DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A WEB-BASED CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
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1.1 Background of Study
Documentation, file handling, information processing and retrieval, communication and interaction barrier within the agency and the public are the challenges facing so many agencies and NAFDAC is not an exception.
A case is a compendium of information, processes, advanced analytics, business rules, collaboration and sometimes social computing that relates to a particular party like customer, supplier, patients, students or defendant.
Creswell (2011) define case management as a technique used to process cases from one state of the proceedings to another, such as setting deadlines for discovery or scheduling a series of pretrial conferences.
The case file will involve a collection of customer communications, form process documents, reports and supporting documentation and will need to be managed for compliance and audit. Acknowledging the fact that reducing delay, enhancing the communication medium between the NAFDAC agency and the public will provide efficiency and effectiveness and promote confidence in the agency. The use of new technologies are impressive aims which will generate much dissension against the traditional method of case documentation, agents’ communication and public report filing. Since it is noted that time cost higher than any other resources, delay in any form is unfavorable and will lower the realization of the aim of the NAFDAC agency.
Fast retrieval of accused case file for review, quick access to individual accused case jacket for proceedings manipulation, and real time communication is what this system will introduce through the help of information technology.
Information technology has subdued the bulky task of information management and has made it possible through the use of database to store large volume of information and retrieve it in an organized format depending on the system and program in charge of the retrieval task. Hence, it is vital for all NAFDAC agents and their supporting staff to be computer literate. That will ease their work load and enhance the quality of their services to the nation.
However, given the nature and the importance of the agency (NAFDAC) as the number one regulatory body in Nigeria and compared to other agencies due process, impartiality and independence should also be carefully taken into account. This is especially so when structural and procedural change such as the ones driven by the introduction of the new technologies take place. The use of information and communication technology (ICT) is considered as one of the key elements to significantly improve the administration of NAFDAC services.
The rapid development of technology opens up new opportunities that were unthinkable only a few years ago. Around the world, several statutory reforms have been introduced to allow the use and the exchange of electronic data and documents within so many systems and organizations. The availability of web services, the possibility of consulting on-line, remote accessibility to online documents, the use of electronic filing, the electronic exchange of case documents are only some examples that are stimulating so many agencies around the world to rethink their current functions and activities. This software can be used to enhance efficiency, access, timeliness, commitment to service and accountability, helping the agency to provide adequate services.
In addition, the use of the internet can offer the chance to open the agency to the public, providing both general and specific information on its activities thereby increasing legitimacy and report gathering through an integrated channel of communication between NAFDAC body and the general public.
However, many empirical studies have shown that the amount of reports gotten by the agency do not often coincide with the anticipated ones due to the communication slack between the public and the agency.
This software was built with an optimized search and a well-structured database which will reduce the time spent for sourcing of case jacket and its related information and enable online reporting from the public. Being a web application, it will enable case managers to be able to manage case and case-related documents from anywhere, even from the comfort of their homes. The system will also solve the problem of communication among the agents of NAFDAC through the use of chat forum.
The importance of food and drugs to man is very obvious. They need food in order to grow and sustain life while life goes on, and because of the inherent disposition to illness, the organs of the body may not function properly.
These situations of ill health provide the compelling need for drugs in order to modify the functioning of the body and restore it to normal. To be acceptable the drugs must not be deleterious to the body but should rather produce positive effect, which leads to restoration of normal life. In like manner, cosmetics should have no harmful effect on the body to which they are applied.
It is the duty of the Government to protect the health of the citizens, and in Nigeria this is the responsibility of the Federal ministry of Health. Within the ministry and until 31st December 1992, these responsibilities as regards foods are embedded on the Department of Food and Drugs Administration and Control, (FDAC) and were inevitably linked with the normal bureaucratic ministerial positions which manifested in:
Slow mobilization of ideas, men and materials for productive work
Inadequate resource acquisition, utilization and management
Poor funding of activities necessary for effective design and implementation of programs
They are also traceable to lack of awareness by the public in practical terms of sensitivity and relevance of matters concerning control measures on food, drugs, cosmetics, water and chemicals to both preventive and curative health care. Such control means when executed successfully provide guaranteed savings of a high percentage of the expenditure of the government and individuals to cure and relieve illness.
These problems led to the establishment of NAFDAC as a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Health. NAFDAC was thus established by Degree No. 15 of 1993 to carry out among other things, all the control functions of the former FDAC while the service functions remains within the ministry.
The establishment of NAFDAC gave a new look to the agency and introduced so many relevant features into the system. Since the birth of this agency, through their effective service administration to the nation, they have recorded huge number of cases pertaining production and importation of fake food grades. These voluminous records needed to be stored and managed within a database instead of the traditional paper format used for the case management. To eradicate this stressful nature of paper and pen case management method comes in the proposed system (Web-based Case Management System).
This software is designed for professional use and also an ultimate tool for ICT solution on case management for NAFDAC agency.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The problem of inefficiency, time consumption, poor communication and other related problems led to innovation of this research. The existing pattern of documenting and filing cases in NAFDAC is performed through the manual process of capturing the accused information and registering it in a booklet, documenting the court sittings and proceedings in a file and then the individual has to travel down to the organization to be briefed on the present status of the case. Among the NAFDAC agency, there has been negligence in the use of ICT embedded with software packages in case management because of the long use of manual processes since decades. With allthese, this software has been carefully developed to ease the work of the NAFDAC agents and create a better relationship between the body and the public.
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