DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION- OF A MEDICAL DIAGNOSTICS AND DRUG PRESCRIPTION SYSTEM (A CASE STUDY OF GENERAL HOSPITAL OFFA, KWARA STATE)

ABSTRACT The manual processes for diagnosis and prescription in many Nigerian public hospitals are prone to errors, inefficiencies, and challenges in record management. This project addresses these issues by designing and implementing a web-based Medical Diagnostics and Drug Prescription System tailored for General Hospital, Offa, Kwara State. The system was developed to automate patient diagnosis, streamline drug prescription, and enhance the overall efficiency of healthcare delivery. Employing a pragmatic approach, the study utilized primary data from interviews and observations at the hospital, combined with secondary data from medical literature. The system was architected using a three-tier model, with the frontend developed in HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, and JavaScript, the application logic in PHP, and the backend database in MySQL. Core functionalities include a patient management module, a diagnostics engine that uses a rule-based algorithm to match symptoms with diseases, and a prescription module that recommends medications while performing basic safety checks for age and pregnancy status. Implementation followed a parallel approach to ensure a smooth transition from the manual system. Functional testing confirmed the system's effectiveness in user authentication, symptom entry, diagnosis generation, and prescription output. The results demonstrate that the system provides a user-friendly, secure, and efficient platform that reduces diagnostic and prescription errors, improves record-keeping, and supports clinical decision-making. The study concludes that the system holds significant potential to improve healthcare delivery at General Hospital, Offa, and recommends future enhancements, including AI integration, mobile application development, and cloud hosting for greater scalability and security.