1. Page | 1
Sajid Saleem
Kelly Rasmussen
Prof. Eom
BUS 591
December 6, 2015
Pair Project: ABC Healthcare Solutions
Contents
Company Background ............................................................................................................................2
Company Information Concerns.............................................................................................................2
Company Information Needs..................................................................................................................3
Table 1: ABC Business Needs ..........................................................................................................3
Company Business Rules and Processes ................................................................................................4
Relational Database Design ....................................................................................................................4
Entity-Relationship Diagram ..................................................................................................................5
Microsoft Access Database Structure .....................................................................................................6
Proposed Database System .....................................................................................................................6
Query #1: Approve ...........................................................................................................................8
Query #2: Interview..........................................................................................................................9
Query #3: Offer.................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion ..............................................................................................................................................9
Table 2: ABC Recommended Business Solutions ........................................................................10
Appendix...............................................................................................................................................11
Note: The real name of the company has been replaced with ABC Healthcare Solutions to protect its
identity. All names have been replaced with fictional names. The report refers to our database
implementation proposal created using Microsoft Access.

2. Page | 2
Company Background
ABC Healthcare Solutions, a for-profit national staffing agency that supplies nurses
and other allied health professionals for hospitals in need, was examined because of the gap
between the business needs and current status quo. Also, the opportunity was provided to us
for direct observation using company-generated materials, reports, and data. For purposes of
this project, only the most relevant departments, or “branches,” were selected to reflect the
implementation of a relational database. By identifying key issues and possible solutions
within one department, Travel Sales, it would best answer the current business problems and
improve the process of reputing and organizing data. If the database proves beneficial for the
Travel Sales branch, we hope to continue the use of this software throughout other branches
within the company.
Company Information Concerns
ABC was chosen as the company of interest because of the several issues revolving
around the storage and production of data and information. ABC relies on a non-centralized
database system that uses Microsoft Excel files, an online software system, and paper
records. The current database system used is the online software system where travelers,
recruiters, and contract managers can all access and change at their will. While this may be
helpful to have all eyes on the same database system, issues arise when two disparate parties
are updating the same information at once, or when one entity creates an application, such as
the traveler and the recruiter may or may not see this application and create a new one. Also,
since all of the entities have access to this online software system, there is no effective way to
backup data in case of a power outage or server malfunction. ABC also relies heavily on
paper records. This file storing system leads to several issues such as inaccurate data,
redundant data, and inefficient resource utilization. Eventually, between the Microsoft Excel
files, online software system, and database records, data is not jointly updated, thus making it
hard to trust in the end. Without the ability to trust the data, there is no effective way to
create, update, and delete current records. As it will be evident from the later part of this
section, the issues of inaccuracy, redundancy and inefficient resource utilization are clearly
interlinked.
The company allows the user to download the Excel data files and update them
individually. Furthermore, the employees do not adhere to a standard procedure. For
example, recruiters are responsible to updating files on the travelers they recruit. But
occasionally, contract managers recruit a new traveler bypassing the recruiter. The current
system is incapable of enforcing the standard business policies of ABC. Such decentralized
way of updating the system also gives rise to the concerning issue of lack of accuracy of data
in the system, and plausibly provide mechanisms for employees to practice favoritism.

3. Page | 3
Furthermore, the current file system, does not have any means to identify the entities
in a unique way. It is plausible to have several records in several entities with the same name.
Finding the relevant record to make updates can require time and cost company resources,
which could have been spent on other productive activities. Observing the current business
practice reveals that the user of the data file frequently creates a new record every time he or
she has difficulty in finding the original record. This multitude of different copies of the same
file causes excess storage space need, redundant data, and most importantly inaccuracies in
the data storage system.
Within the travel sales department, when the current business processes do not match
the business rules, it can negatively affect all entities. For example, if all the disparate
database systems do not reflect the most updated information, a traveler may be sent to the
wrong facility or start on the wrong shift. This avoidable error affects the commissions of
both the recruiter and the contract manager. If the facility sees these errors repeatedly, they
may or may not choose to hire travelers from ABC Healthcare Solutions because of the
continuous miscommunications. The unreliable nature of such a database makes it difficult to
drive business decisions.
Company Information Needs
ABC Healthcare Solutions needs a database system that would easily update
employee demographic information, track productivity of employees and managers,
distinguish employees and hired staff with unique identifiers, simplify data that is shared
between internal employees and external contracted facilities, and standardize the process in-
line with business policies. The company wants to be able to efficiently produce accurate
reports like it currently does (See Appendix), eliminate the issues found in the prior section,
and enable a better utilization of its resources.
Table 1: ABC Business Needs
Problem Category Information Needs
Accuracy Reliable data source
Redundancy Efficient use of employee time and company resources
Resource utilization Database reflecting company policy
Lack of standardization Overcome the current issues which hinder growth
We are confident that with the help of an efficient and easy to understand centralized
relational database, we would be able to overcome company’s issues and meet its information
needs. A centralized database system will synchronize all changes, resulting in more accurate
data. In addition, instilling one standardized database that provides access to all entities
eliminates the possibility of data redundancy with the use of unique primary key values. Also,
this centralized database will mitigate any unnecessary time and energy spent sorting through
various Excel files or paper records, reassuring that all possible resources are utilized. A
database with the embedded business process rules will ensure that communication between

4. Page | 4
employees is optimized. With the implementation of queries (using SQL), the database will
mitigate the need to laboriously create similar reports each day, thus overcoming any data
redundancy and data accuracy issues for queries to generate relevant information for reports.
In addition, an efficiently managed relational database system will provide the
company with valuable information, such as which employees are the most productive, what
states typically offer the highest pay rates, and the number of offers accepted at each facility,
etc. Such pertinent information can give the company the competitive advantage they need.
Company Business Rules and Processes
Within ABC Healthcare Solutions, there are four main entities in which information is
interdependently exchanged, as seen in the Entity-Relationship Diagram below. The first
entity is the traveler. The traveler can either voluntarily submit an application via the ABC
Healthcare Solutions webpage (in which case the value for app sent field will be null), or a
recruiter, the second entity, sends out applications to the traveler. A traveler will have one
application with information such as traveler type (example: nurse or medical assistant) and
application complete. The third entity, the facility, posts job opening for these prospective
travelers with details including the role, average pay, shift time, and other requirements. A
facility may have several job postings active at the same time. The recruiter tries to match
their traveler’s with these job postings and sends a review to the contract manager, the fourth
entity. The contract manager approves or disapproves the review sent by the recruiter. If the
contract manager believes that the traveler is a good fit for the job posting, he or she will
forward the review to the facility. If the facility accepts this review, the traveler will be asked
to complete a virtual interview. Based on the success of the interview, the traveler may or
may not be offered the position. If the traveler does not receive an offer, the recruiter
continues to search for other jobs that fit his or her criteria. If the traveler accepts the offer, it
becomes a contract. The contract includes all the finalized details about the job. The
approval, interview, offer and contract are frequently used for productivity report (See
Appendix).
Relational Database Design
As discussed earlier, the proposed database will reflect the current company needs of
the Travel Sales department. This database contains 8 different entities. Each entity contains
a primary key, relevant information, and a foreign key if necessary. The entities are listed
below:
1. Traveler
2. Application
3. Review
4. Contract
5. Facility
6. Job Postings
7. Recruiter

5. Page | 5
8. Contract Manager
Entity-Relationship Diagram
The ER diagram lists out the relationships, the modality, and the cardinality created
between these separate entities as they are aligned with the current business needs. The ER
model designed is in the 3rd
normal form. There is no data redundancy except in the foreign
key attributes.
Figure 1: Entity-Relationship Diagram

6. Page | 6
Microsoft Access Database Structure
Figure 2: Microsoft Access Database Structure
Proposed Database System
As the issues of inaccuracy, redundancy, and inefficient resource utilization are clearly
interlinked, all the attempts to eliminate any one issue will also contribute towards
eliminating other issues. For example, removing data redundancy makes the database more
accurate and reduces the storage space needed, making efficient use of the available
resources.
The proposed centralized database structure uses unique identifiers and drop down
menus in the forms to reassure the individual entering the data is using the correct primary
key. Data entry is done using forms, instead of tables, which prevent the users creating
mistakes when entering data directly into the tables in Microsoft Access database. This
methodology prevents users from messing up the proposed database structure. The screenshot
below is an example of one of the forms proposed in the new database structure (See Figure
frm_Review). In the frm_Review, the submittal number is listed as the primary key. In the
previous database, when an employee could not track the name of the traveler or duplicate
copies of the same traveler (as traveler’s names are not unique), the recruiter would create a
new record. This original style of thinking creates data redundancy issues, leading to
inaccurate data. However, in our proposed database structure, any search would be conducted

7. Page | 7
using the primary key as the keyword. Each primary key is unique, eliminating any
possibility of duplicate records and resulting in non-redundant and accurate data. The
ContractManager_ID, Recruiter_ID, and Traveler_ID in the frm_Review are the foreign
keys. The employee entering the data will use the drop-down menu to select each foreign key
derived from the primary keys from their respective table. The drop-down menu feature
ensures that only the values existing in those primary key attributes of the related tables exist
already in the database preventing any errors during data entry. When the foreign key record
is selecting, the corresponding name will appear in the adjacent box reassuring that the
correct foreign key was selected. The fields that list the dates of approval, interview, and
offer appear only when the corresponding checkboxes are selected. This improvement
mitigates any unnecessary clouding of the form. The search box created at the top of the
frm_Review makes it easy for employees to search for the review form based on the
submittal number, a unique identifier, selected. This update helps to easily navigate between
different submittals to make changes, improving the efficiency of the user.
Figure 3: Review Form
In the proposed database structure, any derivable attributes will not be saved to
prevent any data redundancy and improve resource utilization of servers storing the data. The
report below elaborates this point further (see Figure Efficiency Report of Contract
Manager). This report displays the count of each tallied attribute: approval, interview, and
offer. This report can easily be derived by counting the records of the review table which
include approved, interviewed, and offered corresponding to the contract manager. The report
also features a filter option which allows the user to filter data by date in which the review
Foreign key
Primary key

8. Page | 8
was approved. The current business practice requires that this report is produced frequently
(Sample in appendix), thus the queries combined with the filter feature of Microsoft Access,
making the whole process very efficient and saving valuable time for the employee.
Figure 4: Efficiency Report
The queries used to generate the Efficiency Report are listed below, following SQL
formatting.
Query #1: Approve
SELECT Count(Review.Approved) AS CountOfApproved,
ContractManager.Employee_Name AS ContractManagerName, Review.Approved_Date
FROM ContractManager INNER JOIN Review ON ContractManager.ContractManager_ID
= Review.ContractManager_ID
WHERE (((Review.approved)=True))
GROUP BY ContractManager.Employee_Name, Review.Approved_Date;

9. Page | 9
Query #2: Interview
SELECT Count(Review.interview) AS CountOfInterview,
ContractManager.Employee_Name AS ContractManagerName, Review.Interview_Date
FROM ContractManager INNER JOIN Review ON ContractManager.ContractManager_ID
= Review.ContractManager_ID
WHERE (((Review.interview)=True))
GROUP BY ContractManager.Employee_Name, Review.Interview_Date;
Query #3: Offer
SELECT Count(Review.Offer) AS CountOfOffer, ContractManager.Employee_Name AS
ContractManagerName, Review.Offer_Date
FROM ContractManager INNER JOIN Review ON ContractManager.ContractManager_ID
= Review.ContractManager_ID
WHERE (((Review.Offer)=True))
GROUP BY ContractManager.Employee_Name, Review.Offer_Date;
The proposed database reflects the current business practices and rules by using forms
to ensure relevant information is recorded during the data entry process. More business rules
can easily be embedded into the forms to enforce standardized daily business practices. For
example, if the business rule requires that a recruiter needs to communicate with a traveler
before a contract manager approves him or her for the suggested job posting, both recruiter
and contract manager must be involved before the traveler can move forward in the approval
process (to avoid any unwarranted traveler favoritism). The database can embed additional
VBA code to make sure that the contract manager’s foreign key value is visible only after a
recruiter’s foreign key value is entered. Furthermore, only after the contract manager and
recruiter foreign key values are added, then the approval, interview, and offer checkboxes are
enabled.
Conclusion
The proposed database system will remove all data redundancy concerns. The updated
database will significantly reduce unnecessary storage space on the server by consolidating
various Excel spreadsheets and other files. Furthermore, it will help improve the accuracy of
the data, keeping all information relevant to the business practice. The ease of usage for
forms, queries, and reports will help employees stay informed and better utilize their time.
Keeping the database current will strengthen communication between all the participants,
giving ABC the competitive advantage of having data and information accessible in real time.
These advancements will exponentially improve the resource utilization of the entire business
unit and related departments.

10. Page | 10
Table 2: ABC Recommended Business Solutions
Issues Solution
Accuracy By implementing centralized relational database which has
only a single copy of data.
Updates regarding any attribute of an entity is made in only
one place keep data accurate and relevant.
Redundancy The only place redundancy is allowed is in the foreign keys.
Only one copy of data is maintained.
Resource utilization Since data is in non-redundant form, storage space required
will be significantly less.
Efficient use of
employee time
Data will be readily available to access and thus, save
employees time needed to search using primary keys.
SQL queries will make the task of create daily tailored reports
easy and efficient.
Lack of standardization Rules will be embedded in the database which reflect business
policies. This will ensure that the business data storage and
information needs reflect its policy. This will standardize the
business process.
Reliable data source Since data will be up-to-date and relevant, information created
by the user will be reliable creating an environment where the
users trust the database. This can help drive business decisions.
Overcome the current
issues which hinder
growth
Issues discussed in the sections above will be resolved using
the relational database implemented without redundancy and
accuracy issues, saving time and resources. This will help the
company grow by allowing optimal utilization of resources,
and by creating an environment where new insights can
uncovered.

11. Page | 11
Appendix
Figure 5: Original Contract Activity Report
Figure 6: Original Distinct Submittal Report

12. Page | 12
Figure 7: Original Derived Approval, Interview, Offer Report
Figure 8: Original Web-based Reporting Method

13. Page | 13
Table 3: Data Dictionary
Address The current address of the facility
App_Sent A yes/no variable showing whether the traveler has completed an
application
Application_# The unique application identifier number
Approved A yes/no value if the contract manager forwards the review to the
facility
Bill_Hourly The amount that ABC bills the hospital per hour of work for the
traveler
Bill_Rate The rate in which the facility is willing to pay for that traveler
City The current city of the facility
Complete_Profile Explains if the traveler has completed their profile which includes all
necessary vaccinations, licenses, classes, and certifications.
Contract_# The unique contract identifier number
ContractManager_I
D
The unique contract manager identifier number
Duration The length of the contract (in weeks)
Duration The recommended length of the job
Employee_Name The contract manager’s first and last name
Facility_# The unique facility identifier number
Facility_Name The name of the facility
Housing A yes/no variable showing whether or not ABC is responsible for
finding housing for the traveler
Interview A yes/no value indicating if the traveler completed an interview for
the facility
Offer A yes/no value indicating if the traveler completed an offer for the
facility
Posting_# The job posting created by the facility
Profession The current occupation of the traveler

14. Page | 14
Rank Junior or Senior, the rank of each recruiter
Recruiter_ID The unique recruiter identifier number
Referral_Type The source in which the referral came from (ex: past employee,
monster, craigslist)
Region Area within the United States in which the Contract Manager is
responsible for
Role The occupation for the recommended traveler
Shift_Type Day, Middle, or Night Shift
Specialty The current specialty of the traveler (ex: critical care, post-partum,
NICU)
Spread_Margin The percentage of commission necessary to prove whether or not a
contract will be profitable for the company
Start_Date The start date of a contract
Start_Date The day in which the job starts
State The current state of the facility
Submittal/Market Explains if the traveler was matched to an existing job posting
(submittal) or if the contract manager suggested a traveler to a
facility without an existing job posting (market)
Submittal_# The unique submittal number that occurs when the recruiter has sent
a completed application to a contract manager
Traveler_ID The unique traveler identifier number
Traveler_Name The first and last name of the traveler
Traveler_Type Explains the traveler’s current occupation
Type Explains the way a traveler was hired. The type is either a new hire,
a new deal, or an extension
VMS Vendor Management System, the web-based portal that displays the
job postings for the facility’s that they are contracted with
Year_of_Hire The year in which the employee was hired
Zip The current zip code of the facility