Abstract
The provision of knowledge through clinical practice guidelines and hospital-specific standard operating procedures (SOPs) is ubiquitous in the medical context and in the treatment of melanoma patients. However, these knowledge sources are only available in unstructured text form and without any contextual link to real patient data. The aim of our project is to give a modeled decision support for the next treatment step based on the actual data and position of a patient. First, we identified passages for qualified decision-making necessary at the point of care from the SOP for melanoma. Thereby, the patient-specific contextual reference data at decision points was considered in parallel and represented by FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resource) resources. The decision algorithm was then formalized using BPMN modeling with FHIR annotations. Validation was provided by medical experts, dermatooncologists from University Hospital Essen. The resulting BPMN model is presented here with the diagnostic procedure of sentinel lymph node excision as the example snippet from the whole algorithm. Each decision point is edited with FHIR resources covering the patient data and preparing the context sensitivity of the model. Modeling guideline-based information into a decision algorithm that can be presented at the point of care with contextual reference, may have the potential to support patient-specific clinical decision-making. For patients from a certain status like in the metastatic setting modeling becomes highly tailored to specific patient cases, alternative and individualized treatment options.
Catharina Beckmann
Researcher in the first cohort
My research interests include Personalized Medicine, Clinical Decision Support Systems, Context Modeling, and Clinical Practice Guidelines.
Georg C. Lodde
Clinician Scientist
My research interests include Dermatology, Medical Research, and Digitalization.
Elisabeth Livingstone
Principal Investigator
My research interests include Medical Research, Dermatology, and Digitalization.
Dirk Schadendorf
Principal Investigator
My research interests include Dermatology, Medical Research, and Digitalization.
Britta Böckmann
Principal Investigator
My research interests include medical digitalization, research, and interdisciplinarity.