Applicability of process mining in the exploration of healthcare sequences

Process mining is a widespread methodology for exploring various processes of different sectors. With the help of process mining techniques the limitations and deviations of the real processes can be revealed, and by these means improving steps can be suggested in process management. This methodology can be successfully used in the healthcare domain as well, although there are special features, which make healthcare event sequences unusual. In this work, we give an overview of the difficulties of healthcare process mining, and we point out the main differences of healthcare and industrial processes. Based on these statements, we give recommendations for managing the problems encountered in healthcare process mining and suggest a workflow to generate more precise process models. The recommendations are presented through a case study, in which we analyzed the medical care of colorectal cancer patients.