Modeling Health Information Systems

Abstract

Modeling HIS is an important precondition for their management: What we cannot describe, we usually cannot manage adequately. After defining the concepts necessary for dealing with this chapter, we will present some types of information system models describing different aspects of HIS. We will then focus on the so-called “three-layer graph-based metamodel” (3LGM²), which has been developed for describing, evaluating and planning health information systems. 3LGM² models and their application for information management will play an important role throughout this book. Finally, we introduce reference models and a specific reference model that facilitates modeling information systems in hospitals.