Archetype-Based Solution to Tele-Monitor Patients with Chronic Diseases

Health tele-monitoring systems can be applied to improve chronic diseases treatment and reduce cost of care delivery. Behind this innovative and promising philosophy in the care of people with chronic diseases several benefits can be found: hospitalizations may be reduced, improvement in the patients’ quality of life and clinical evaluations more precise. The tele-monitoring includes measuring and collecting health information about individual patients, thus the evolving concept of Electronic Health Record (EHR) is crucial. Getting a shareable and universally accessible EHR is a challenge whose importance is considered by organizations that establish and manage standards. In the context of the CHIRON project, Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) patients are enrolled in an observational study to be tele-monitored by experienced doctors. Technical solutions have been designed to deal with EHR desirable features and visual requirements for remote visualization and study. An EN13606/openEHR compliant kernel is the core component dealing with multisource patient data making up a complete EHR system assuring semantic interoperability. EN13606 [1] and more concretely openEHR [2] follows the two-level modelling approach describing specifications of a reference model and archetypes to store, retrieve, exchange and manage health data in EHRs. Dynamic components to access, visualise and insert data into patients’ records are shown through a doctor-friendly user interface called Slim MEST (light-weight Medical Expert Support Tool) and combines high flexibility and adaptability as it is built upon the same archetypes defined in openEHR-kernel. Functionality is extended by means of an ECG signal viewer application, which proofs versatility of data collected by sensors used in the tele-monitoring process providing the clinicians with a practical tool for their diagnosis.