Automated Support to Clinical Guidelines and Care Plans: The Intention-Oriented View

Abstract

Clinical guidelines (or Care Plans) are a powerful method for standardization and uniform improvement of the quality of medical care. Clinical guidelines are a set of schematic plans, at varying levels of abstraction and detail, for management of patients who have a particular clinical condition (e.g., insulin-dependent diabetes). (Clinical protocols are typically highly detailed guidelines, often used in areas such as oncology and experimental clinical trials.) The application of clinical guidelines by care providers typically involves collecting and interpreting considerable amounts of data over time, applying standard therapeutic or diagnostic plans in an episodic fashion, and revising those plans when necessary.