Artemis message exchange framework: semantic interoperability of exchanged messages in the healthcare domain

ABSTRACT

One of the most challenging problems in the healthcare domain is providing interoperability among healthcare information systems. In order to address this problem, we propose the semantic mediation of exchanged messages. Given that most of the messages exchanged in the healthcare domain are in EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) or XML format, we describe how to transform these messages into OWL (Web Ontology Language) ontology instances. The OWL message instances are then mediated through an ontology mapping tool that we developed, namely, OWLmt. OWLmt uses OWL-QL engine which enables the mapping tool to reason over the source ontology instances while generating the target ontology instances according to the mapping patterns defined through a GUI.Through a prototype implementation, we demonstrate how to mediate between HL7 Version 2 and HL7 Version 3 messages. However, the framework proposed is generic enough to mediate between any incompatible healthcare standards that are currently in use.

REFERENCES

• 1: Artemis A Semantic Web Servicebased P2P Infrastructure for the Interoperability of Medical Information Systems, http://www.srdc.metu.edu.tr/webpage/projects/artemis/.
• 2: Bicer, V., "OWLmt: OWL Mapping Tool", M.Sc. Thesis, Dept. of Computer Eng., METU, in preparation.
• 3: ENV 13606:2000 "Electronic Healthcare Record Communication", http://www.centc251.org/TCMeet/doclist/TCdoc00/N00048.pdf.
• 4: HL7 Application Programming Interface (HAPI), http://hl7api.sourceforge.net
• 5: Harmonise, IST200029329, Tourism Harmonisation Network, Deliverable 3.2 Semantic mapping and Reconciliation Engine subsystems.
• 6: Health Level 7, http://www.hl7.org.
• 7: HL7, Chapter 11 Patient Referral, http://www.hl7.org/library/General/v231.zip
• 8: HL7 Reference Information Model (RIM), http://www.hl7.org/library/data-model/RIM/modelpage_mem.htm.
• 9: HL7 v3 Schema Generator, http://www.hl7.org/library/data-model/V3Tooling/toolsIndex.htm
• 10: ISO/TS Health Informatics - Requirements for an electronic health record architecture, Technical Specification, International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Geneva, Switzerland, 2004.
• 11: Jena Framework, http://jena.sourceforge.net/.
• 12: Java Theorem Prover (JTP), http://www.ksl.stanford.edu/software/JTP/.
• 13: Knowledge Interchange Format (KIF), http://logic.stanford.edu/kif/kif.html.
• 14: Alexander Maedche , Boris Motik , Nuno Silva , Raphael Volz, MAFRA - A MApping FRAmework for Distributed Ontologies, Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Knowledge Engineering and Knowledge Management. Ontologies and the Semantic Web, p.235-250, October 01-04, 2002
• 15: OpenEHR Foundation, http://www.openehr.org/.
• 16: OWL Mapping Tool (OWLmt), http://www.srdc.metu.edu.tr/artemis/owlmt/
• 17: OWL Query Language, http://ksl.stanford.edu/projects/owlql/
• 18: Rose Tree, http://www.hl7.org/library/data-model/V3Tooling/toolsIndex.htm
• 19: XML encoding rules of HL7 v2 messages - v2.xml, http://www.hl7.org/Special/Committees/xml/drafts/v2xml.html
• 20: XML Path Language, http://www.w3.org/TR/xpath.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  C. Computer Systems Organization
  C.2 COMPUTER-COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
      C.2.4 Distributed Systems

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
      D.3.3 Language Constructs and Features
          Subjects: Frameworks
  D.4 OPERATING SYSTEMS
      D.4.4 Communications Management
          Subjects: Message sending

  J. Computer Applications
  J.3 LIFE AND MEDICAL SCIENCES
      Subjects: Medical information systems

General Terms:
Design, Experimentation, Measurement, Performance