Case Study: WebMD

1994 to 2002

The client (originally Scientific American Medicine) needed a desktop application and content authoring tool to be developed for their Continuing Medical Eduction (CME) program, in which doctors are presented with a case study and then answer multiple choice questions in order to receive certification credits. Later, after Scientific American Medicine was acquired by WebMD, the client needed to phase out the desktop application and have a web version developed.

In 1994 I developed a content authoring tool and a suite of desktop applications to replace the programs that had been developed a few years earlier by another individual. My applications were developed in C++ and, utilizing a cross-platform class library and framework, I was able to have a very high degree of code sharing between the Windows, MacOS, and MS DOS versions (both graphics and text modes). The content authoring tool was written for MacOS and generated binary "case" files that were identical for all platforms.

In 1997 I ported the content authoring tool from MacOS to Windows, and made enhancements in order to generate HTML and JavaScript, rather than the binary files that were used by the desktop applications. The authoring tool's engine to process the case's business logic remained unchanged, except for the enhancements. In addition to being able to use the product via the Internet, the content was also distributed via CD ROM.

In late 2001 and again in mid 2002 I enhanced the content authoring tool yet again to:

- Enable the web application to interface with WebMD's eCommerce package, which regulated end-user registration and login.
- Completely redesign the web site's look & feel.
- Add enhancements to the business logic.
- Design a DTD and generate an XML file of each case, to be used for future repurposing of the content. This served as the group's pilot project for XML use and content re-use.

Demo

View an on-line demo of the WebMD® Scientific American® Medicine CME program.

System Architecture