An Ontology Based Scheme for Formal Care Plan Meta-Description

Abstract

Contemporary healthcare delivery is based on state-of-the-art scientific best practices captured in systematically developed formal care plans which include guidelines, clinical protocols, integrated care pathways, etc. Research so far has addressed the computerized execution of formal care plans by developing a number of related representation languages, execution engines and integrated platforms to support real time care plan execution. However, much less effort has been put into organizing available formal care plans. In this paper we propose a conceptual model and an ontology for a meta-description of the formal care plan. The proposed conceptual model and ontology allows semantic tagging and enrichment of clinical protocols so that they can be used and reused across platforms and also be linked directly to other relevant scientific information, e.g. published works in PubMed or personal health records, and other clinical information systems. It also allows modelling of the provenance and justifications for modifications or alterations to care plans.