Providing awareness through situated process maps: the hospital care case

Abstract

Clinical Pathways (CPs) are artifacts that clinicians are increasingly introducing in their practices in order to deal with health problems in the most effective, efficient and agreed way. As a result of an observational study at a Neonatology Intensive Care Unit, we found that most CPs are still paper-based. Although perceived useful even on paper, the physicians advocated a system integrating CPs with the clinical record. Based on their requirements, we present a proposal on how to conceive a computational system that can promote awareness in order to achieve better coordination and committed inclusion of pathways in daily clinical practice.