An archetype-based solution for the interoperability of computerised guidelines and electronic health records

Abstract

Clinical guidelines contain recommendations based on the best empirical evidence available at the moment. There is a wide consensus about the benefits of guidelines and about the fact that they should be deployed through clinical information systems, making them available during consultation time. However, one of the main obstacles to this integration is still the interaction with the electronic health record. In this paper we present an archetype-based approach to solve the interoperability problems of guideline systems, as well as to enable guideline sharing. We also describe the knowledge requirements for the development of archetype-enabled guideline systems, and then focus on the development of appropriate guideline archetypes and on the connection of these archetypes to the target electronic health record. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.