This project was about creating The Vaccination Register, a software platform that’s widely used by travel clinics and hospitals in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
Recently we had the chance to work on an inspiring healthcare project in close cooperation with the Vaccination Register and Tinstone. We thought this would be a great opportunity to share a case study, to give some insight into what it took to make this project not only possible but successful!
What this project is about
The Vaccination Register is specifically developed for institutions and clinics that are active in the travel vaccination and travel advice sector. It is a scalable online platform (SAAS) and an ideal solution for organizations with several locations or for hospitals that run a travel clinic.
Due to the sensitive nature of the data stored in the system, there is a strong focus on data protection, privacy, logging and access rights of the users. The application is fully GDPR compliant and is certified with NEN7510 and ISO 27001.
Features
- Location management
- Consultation room management
- Appointment management
- Financial administration
- Billing
- Management reports
- Stock management
- Consultation handling
- Client management
- Online Intake (Health declaration, Travel Information)
- General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliant
- SMS service
- Online appointment system
Algoteque’s role
Algoteque worked closely with the clients from the very beginning of the project; including the business analysis, the writing of specifications, designing architecture, designing the user interface, building the backend and frontend, testing, planning, and maintenance.
The stack we used
- Perl
- Go
- HTML/CSS/js for frontend
- PostgreSQL
- For communication, documentation and project management we use Slack, Jira.
- The team worked in Agile/Scrum
Some of the challenges we faced
One of the biggest challenges is definitely designing the system in a way that can accommodate the different ways in which organizations function. While each organization has slightly different processes, the key is to create a database that allows the user experience to be logical and coherent.
Another challenge is the sheer size of the data that is being processed. Especially the extensive logging combined with the required storage & backups (up to 15 years for some data).
The fun part
The ‘field trip’ to various clinics is a memorable part of the project. It’s great to see first-hand the nurses and doctors perform their vaccination care and analyze the work processes and procedures while in the field. As we went further into the development cycle, the analysis continued with a few test rounds to see the user-interaction with the system.
Being present during these procedures is really helpful for us to optimize the interface and processes. Working closely with the client and experiencing the passion these healthcare employees have for their job is an inspiration! We left with a great sense of satisfaction that we built a tool that they use in their everyday work.
Final thoughts
The Vaccination Register has developed into the leading software tool for vaccination care within the Netherlands, and it’s a great project with ongoing challenges when it comes to scalability, legal requirements and continuous delivery of new features.
What’s your next big project?