Applications of Intelligent Agents in Hospital Search and Appointment System

Applications of Intelligent Agents in Hospital Search and Appointment System

Tyrone Edwards, Suresh Sankaranarayanan
Copyright: © 2013 |Pages: 20
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-2654-6.ch017
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Abstract

Access to the correct healthcare facility is a major concern for most people, many of whom gather information about the existing hospitals and healthcare facilities in their locality. After gathering such information, people must do a comparison of the information, make a selection, and then make an appointment with the concerned doctor. The time spent for this purpose would be a major constraint for many individuals. Research is currently underway in this area on incorporating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to improve the services available in the health industry. This paper proposes an agent based approach to replicate the same search operations as the individual would otherwise do, by employing an intelligent agent. The proposed agent based system has been simulated and also validated through implementation on an individual’s smart phone or a PDA using JADE-LEAP agent development kit.
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2. Health Care In Jamaica

Health care in respect of the citizens of any country is very important. This is true for Jamaica also. It is seen by our experience and also as reported on web, that the quality of medical care in Jamaica is one of the main concerns. Presently health care in Jamaica (Sheila, 2000; Brice, 2001) is provided free for citizens and legal residents, at Government hospitals and Clinics, which also includes prescription for drugs. But the main drawback to the present healthcare system is towards waiting in long line with no prior appointment accepted by Physicians. There have always been concerns by people about going early in the morning and leaving the clinic late in the day and also not having seen a doctor. Also prescriptions for drugs are not easy to obtain. Although private doctors and clinics are widely available, one has to have enough money to pay to these doctors or depend on health insurance to cover the cost. In respect of the hospital pharmacies, more people congregate to receive the medicine they need. It is heard that some of these folks are even turned away because of either a lack of supply or the particular drug the pharmacy doesn’t stock. If the person really needs an unavailable drug they must go to a public drugstore and pay for it or stay without that (Health Care, 2009).

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