Making EHRs Reusable: A Common Framework of Data Operations

Reuse of EHRs requires data extraction and transformation processes are based on homogeneous and formalized operations in order to make them understandable, reproducible and auditable. This work aims to define a common framework of data operations for obtaining EHR-derived datasets for secondary use. Thus, 21 operations were identified from different data-driven projects of a 1,300-beds tertiary Hospital. Then, ISO 13606 standard was used to formalize them. This work is the starting point to homogenize ETL processes for the reuse of EHRs, applicable to any condition and organization. In future studies, defined data operations will be implemented and validated in projects of different purposes.

An XSLT Translator for the openEHR Archetype Definition Language

The cityEHR Electronic Health Records system is a pure XML application for managing patient health records, using open standards. The structure of the health record follows the definition in the ISO 13606 standard, which is used in cityEHR as a basis for clinicians to develop specific information models for the patient data they gather for clinical and research purposes. In cityEHR these models are represented as OWL/XML ontologies. The most widely adopted approach to modelling patient data in accordance with ISO 13606 is openEHR, which uses its own Archetype Definition Language to specify the information models used in compliant health records systems. This paper describes a translator for the Archetype Definition Language, implemented using XSLT and XML pipeline processing, which generates OWL/XML suitable for use in cityEHR.