An Ontology-based Multi-agent Architecture for Distributed Health-care Information Systems

S. Falasconi; G. Lanzola; M. Stefanelli

doi:10.1055/s-0038-1634684

Methods of Information in Medicine, Table of Contents

Methods Inf Med 1997; 36(01): 20-29
DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1634684

Original Article

Schattauer GmbH

An Ontology-based Multi-agent Architecture for Distributed Health-care Information Systems

S. Falasconi

¹Medical Informatics Laboratory, Dept. of Informatics and Systems Science, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy

,

G. Lanzola

¹Medical Informatics Laboratory, Dept. of Informatics and Systems Science, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy

,

M. Stefanelli

¹Medical Informatics Laboratory, Dept. of Informatics and Systems Science, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy

› Author Affiliations

Abstract

Abstract:

Managing patients in a shared-care context is a knowledge-intensive activity. To support cooperative work in medical care, computer technology should both augment the capabilities of individual specialists and enhance their ability of interacting with each other and with computational resources. Thus, a major shift is needed from centralized first generation health-care information systems to distributed environments composed of several interconnected agents, cooperating in maintaining a full track of the patient clinical history and supporting health-care providers in all the phases of the patient-management process. This paper outlines a general methodology to make architectural choices while designing or integrating new software components into a distributed health-care information system. A particular stress is laid on the specification of shared conceptual models, or ontologies, providing agents committing to them with the common semantic foundation required for effective interoperation.

Keywords:

Agents - Ontology - Distributed Health-care

Full Text

References

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