Object technology: raising the standards for healthcare information systems

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Health Informatics
• Software Engineering

Background:

• The proliferation of Internet standards, driven by technologies like Netscape, has fostered platform independence.
• Java's platform independence and object-oriented nature make it suitable for building application components.
• Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) enables distributed objects to communicate across networks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present an architecture for a Universal Healthcare Information System (UHIS).
• To illustrate the integration of web, Java, and CORBA technologies in healthcare information systems.
• To demonstrate how these converging technologies raise standards for modern healthcare information systems.

Main Methods:

• Architectural design integrating web, Java, and CORBA components.
• Focus on distributed object communication and network operation.
• Conceptualization of applications as services within a healthcare framework.

Main Results:

• A proposed architecture for a Universal Healthcare Information System (UHIS).
• Demonstration of Java objects as building blocks for distributed healthcare services.
• Illustration of CORBA's role in enabling inter-object communication for healthcare applications.

Conclusions:

• The convergence of web, Java, and CORBA technologies provides a robust foundation for advanced healthcare information systems.
• The presented UHIS architecture facilitates the development of an Internet-wide healthcare framework.
• Adoption of these technologies elevates the standards for distributed healthcare information systems.