Development of a visual editor for the definition of HL7 CDA archetypes

Abstract

This paper describes the design and implementation of a clinical-oriented tool for the definition of HL7 CDA templates based on the archetype methodology proposed by CEN/ISO 13606 and openEHR. The use of archetypes together with HL7 CDA brings along new possibilities for clinical model definitions based on CDA. It allows taking profit of the formal nature of archetypes as well as their ability of binding medical knowledge and technical requirements into the same artefact. To achieve this objective, LinkEHR archetype editor has been adapted to support and facilitate the use of the HL7 CDA reference model by clinical users. This paper shows the problems faced and the solutions that have been developed in order to implement a tool that can ease the way HL7 CDA templates are currently defined. © Springer International Publishing Sw itzerland 2014.