title: Upper-level ontologies for health information systems. Towards an archetype patterns approach.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examine the potential of archetype patterns for upper-level ontology development in health information systems (HISs).
  
  
  METHODS
  Archetype patterns, based on the integration of archetype concepts and design patterns, are conceptualized and developed for ontology in the HIS domain. The UML provides the underlying modeling support.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We argue in favor of the archetype pattern providing models for upper-level ontologies in HIS. This, in turn, has the potential to offer a foundation for interoperability across HIS applications and enterprises. Our research also shows the limitations of current ontology development methods as well as the challenges faced in archetype pattern development. The framework has potential for general, widespread usage. Overall, this approach supports ontology development in HIS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The research demonstrates the applicability of archetype patterns to ontology development in HIS. While numerous ontologies exist in biomedicine, there are few well-developed ontologies for general healthcare. Properly modeled, archetype patterns have potential to reconcile the differences in high-level design views across health care inter-enterprises. Future research can focus on governance, standards and tools for archetype patterns, as well as development of a comprehensive set of high-level healthcare archetype patterns.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Business, Fordham University, 113 W. 60th Street, New York, NY 10023, USA. raghupathi@fordham.edu
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Raghupathi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Umar
mesh_terms: D019033:Delivery of Health Care, Integrated; D051188:Knowledge Bases; D008490:Medical Informatics; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012660:Semantics; D012985:Software Design