Networking Programmes in Dissemination of Pharmaceutical Information – PST05209 Health Information Management
NTA Level 5 • Semester 2 • PST05209 Networking Programmes in Dissemination of Pharmaceutical Information Health Information Management • Source Session/Topic 13 Full source-text version: all educational wording from the extracted learning source is retained; only presenter/tutor metadata and web-layout noise are removed, while formatting is improved for readability. Session 13: Networking Programmes in Dissemination of Pharmaceutical Information Learning Tasks By the end of this session, students are expected to be able to: • Explain the importance of networking in dissemination of pharmaceutical information • Explain the networking programmes used in dissemination of pharmaceutical information • Disseminate pharmaceutical information (PRACTICAL) HMIS NOTES B.Boy Networking Network is the computer that is connected through protocol that works together A network, in computing, is a group of two or more devices that can communicate. • The scale can range from a single PC sharing out basic peripherals to massive data centers located around the World, to the Internet itself. • All networks allow computers and/or individuals to share information and resources. • Computer networks serve a number of purposes, some of which include: o Communications such as email, instant messaging, chat rooms, etc. o Shared hardware such as printers and input devices o Shared data and information through the use of shared storage devices o Shared software, which is achieved by running applications on remote computers Importance of networking technology in pharmaceutical health information system • Using computer networking technology in pharmacy is very useful for the pharmaceutical profession. • The following are the benefits of pharmaceutical networking technology in healthcare industry: o It improves the pharmacists work, especially in acquisition of consumable and non- consumable medical materials, deliveries of pharmaceutical materials, stock and inventory control. o It gives them more time to help the customers in the service area. o It reduces client waiting time, pharmaceutical expenditure and the manpower requirement for any kind of pharmaceutical work. o It facilitates sharing of information with other service area within the health facility • Networking computers helps to run business operations efficiently o They make it easier to handle the business tasks such as recording drugs, requesting consumable and non-consumable medical items, tracking and paying drugs and medication bills from insurance company, client/patients and other service user. o It helps to improve patient safety, provide quality of care, monitoring efficacy and safety of medicine in use. o It gives updates of prices and other pharmaceutical product information online. o It is used in online and e-prescribing of medication. HMIS NOTES B.Boy The Networking Programs Used in Disseminating Pharmaceutical Information • There are several different types of computer networks used in information communication. • Computer networks can be characterized by their size as well as their purpose. • Networks based on size are: o Personal area network (PAN): a computer network organized around an individual person within a single building like small office. o Local area network (LAN): used for single sites where people need to share resources among themselves but not with the rest of the outside world. o Metropolitan area network (MAN): a computer network across an entire city, college campus or small region. o Wide area network (WAN): occupies a very large area, such as an entire country or the entire world. • Networks based on their main purpose are: o Storage area network (SAN): a high-speed sub network of shared storage devices. o Enterprise private network (EPN): a computer network built by a business to interconnect its various company sites (such as production sites, offices and shops) in order to share computer resources. o Virtual private network (VPN) An encrypted connection over the Internet from a device to a network. The encrypted connection helps ensure that sensitive data is safely transmitted. It prevents unauthorized people from eavesdropping on the traffic and allows the user to conduct work remotely. HMIS NOTES B.Boy Network can be divided in to two main categories: • Peer-to-peer. • Server – based. Explanation on Categories of Network • In peer-to-peer networking there are no dedicated servers among the computers. All of the computers are equal and therefore known as peers. Normally each computer serves as Client/Server and there is no one assigned to be an administrator responsible for the entire network. • The client/server network is the most efficient way to provide: • The client/server model is basically an implementation of distributed or cooperative processing. • The entire function may execute in either the PC or server. HMIS NOTES B.Boy HMIS NOTES B.Boy Network Devices Net work Cables • In the network you will commonly find three types of cables used these are the, coaxial cable, fiber optic and twisted pair. Coaxial Cable • This type cable is usually yellow in color and used in what is called thicknets, and has two conductors. This coax can be used in 500-meter lengths. The cable itself is made up of a solid center wire with a braided metal shield and plastic sheathing protecting the rest of the wire. Fiber Optic Cable • As we all know fiber optics are pretty darn cool and not cheap. This cable is smaller and can carry a vast amount of information fast and over long distances. Twisted Pair Cables • These come in two flavors of unshielded and shielded. I) Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) • Is more common in high-speed networks. Now you know about cables we need to know about connectors. This is pretty important and you will most likely need the RJ-45 connector. II) Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) • This is the most popular form of cables in the network and the cheapest form that you can go with. The UTP has four pairs of wires and all inside plastic sheathing. The biggest reason that we call it Twisted Pair is to protect the wires from interference from themselves. HMIS NOTES B.Boy HMIS NOTES B.Boy • Network Interface Cards Network interface cards, commonly referred to as NICs, and are used to connect a PC to