Medlink: Revolutionizing Emergency Healthcare Drug Accessibility in Ghana Using a Novel Dynamic Geofencing Algorithm

Abstract

The inability to quickly access essential medications during emergencies can lead to tragic outcomes. In Ghana, this issue is particularly acute due to delayed arrival at hospitals and set back in locating pharmacies stocked with needed drugs. To address this critical problem lingering in our health sector, this study introduces a groundbreaking dynamic geofencing algorithm. While traditional static geofencing has been used extensively to support geriatric patients with Alzheimer and Dementia by sending notifications based on predefined zones to caregivers, little research has been done on dynamically defining geofences to locate pharmacies with needed medications. This research focuses on developing a dynamic geofencing algorithm that converts geographic coordinates into a cartesian system for improved efficiency in locating closest pharmacies stocked with the needed medications. Our approach leverages HCI principles, such as context-aware computing which enables the system to intelligently adapt to users’ real-time locations and needs, significantly reducing search time and effort. Through extensive experimentation and analysis, the proposed algorithm has demonstrated a substantial reduction in time required to locate pharmacies stocked with needed medication as compared to the traditional approach of moving from one pharmacy to the next. This study underscores the transformative potential of dynamic geofencing in cutting down delays in accessing emergency healthcare in Ghana. By providing reliable, real-time information on the availability of medications in nearby pharmacies, this research paves the way for timely access to emergency healthcare, ultimately improving health outcomes in resource constrained settings.