Proclets in healthcare.

Healthcare processes can be characterized as weakly-connected interacting light-weight workflows coping with different levels of granularity. Classical workflow notations fall short in supporting these kind of processes. Although these notations are able to describe the life-cycle of individual cases and allow for hierarchical decomposition, they primarily support monolithic processes. However, they are less suitable for healthcare processes. The Proclets framework is one formalism that provides a solution to this problem. Based on a large case study, describing the diagnostic process of the gynecological oncology care process at the Academic Medical Center (AMC), we identify the limitations of "monolithic workflows". Moreover, by using the same case study, we investigate whether healthcare processes can be described effectively using Proclets. In this way, we provide a comparison between the Proclet framework and existing workflow languages and identify research challenges.

Radiology information system: a workflow-based approach.

PURPOSE: Introducing workflow management technology in healthcare seems to be prospective in dealing with the problem that the current healthcare Information Systems cannot provide sufficient support for the process management, although several challenges still exist. The purpose of this paper is to study the method of developing workflow-based information system in radiology department as a use case. METHOD: First, a workflow model of typical radiology process was established. Second, based on the model, the system could be designed and implemented as a group of loosely coupled components. Each component corresponded to one task in the process and could be assembled by the workflow management system. The legacy systems could be taken as special components, which also corresponded to the tasks and were integrated through transferring non-work- flow-aware interfaces to the standard ones. Finally, a workflow dashboard was designed and implemented to provide an integral view of radiology processes. RESULT: The workflow-based Radiology Information System was deployed in the radiology department of Zhejiang Chinese Medicine Hospital in China. The results showed that it could be adjusted flexibly in response to the needs of changing process, and enhance the process management in the department. It can also provide a more workflow-aware integration method, comparing with other methods such as IHE-based ones. CONCLUSION: The workflow-based approach is a new method of developing radiology information system with more flexibility, more functionalities of process management and more workflow-aware integration. The work of this paper is an initial endeavor for introducing workflow management technology in healthcare.