An Ontology Approach for Knowledge Acquisition and Development of Health Information System (HIS)

This paper emphasizes various knowledge acquisition approaches in terms of tacit and explicit knowledge management that can be helpful to capture, codify and communicate within medical unit. The semantic-based knowledge management system (SKMS) supports knowledge acquisition and incorporates various approaches to provide systematic practical platform to knowledge practitioners and to identify various roles of healthcare professionals, tasks that can be performed according to personnel’s competencies, and activities that are carried out as a part of tasks to achieve defined goals of clinical process. This research outcome gives new vision to IT practitioners to manage the tacit and implicit knowledge in XML format which can be taken as foundation for the development of information systems (IS) so that domain end-users can receive timely healthcare related services according to their demands and needs

Mobile Task Management for Medical Ward Rounds - The MEDo Approach

In hospitals, ward rounds are crucial for decision-making in the context of patient treatment processes. In the course of a ward round, new tasks are defined and allocated to physicians and nurses. In clinical practice, however, these tasks are not systematically managed. During ward rounds, they are jotted down using pen and paper, and their later processing is prone to errors. Furthermore, medical staff must keep track of the processing status of its tasks (e.g., medical orders). To relieve staff members from such a manual task management, the MEDo approach supports ward rounds by transforming the pen and paper worksheet to a mobile user interface on a tablet integrating process support, mobile task management, and access to the electronic patient record. Interviews we conducted have confirmed that medical staff craves for mobile task and process support on wards. Furthermore, in several user experiments, we have proven that MEDo puts task acquisition on a level comparable to that of pen and paper. Overall, with MEDo, physicians can create, monitor and share tasks using a mobile and user-friendly platform

Supporting medical ward rounds through mobile task and process management

In a hospital, ward rounds are crucial for task coordination and decision-making. In the course of knowledge-intensive patient treatment processes, it should be possible to quickly define tasks and to assign them to clinicians in a flexible manner. In current practice, however, task management is not properly supported. During a ward round, emerging tasks are jotted down using pen and paper and their processing is prone to errors. In particular, staff members must manually keep track of the status of their tasks. To relieve them from such a manual task management, we introduce the MedicalDo (MEDo) approach. It transforms the pen and paper worksheet to a digital user interface on a mobile device. Thereby, MEDo integrates process support, task management, and access to the patient record. Interviews of medical staff members have revealed that they crave for a mobile process and task support. This has been further confirmed in a case study we conducted in four different wards. Finally, in user experiments, we have demonstrated that MEDo puts task acquisition on a level comparable to that of pen and paper. Overall, MEDo enables users to create, monitor and share medical tasks based on a mobile and user-friendly platform

Collaborative group reasoning in ward rounds: A critical realist case study

The thesis explored the group reasoning occurring between practitioners during hospital ward rounds. A model of the reasoning was constructed, focused on information gathering, sense-making and decision making. The model explained the role of group reasoning and generated suggestions for evaluating ward rounds, improving medical education and redesigning rounds

Modelling of the Ward Round Process in a Healthcare Unit

Information systems (IS) are nowadays extensively used to support all kinds of activities in healthcare organisations. Enterprise modelling can help to make the use of IS in healthcare more effective by providing process and domain models reflecting a particular healthcare unit. This paper proposes a model of the ward round process in a healthcare unit. The proposed model identifies the roles of medical professionals, tasks that can be performed according to the personnel’s competences, and activities that are carried out as part of the tasks to achieve goals of the ward round process. A formal approach has been used to implement the modelling results in the form of an ontology. Such formal ontologies can support improvement and development of IS in healthcare. We learned that modelling workshops are important for development of models that can be formalized in a machine-readable form.Bridging the Gap