A methodology for incorporating web technologies into a computer-based patient record, with contributions from...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Science
• Medical Informatics
• Web Technology

Background:

• Medical informatics workers can creatively use new web technologies.
• Cognitive science offers insights into this creative use.
• Existing computer-based patient records (CPRs) can be web-enabled.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the application of cognitive science to web-enable an existing CPR.
• To investigate the role of web prototypes in bridging disparate ontologies.
• To compare web-enabled CPR prototypes based on medical, computing, and business constraints.

Main Methods:

• Utilized concepts from philosophy, linguistics, artificial intelligence, and cognitive psychology.
• Developed six web-enabled CPR prototypes.
• Generated user scenarios using a user communication matrix.
• Ranked and compared prototypes against defined constraints.

Main Results:

• Web prototypes facilitate rapid development and help align team understanding across different domains.
• Prototypes were evaluated based on their ability to satisfy medical, computing, and business requirements.
• The process of prototype generation and comparison is influenced by cognitive science principles.

Conclusions:

• Cognitive science provides a valuable framework for understanding the development and evaluation of web-enabled health informatics systems.
• Web prototyping is an effective strategy for managing complexity and fostering collaboration in CPR development.
• The success of such projects depends on a cognitive science-informed approach to managing interdisciplinary challenges.