Steps towards an Healthcare Information Model based on openEHR

Abstract

During COVID-19 pandemic crisis, healthcare institutions globally were experiencing a VUCA - Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous - environment. Efficient clinical and administrative management had never been so emergent. To achieve this goal, different components of the Healthcare Information System (HIS) must cooperate and interoperate flawlessly. Data standardization is a necessary step towards normalization and interoperability between existing Legacy Systems (LSs), and provides for longitudinal, highly reliable and persistent Electronic Health Records (EHRs). The openEHR standard was chosen for its overall dual domain architecture, where the more dynamic clinical information model may evolve independently from the relatively stable Reference Model (RM). Its Information Model (IM) comprises demographic, administrative and clinical systems. Critical clinical terms have been aligned to the FHIR HL7 standard, as to further support interoperability.