Comparing a Japanese and a German hospital information system.

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Comparative Health Systems Research
• Information Systems Architecture

Background:

• Hospital Information Systems (HIS) are critical for healthcare delivery.
• Cross-cultural comparisons of HIS architectures offer unique insights into structural quality.
• Previous HIS comparisons have largely focused on intra-country analyses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate architectural differences and similarities between Japanese and German Hospital Information Systems (HIS).
• To analyze structural quality characteristics of HIS through a cross-cultural lens.
• To identify potential insights not obtainable through intra-country comparisons.

Main Methods:

• A reference model for the HIS domain layer was established for comparison.
• Two distinct HIS architectures were modeled using 3LGM(2) based on the reference model.
• Four specific structural quality criteria were assessed for each HIS.

Main Results:

• Significant differences were observed in the four structural quality criteria between the two HIS.
• The centralized Japanese HIS exhibited fewer functional redundancies and lower communication standard implementation.
• The decentralized German HIS showed more functional redundancies and higher adoption of communication standards.

Conclusions:

• Model-based comparison successfully highlighted substantial architectural differences between HIS from distinct cultural contexts.
• The 3LGM(2) modeling approach shows potential for assessing HIS structural quality.
• Further improvements are needed for 3LGM(2) usability in benchmarking health information system architectures.