MediConnect - Virtual Healthcare Platform

Connecting patients with certified doctors through secure virtual consultations

📋 Table of Contents

• About
• Features
• Technology Stack
• How It Works
• Installation
• Configuration
• Testing
• Deployment
• API Documentation
• Contributing
• License

🏥 About

MediConnect is a comprehensive virtual healthcare platform that bridges the gap between patients and healthcare providers. Built with modern web technologies, it offers secure, real-time video consultations, appointment management, and prescription services.

Key Benefits

• Easy Access: Schedule consultations from anywhere, anytime
• Timely Care: Quick appointments with minimal waiting time
• Privacy & Security: End-to-end encryption for all communications
• Quality Care: Vetted and certified healthcare professionals
• User-Friendly: Intuitive interface for all users

✨ Features

For Patients

• User Registration & Profile Management: Complete patient profiles with medical history
• Doctor Search & Discovery: Browse doctors by specialization, location, and availability
• Appointment Booking: Schedule consultations with preferred doctors
• Real-time Video Consultations: Secure WebRTC-based video calls
• Prescription Management: Digital prescriptions and medication tracking
• Review System: Rate and review healthcare providers
• Notification System: Real-time updates on appointments and consultations

For Doctors

• Professional Profile Management: Detailed profiles with specializations and experience
• Appointment Management: View and manage patient appointments
• Video Consultation Tools: Professional consultation interface with controls
• Prescription Writing: Digital prescription creation and management
• Patient History Access: View patient medical records and consultation history
• Earnings Tracking: Monitor consultation fees and earnings

For Administrators

• Doctor Approval System: Review and approve doctor registrations
• Platform Management: Monitor system health and user activities
• Content Management: Manage specializations and platform content

🛠 Technology Stack

Backend

• Laravel 11.x - PHP web framework
• PHP 8.2+ - Server-side programming language
• MySQL/PostgreSQL - Database management
• Laravel Reverb - Real-time WebSocket broadcasting
• Laravel Livewire - Dynamic frontend components

Frontend

• Blade Templates - Server-side templating engine
• Tailwind CSS - Utility-first CSS framework
• Alpine.js - Lightweight JavaScript framework
• Vite - Build tool and development server

Real-time Communication

• WebRTC - Peer-to-peer video/audio communication
• SimplePeer.js - WebRTC library for signaling
• Laravel Broadcasting - Real-time event broadcasting

Development Tools

• Laravel Sail - Docker development environment
• PHPUnit - Testing framework
• Laravel Debugbar - Development debugging
• Laravel Pint - Code styling

🔄 How It Works

1. User Registration & Authentication

• Multi-role authentication system (Patient, Doctor, Admin)
• Secure password hashing and session management
• Role-based access control with middleware

2. Doctor Discovery & Booking

• Advanced search functionality with filters
• Specialization-based doctor categorization
• Real-time availability checking
• Appointment scheduling with date/time selection

3. Video Consultation Process

1. Appointment Creation: Patient books appointment with doctor
2. Consultation Setup: System creates consultation room with unique IDs
3. WebRTC Signaling: Exchange of connection offers/answers between peers
4. Video Call: Secure peer-to-peer video/audio communication
5. Session Management: Real-time status updates and controls

4. Prescription & Follow-up

• Digital prescription creation during consultations
• Medication tracking and management
• Follow-up appointment scheduling
• Medical record maintenance

🚀 Installation

Prerequisites

• PHP 8.2 or higher
• Composer 2.0 or higher
• Node.js 18+ and npm
• MySQL 8.0+ or PostgreSQL 13+
• Web server (Apache/Nginx)

Step 1: Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/your-username/MediConnect.git
cd MediConnect

Step 2: Install Dependencies

# Install PHP dependencies
composer install

# Install Node.js dependencies
npm install

Step 3: Environment Configuration

# Copy environment file
cp .env.example .env

# Generate application key
php artisan key:generate

Step 4: Database Setup

# Configure database in .env file
DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=mediconnect
DB_USERNAME=your_username
DB_PASSWORD=your_password

# Run migrations
php artisan migrate

# Seed database with sample data (optional)
php artisan db:seed

Step 5: Build Assets

# Development
npm run dev

# Production
npm run build

Step 6: Start Development Server

# Using Laravel's built-in server
php artisan serve

# Or using Laravel Sail (Docker)
./vendor/bin/sail up

⚙️ Configuration

Environment Variables

Key environment variables to configure:

# Application
APP_NAME=MediConnect
APP_ENV=local
APP_DEBUG=true
APP_URL=http://localhost:8000

# Database
DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=mediconnect
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=

# Broadcasting (for real-time features)
BROADCAST_CONNECTION=reverb
REVERB_APP_KEY=your_reverb_key
REVERB_APP_SECRET=your_reverb_secret
REVERB_APP_ID=your_reverb_app_id
REVERB_HOST=127.0.0.1
REVERB_PORT=8080
REVERB_SCHEME=http

# Mail Configuration
MAIL_MAILER=smtp
MAIL_HOST=smtp.mailtrap.io
MAIL_PORT=2525
MAIL_USERNAME=null
MAIL_PASSWORD=null
MAIL_ENCRYPTION=null
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS="[email protected]"
MAIL_FROM_NAME="${APP_NAME}"

Web Server Configuration

Apache (.htaccess included)

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName mediconnect.local
    DocumentRoot /path/to/MediConnect/public
    
    <Directory /path/to/MediConnect/public>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Nginx

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name mediconnect.local;
    root /path/to/MediConnect/public;

    add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN";
    add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff";

    index index.php;

    charset utf-8;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
    }

    location = /favicon.ico { access_log off; log_not_found off; }
    location = /robots.txt  { access_log off; log_not_found off; }

    error_page 404 /index.php;

    location ~ \.php$ {
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php8.2-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $realpath_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
    }

    location ~ /\.(?!well-known).* {
        deny all;
    }
}

🧪 Testing

Running Tests

# Run all tests
php artisan test

# Run specific test suite
php artisan test --testsuite=Feature
php artisan test --testsuite=Unit

# Run tests with coverage
php artisan test --coverage

# Run tests in parallel
php artisan test --parallel

Test Structure

tests/
├── Feature/          # Feature tests
│   ├── AppointmentTest.php
│   ├── ConsultationTest.php
│   ├── DoctorTest.php
│   └── UserTest.php
└── Unit/            # Unit tests
    ├── Models/
    └── Services/

Writing Tests

// Example feature test
public function test_user_can_book_appointment()
{
    $user = User::factory()->create(['role' => 'user']);
    $doctor = Doctor::factory()->create();
    
    $response = $this->actingAs($user)
        ->post("/book-appointment/{$doctor->id}", [
            'date' => '2024-12-25',
            'time' => '10:00:00',
            'message' => 'Test appointment'
        ]);
    
    $response->assertRedirect();
    $this->assertDatabaseHas('appointments', [
        'doctor_id' => $doctor->id,
        'patient_id' => $user->patient->id
    ]);
}

🚀 Deployment

Production Deployment Checklist

1. Environment Setup

   # Set production environment
   APP_ENV=production
   APP_DEBUG=false
   
   # Optimize for production
   php artisan config:cache
   php artisan route:cache
   php artisan view:cache

2. Database Migration

   php artisan migrate --force

3. Asset Compilation

   npm run build

4. File Permissions

   chmod -R 755 storage bootstrap/cache
   chown -R www-data:www-data storage bootstrap/cache

Docker Deployment

# Using Laravel Sail
./vendor/bin/sail up -d

# Custom Docker setup
docker-compose up -d

Cloud Deployment Options

Heroku

# Create Heroku app
heroku create mediconnect-app

# Set environment variables
heroku config:set APP_ENV=production
heroku config:set APP_DEBUG=false

# Deploy
git push heroku main

AWS/EC2

# Install dependencies
composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader
npm run build

# Set up supervisor for queue workers
sudo supervisorctl reread
sudo supervisorctl update

📚 API Documentation

Authentication Endpoints

POST /login                    # User login
POST /user/register           # Patient registration
POST /doctor/register         # Doctor registration
GET  /logout                  # User logout

Appointment Endpoints

GET  /book-appointment/{doctor}     # Show appointment form
POST /book-appointment/{doctor}     # Create appointment
GET  /all-appointments/            # List all appointments
DELETE /appointment/{appointment}   # Cancel appointment

Consultation Endpoints

GET  /connect/patient/{consultation}     # Patient consultation room
GET  /connect/doctor/{consultation}      # Doctor consultation room
POST /connect/doctor/{consultation}/offer # WebRTC offer
POST /connect/patient/{consultation}/answer # WebRTC answer

Search Endpoints

GET  /search                    # Search doctors
GET  /get-search-results        # Get search results
GET  /specialized-doctors-list/{specialization} # Filter by specialization

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please follow these steps:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Development Guidelines

• Follow PSR-12 coding standards
• Write tests for new features
• Update documentation as needed
• Use conventional commit messages

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🆘 Support

For support and questions:

• Create an issue on GitHub
• Email: [email protected]
• Documentation: docs.mediconnect.com

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Laravel team for the amazing framework
• WebRTC community for real-time communication tools
• All contributors and beta testers

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Made with ❤️ for better healthcare access