Towards a Knowledge and Data-Driven Perspective in Medical Processes

Abstract

Since the emergence of the Evidence-Based Medicine paradigm, the formalization of medical processes is one of the big aims for the standardization of healthcare. In the literature, there are different approaches to the definition of these processes. On one hand, knowledge-based Clinical Decision-Making technologies provide tools for formalizing specialized knowledge as described in clinical guidelines and textbooks, or stated by clinical experts. On the other hand, Clinical Process Management technologies, rely on a data-driven approach that can infer medical processes from data available in healthcare databases. This chapter aims to analyse these two prominent approaches for supporting clinical experts in the representation of medical processes, in search of a solution that takes advantage of both, and towards a new way of building formalized medical processes in a more efficient, precise, and usable way.