Title
Towards improved knowledge sharing: assessment of the HL7 Reference Information Model to support medical logic module queries.
Abstract
Because clinical databases vary in structure, access methods and vocabulary used to represent data, the Arden Syntax does not define a standard model for querying databases. Consequently, database queries are encoded in ad hoc ways and enclosed in "curly braces" in Medical Logic Modules (MLMs). However, the nonstandard representation of queries impairs sharing of MLMs, an impediment that has come to be known as the "curly braces problem," As a first step in solving this problem, we evaluated the proposed HL7 Reference Information Model (RIM) as a foundation for a standard query model for the Arden Syntax. Specifically, we analyzed the MLM knowledge base at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and compared the queries in these MLMs to the RIM. We studied 488 queries in 104 MLMs, identifying 674 total query data elements. Laboratory tests accounted for 45.8% of these elements, while demographic and ADT data accounted for 37.6%. Pharmacy orders accounted for 10.5%, medical problems for 4.3% and MLM output messages for 1.6%. We found that the RIM encompasses all but those data elements signifying MLM output (1.6% of the total). We conclude that the majority of queries in the CPMC knowledge base access a relatively small set of data elements and that the RIM encompasses these elements. We propose extensions of this analysis to continue construction of an Arden query model capable of solving the "curly braces problem. "
Year
Venue
Keywords
1997
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL INFORMATICS ASSOCIATION
systems integration,programming languages,artificial intelligence
Field
DocType
Issue
Access method,Knowledge sharing,Computer science,Arden syntax,Software,Natural language processing,Artificial intelligence,Knowledge base,Information model,Vocabulary,System integration
Conference
SUPnan
ISSN
Citations 
PageRank 
1067-5027
11
2.67
References 
Authors
0
4
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Robert A Jenders110819.64
Walter V. Sujansky2345.24
Carol A. Broverman37127.95
Michael Chadwick4112.67