Use Case Example

Usage Narrative -- An Example Suppose you’ve been asked to work as a business or systems analyst on a new system to track pharmacy functions in a hospital. You decide a good first step might be to construct a usage narrative to begin the analysis process. On the next slide is an example of what you might produce. © The KTP Company, 2005

Example Usage Narrative -- Hospital Pharmacy The Hospital Pharmacy fills prescriptions for the hospital’s patients and distributes these to the Nurse Station responsible for each patient. The prescription is written by the doctor and sent to the pharmacy where the pharmacist reviews the prescription, checks the patient drug file to determine the appropriateness, such as allergies the patient may have or errors in the prescription (i.e. labor inducement medication prescribed to a male patient). The pharmacist then fills the order if the dosage is safe, there are no known patient allergies to the drug, and the drug does not interact with other drugs the patient is taking. If the pharmacist decides not to fill the order the doctor is contacted and advised of the problem. The doctor then may decide to have the order filled anyway or the doctor may write another prescription and resubmit it to the pharmacy. Once the prescription is filled a label is generated with the patient information (patient ID number, patient name, room number, doctor name etc), prescription information (drug name, amount dispensed, dosage) and medical information (instructions). The label is put on the drug container. The Patient ID and new drug information (drug, dosage, RX #) are entered by the pharmacy into the Patient Drug File. The patient ID number, drug name, amount dispensed and cost of the drug are entered by the pharmacy into the on-line cost center system. The drug container (with drug) and the corresponding order are then sent to the appropriate Nurse Station to be administered to the patient © The KTP Company, 2005

From Narrative to Use Case Once the usage narrative is written and validated, it can be used as the foundation for a use case Employing our use case template, the pharmacy usage narrative might produce the following use case. © The KTP Company, 2005

Rx System Use Case Main Success Scenario Doctor enters Rx into system System checks Rx for accuracy Dispense and send label information to Nurses Station Patient receives Rx System updates Billing and Patient DB Needed Extensions: 2a. System detects inaccuracy 2b. System sends review back to doctor 2c. Doctor resends RX (with or without changes) © The KTP Company, 2005

Rx System Use Case (continued) Other Extensions/Exceptions 1a. Doctor not authorized or this patient 1a1. Rx denied 2a. System detects allergy conflict 2a1. Sends Rx back to doctor 2b. System detects Rx interaction 2b1. Sends Rx back to doctor 2c. System detects Rx duplicate dose 2c1. Sends Rx back to doctor 2d. System detects low or no inventory 2d1. Sends Rx back to doctor. 3a. Rx sent to wrong Nurses Station 3a1. Nurse denies/refuses Rx 3a1a. Sends Rx back to doctor 4a. Patient status changed 4a1. Nurse denies/refuses Rx 4a1a. Sends Rx back to doctor Special Conditions: Total system failure or Power loss ** Revert to manual system © The KTP Company, 2005