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Workflow usage in the healthcare environment

Pothoven, Tristan (2010) Workflow usage in the healthcare environment.

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Abstract:This research is about the application of workflow technology to improve the exchange of information concerning the delivery of care in residential homes. The healthcare domain is introduced and a general idea on the tasks performed there is provided. In general these tasks can be divided into two categories, i.e. that of administrative tasks and care-providing tasks. Care-providing tasks are directly connected to the delivery of healthcare to a client. These tasks are generally very divers and the actual execution differs from specialist to specialist. Administrative tasks are more related to the financial part of a client’s situation, like insurance information used for billing. These tasks are generally static, meaning they rarely change. It is therefore more logical to try to apply workflow technology to the field of administrative tasks. This thesis includes a complete example of one of the possible paths that a client, from an administrative point, may traverse. This path starts at the moment the clients becomes in need of healthcare and ends at the moment the client does not require healthcare anymore. A basic introduction to the usage of workflows and how workflow systems are designed is provided. An overview of the applications of workflows and the determination when workflows are best suited are provided to allow a determination of where workflow technologycould be applied within the healthcare domain. The YAWL workflow system was chosen for its academic background and because it provides a near perfect match for the requirements we wished to see in a workflow system within our chosen domain. During this research two different prototypes were designed; only the first one, the Topicus Task Manager, was implemented. The Topicus Task Manager, a system that tracks predefined tasks during their execution in a healthcare information system, was developed with the focus on providing the best guiding support while executing the tasks. The second prototype, the Snippet Factory, focuses on the ad-hoc creation of workflow models to allow an additional form of flexibility which workflows generally do not possess. To test the prototype three different evaluation sessions with employees at Topicus were organized. During these three sessions the attention was focused on the functionality (analyst evaluation), the technical potential (developer evaluation) and a combination of both. The last evaluation session was held to obtain the best overall view and future potentials. The most important result was that function-wise the prototype provided a lot of potential and interesting possibilities for future use. There were however some concerns with the actual “look and feel” of the prototype. It was generally agreed however, that these flaws could easily be rectified
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Clients:
Topicus Care
Faculty:EEMCS: Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
Subject:54 computer science
Programme:Interaction Technology MSc (60030)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/59638
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