Research and Development of Semantics-based Sharable Clinical Pathway Systems.

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Health Information Systems

Background:

• Clinical pathways (CPs) improve healthcare quality and efficiency but face integration challenges with electronic medical record (EMR) systems.
• Existing electronic CPs often require complex and costly modifications to hospital EMR systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and develop an independent clinical pathway (ICP) system.
• To create a CP system that is sharable across different EMR systems without requiring modifications to existing infrastructure.

Main Methods:

• Developed an innovative knowledge base pattern with separate namespaces for global, local, and real-time data.
• Utilized semantic web technologies for knowledge sharing and intelligent reasoning.
• Built the system using a Java integrated development environment, focusing on simplified integration with hospital information systems.

Main Results:

• The independent CP system successfully replicated standard CP functions without altering existing EMR systems.
• An interaction solution was developed to streamline integration with EMR and other hospital information systems.
• Data flow analysis detailed patient application and exceptional alert management procedures.

Conclusions:

• Independent clinical pathway systems offer greater feasibility and practicality compared to embedded systems.
• The developed ICP system facilitates normalized management of standard CPs.
• This approach reduces barriers to CP adoption, improving healthcare delivery.