijpom.2015.069617

Shihab, M., & Rahardian, I. (2017). Comparing the approaches of small, medium, and large organizations in achieving IT and business alignment. International Journal of Business Information Systems, 24(2), 227. https://dx.doi.org/10.1504/ijbis.2017.081449

Tang, X., & Lu, Q. (2012). Intranet/Extranet/Internet-Based Quality Information Management System in Expanded Enterprises. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 20(11), 853-858. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s001700200226

Jain, A., & Sohoni, M. (2014). Should firms conceal information when dealing with common suppliers? Naval Research Logistics (NRL), 62(1), 1-15. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/nav.21609

Recommendations Based on List wise Learning-to-Rank by Incorporating Social Information. (2018). KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems, 12(1). https://dx.doi.org/10.3837/tiis.2018.01.006