Blog Post 1 - Project Proposal

Introduction

 Currently, a local pediatrician has no system of information pertaining to the whereabouts of her patients in relation to her office as well as to crucial resources. In order to address this lack of information, I will produce a map that will aid in increasing both pediatric patient accessibility to certain nearby resources and display other relevant features in order to create a visually informative map.

Objectives/Deliverables

-      Plot patients’ locations with the ability to zoom in and out and to highlight within each municipality (on multiple maps)
            
       -  Patients will be plotted based on age ranges: a map for infants, for toddlers, etc. (up to 100 patients per map)

-      Plot local recourse to patients (within 25 miles of the office): Farmers’ markets, pharmacies, and major bus lines

-    Highlight school district boundary lines, including the individual elementary schools within the district area

Methodology

My client has stressed the need to be able to update new patient information post project completion. Due to the fact that the office is continually receiving new patients, being able to add new patient data following the conclusion of this project is pertinent to its overall utility. Therefore, after I obtain the latitude and longitude coordinate locations for each patient, I will generate multiple maps that meet the above criteria within Google Maps so that new information can be continually added and the link can be shared. The main objective of this project will be the user’s ability to zoom in and out to the features and to highlight all patient/resource connections. I will then create static maps utilizing ArcGIS software to go along with the Google Map link.

        The main data sources required for this project entail GoogleMaps as well as data layers from CUGIR (NYS school district boundaries) that I will input into ArcGIS for the finalized static maps - possibly more may be required as my maps become more complete and I am able to gage what else is necessary. 

Expected Work Plan

Week of

10/10/13 – Meeting with client to establish objectives and expectations

           
           10/15/13 – Redrafting of project proposal

           
          10/22/13  - Review HIPPA (privacy law/sign off on patient confidentiality)
            - Receive patient data

10/29/13 – Begin mapping process in GoogleMaps 
 - Map of subset of the first 50 patients & resources to gage an idea of how                           the general layout will appear

11/5/13 - Continue to convert patient addresses into lat/long coordinates and begin to break down maps based on age ranges of patients (infants, toddlers, and so on)

11/12/13 - Begin to finalize: Add appropriate local resources layers to patient maps, designate appropriate symbology, and establish school district boundaries

11/26/13 - Create finalized static maps of patient maps in ArcGIS 

12/5/13 – Complete map/create final poster