Abstract:
Data modelling for electronic health records (EHRs) is complex, requiring technological and cognitive sophistication. The openEHR approach leverages the tacit knowledge of domain experts made explicit in a model development process aiming at interoperability. Our research aim was to explore the data modelling process for a tobacco smoking summary archetype and its implications on information systems development with specific reference to interoperability. The first author became a member of the OpenEHR Clinical Knowledge Manager review platform and observed a set of reviews of the tobacco smoking summary archetype, and the editors’ discussions following each iterative review, and made field notes. The first author also interviewed eight reviewers. The data were analysed using a general inductive thematic approach. The success of the openEHR approach was mostly attributed to a very large and active community of relevant domain experts, the insightful coordination and guidance of the editors, and a well-defined process with excellent tooling support by the openEHR CKM.
