AmedicK Project Overview

1. Introduction

AmedicK is a healthcare appointment booking system that enables patients to book appointments with doctors online. The app provides a convenient interface for both patients and doctors. For premium users, the app offers the added benefit of video consultations, enhancing the healthcare experience by eliminating the need for in-person visits, particularly for follow-ups and routine consultations..

2. Problem Statement

Healthcare systems often face challenges when it comes to ensuring access to medical care. Many patients face geographical, physical, or time-related barriers that prevent them from visiting doctors regularly.

The AmedicK platform addresses these problems by providing:
- Online appointment booking for easier access to doctors.
- Video calling functionality for premium users, allowing patients to consult with doctors without leaving their homes.

3. Solution

AmedicK offers a digital platform with the following features:

Core Features:

Patient Registration & Authentication:

- Users can create accounts, log in, and manage their profiles.
- Search for doctors based on specialties, locations, and availability.

Doctor Registration & Availability Management:

- Doctors can register, manage their profiles, and set their available time slots.

Appointment Booking:

- Patients can view available doctors and book appointments in real-time.

Video Call Feature (Premium Users):

- Premium users can initiate video consultations with doctors.
- The video call feature uses WebRTC to establish peer-to-peer communication.
- Features include text chat, screen sharing, and secure encryption.

Dashboards:

- **Patient Dashboard**: View upcoming and past appointments, access health information, and initiate video calls (premium users).
- **Doctor Dashboard**: Manage patient appointments, set availability, and conduct video consultations.

Admin Panel:

- Admins can monitor user activities, manage doctor and patient profiles, and review system usage.

Notifications & Reminders:

- Notifications are sent for upcoming appointments and reminders for video calls.

4. Technologies Used

Frontend:

- **React**: For building the user interface and managing state.
- **React Router**: For navigation between different pages of the app.
- **Tailwind CSS/Bootstrap**: For styling and creating a responsive design.
- **Axios**: For making API calls to interact with the backend.
- **WebRTC**: For real-time peer-to-peer video calling functionality.

Backend:

- **Node.js + Express**: Backend server to handle API requests and manage data.
- **MongoDB**: Database for storing user profiles, appointments, and video call history.
- **Socket.IO**: For real-time communication between clients (for video call signaling).
- **JWT Authentication**: Secure login and user session management.

Video Calling Services:

- **WebRTC**: For enabling video/audio communication between users.
- **Twilio/Agora (Optional)**: For scalable video infrastructure if needed.

Deployment:

- **Frontend**: Hosted on Netlify or Vercel for ease of deployment.
- **Backend**: Deployed on cloud platforms like Heroku, AWS, or DigitalOcean.

5. Risks and Solutions

1. Integration of Video Calling

- **Challenge**: Ensuring smooth video call integration with varying browser compatibilities and network issues.
- **Solution**: Used WebRTC and Socket.IO for signaling, and provided fallback mechanisms for unsupported browsers. Implemented auto-reconnect and notifications for connection issues.

2. Scalability of Video Calls

- **Challenge**: As the platform grows, video calls might strain the backend infrastructure.
- **Solution**: Used Twilio or Agora (if needed) for scalable video infrastructure, allowing seamless scaling without impacting performance.

3. Data Privacy and Security

- **Challenge**: Ensuring secure and private video consultations to comply with healthcare regulations (e.g., HIPAA).
- **Solution**: Implemented end-to-end encryption for all video/audio calls. All data is stored securely and compliant with data privacy regulations.

4. User Adoption of Video Calling

- **Challenge**: Some patients or doctors may not be familiar with video calling.
- **Solution**: Simplified the UI/UX for easy navigation and provided tutorials on how to set up and use video calling.

5. Network Issues

- **Challenge**: Video quality can be impacted by poor internet connections.
- **Solution**: Included an audio-only mode and an auto-reconnect feature to ensure the call remains active in case of network instability.

6. Conclusion

AmedicK provides a comprehensive solution to the challenges patients and healthcare providers face when trying to access medical care. By offering online appointment booking and video calling for premium users, AmedicK creates a seamless experience for both patients and doctors, improving accessibility and convenience.

Using WebRTC and cloud-based solutions like Twilio/Agora ensures that AmedicK can scale efficiently while maintaining high-quality video calls and secure data handling.