Intelligent Health Information Services Requirements Revisited from an Actor's Perspective

Abstract

For the continuous improvement of healthcare quality and efficiency, much research efforts have been spent on adding intelligent modules in hospital information systems to ensure timely access to health data, monitor the quality of health care services, continuously improve service outcomes. This paper reports our experience in analyzing and implementing intelligent health data services based on actor model. The key lessons are 1) To adapt to the continuously changing health information needs, a system instrumented with actor-based conceptual model is a natural fit; 2) A dedicated domain actor-based data model provides the foundation for streamlining the stakeholders' needs and effective management of information systems assets of a hospital, and the key is bridging the gaps between the different levels of abstraction and the multi-perspectives of actors; 3) actors with learning ability can help the continuous observation and optimization of system-level qualities. Regardless of the discrepancies in medical processes and IT maturity, the evolution of hospital information systems to intelligent and learning organizations based on actor model can help provide clinical data collection services on demand, account for different types of medical events, and build a closed-loop management process.