Clinical Events as Building Blocks for Smart Workflows and Decision Support

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Clinical Informatics
• Digital Health Systems

Background:

• Traditional electronic medical records (EMRs) are document-centric and lack structure for real-time clinical decision support.
• This limits workflow automation and efficient data utilization in healthcare settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To define atomic clinical events for dynamic workflows.
• To enable structured documentation and enhance decision support systems.
• To transition from static documentation to process-aware EMRs.

Main Methods:

• A multidisciplinary team identified 168 atomic clinical events by analyzing clinical pathways.
• Each event was defined with a textual description, data payload, and performance metrics (KPIs).
• The catalog was developed through iterative validation and expert consensus.

Main Results:

• A comprehensive Clinical Events Catalog covering nine clinical domains was developed.
• Standardized, actionable representations of clinical moments (e.g., 'Vitals Examined') were created.
• These events serve as modular triggers for workflow engines and clinical decision support.

Conclusions:

• The catalog provides a framework for improved data structure, auditability, and workflow transparency in EMRs.
• It supports the development of more responsive and intelligent digital health systems.
• This work lays the foundation for enhanced interoperability, clinical safety, and decision support integration.