Surendra Sarnikar

Knowledge Management Systems for Knowledge-Intensive Processes: Design Approach and an Illustrative Example

In order to gain sustainable competitive advantage in todays knowledge economy, organizations are looking beyond routine transactional workflow processes to support knowledge-intensive processes. Traditional business process management systems are effective in providing coordination support, but are not geared towards providing relevant knowledge support as well. Also, knowledge management systems are used in an ad hoc manner without explicitly linking them to the underlying organizational processes. Process-based knowledge management (PKM) systems have emerged as a potential solution to support knowledge-intensive processes. However, design guidelines for developing PKM systems are minimal. This paper highlights this research problem, identifies kernel theories governing the design and development of PKM systems, and synthesizes various kernel theories to propose a comprehensive design process for PKM systems. Feasibility and a comparative evaluation of the proposed design process is also discussed.

Pattern-based knowledge workflow automation: Concepts and issues

As the result of business process automation, more and more knowledge is codified and stored in knowledge repositories and scattered in employees’ computers across functionally and geographically separated business units. While several alternative mechanisms such as chat rooms, search engines, recommender systems exist to retrieve and access knowledge, satisfying a knowledge requirement often involves the coordination of multiple tasks and the use of several technologies. However, there is no existing technology for orchestrating various collaboration, communication and information retrieval components to satisfy the knowledge needs in corporations. In order to address this gap, we propose the approach of pattern-based knowledge workflow that can enable the automation of knowledge flows across an organization. In this paper, we present an overview of the pattern-based knowledge workflow approach and propose extensions to the conventional workflow paradigm. We demonstrate the feasibility of implementing knowledge workflows by means of a Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) specification for executing knowledge workflows in a business setting. We then discuss the engineering challenges and research issues that need to be addressed to further develop this approach.

Online Health Social Networks and Patient Health Decision Behavior: A Research Agenda

Patients and health care practitioners alike are using the Internet and specifically online health social networks to gain access to knowledge and social support that they could not obtain as quickly or efficiently from their traditional face-to-face social networks. Given concerns about the quality of information available on the Internet and the differences between social interaction online and offline, it is important to determine whether this new phenomenon influences health decision behavior. We propose a framework for investigating the influence online health social networks may have on the health decisions that patients and their physicians make. We also propose a number of research questions that flow from this framework.

A Usability Analysis Framework for Healthcare Information Technology

Healthcare organizations are investing in healthcare information technology HIT to improve quality and outcomes. However, HIT has also been known to introduce unintended consequences and adverse effects. The adverse effects range from process changes to serious clinical errors. In order to ensure the safety of healthcare information technologies, the authors propose a usability analysis framework for healthcare information technology that can help identify, classify and prioritize potential errors. Such a framework can help design better usability studies specifically targeted at studying technology-induced errors and therefore help in the design of safer healthcare information technologies.

Towards a Business Intelligence Maturity Model for Healthcare

Healthcare is a very complex, knowledge-driven industry. Electronic health record implementations have created massive amounts of clinical and financial data. The accumulation of data is outpacing the ability of organizations to leverage the data for improving financial and clinical efficiencies and quality of care. It is believed that careful and attentive use of business intelligence (BI) in healthcare can transform data into knowledge that can improve patient outcomes and operational efficiency. BI maturity models are a way of identifying strengths and weaknesses of the information maturity of a business. This paper presents a comprehensive review of existing BI maturity models to determine their adequacy for use in healthcare. The review identifies gaps in existing BI maturity models and presents requirements for a healthcare-specific maturity model. The results of this study will be used to develop a BI maturity model that addresses the complex characteristics and needs of healthcare organizations.

Inter-Organizational E-commerce in Healthcare Services: The Case of Global Teleradiology

Advances in healthcare information technology have enabled new models for electronic delivery of healthcare services. In this article, we present the case of electronic delivery of radiological services and describe the market-based and technological factors that have led to the development of Internet-based service models for flexible delivery of radiological services. Specifically, we describe the technical, regulatory, and security issues that affect teleradiology and propose a service delivery model for providing cost-effective and flexible radiological services. INTRODUCTION

A Context-Specific Mediating Schema Approach for Information Exchange between Heterogeneous Hospital Systems

Secure and seamless exchange of electronic patient-care information among heterogeneous interoperable systems is an important goal for future healthcare information systems. However, fast and efficient exchange of information between heterogeneous healthcare systems is inhibited by the variations in the data models used to define patient-care records, and the prohibitive costs associated with standardisation and software upgrades. In this paper, we analyse the factors impeding the adoption of interoperable healthcare systems and propose the use of a mediating schema-based approach that can enable interoperability and also minimise the impact of the impeding factors. The proposed mechanism uses context-specific mediating schemas for data translation and can enable the seamless exchange of electronic patient-care records between different healthcare systems. Our approach builds on existing technologies and is specifically adapted to the healthcare context. We illustrate the viability of our approach using a scenario relating to pre-hospital to hospital information exchange.

On the Design of IT-Enabled Self-Care Systems: A Socio-technical Perspective

Advances in information technology (IT) have resulted in a proliferation of IT-based solution to support the self-care and management for healthy individuals as well as patients with chronic conditions. Despite these advances, the adoption and diffusion of these solutions into practice is limited. The objective of this paper is to enhance adoption and diffusion by providing actionable recommendations for the design of IT systems for self-care. The recommendations are grounded in socio-technical design theory and in an extensive review of self-care literature. The findings indicate that despite the diversity of disease conditions, users, technologies, and implementation environments, IT-solutions for self-care often fail to encompass a holistic socio-technical view. The design of such systems will need to account for the intrinsic and interrelated characteristics of the underlying tasks, actors, technologies, and environment.

Beyond Meaningful Use: A Model for Evaluating Electronic Health Record Success

This paper presents a conceptual model for the evaluation of electronic health records. The model is grounded in IS models for evaluating system success and task-technology fit, and integrates concepts of meaningful use and outcome research to arrive at a holistic conceptualization of evaluating the success of EHR. The paper presents numerous issues and challenges to the practice of health care outcomes research, and offers practical solutions for overcoming them.

A Cyberinfrastructure Framework for Comparative Effectiveness Research in Healthcare

Comparative effectiveness research is necessary for improving clinical outcomes and reducing costs for major public health problems including chronic disease conditions. However, current methods for conducting comparative effectiveness research are faced with limitations including insufficient data, data aggregation issues, and high costs among others. In this paper, we propose a cyberinfrastructure-based solution that includes tools for gathering large high-quality data sets and supporting mechanisms for various methods of CE research. We describe the requirements of the cyberinfrastructure and discuss the mechanisms through which cyberinfrastructure can support current CE research methods.