The growing use of electronic health records, digital diagnostic systems and remote monitoring technologies has led to a significant increase in the volume and complexity of health data. This increase intensifies the need for continuous, secure and accurate exchange of clinical, administrative and laboratory information, which is essential for effective clinical decisions and the optimization of workflows in healthcare institutions. To meet these challenges, the AIDA platform was developed as an advanced interoperability solution, designed to integrate heterogeneous systems and guarantee efficient and reliable data exchange.

Home / Publications / Publication

Home / Publications / Publication

troca de informações de saúde e interoperabilidade

Publication type: Article Summary
Original title: The next generation of interoperability agents in healthcare
Article publication date: September 2014
Source: Repositório da Universidade do Minho
Authors: Luciana Cardoso, Fernando Marins, Filipe Portela, Manuel Santos, António Abelha & José Machado

What is the goal, target audience, and areas of digital health it addresses?
     The study aims to develop and implement a solution to monitor and control the agents of the Agency for Integration, Diffusion and Archive of Medical Information (AIDA) platform, ensuring interoperability between heterogeneous systems and improving the quality of services in healthcare institutions. It is aimed at institutions seeking to integrate clinical and administrative systems, digital health professionals involved in managing interoperable solutions and hospital managers focussed on the efficiency and quality of services. The study covers areas of digital health such as interoperability, multi-agent systems, monitoring and health data management.

What is the context?
     The growing use of electronic health records, digital diagnostic systems and remote monitoring technologies has led to a significant increase in the volume and complexity of health data. This increase intensifies the need for continuous, secure and accurate exchange of clinical, administrative and laboratory information, which is essential for effective clinical decisions and the optimization of workflows in healthcare institutions. To meet these challenges, the AIDA platform was developed as an advanced interoperability solution, designed to integrate heterogeneous systems and guarantee efficient and reliable data exchange.

     Despite this, achieving full interoperability remains a significant challenge. Among the main obstacles are the lack of universal standardization, which makes it difficult to integrate data from different sources, and the inherent complexity of semantic interoperability, which aims to ensure consistent interpretation of data between different systems. Furthermore, financial and technological limitations, as well as stringent privacy and data security requirements, represent considerable additional barriers. Overcoming these difficulties requires substantial efforts, as the lack of interoperability directly jeopardizes the quality of care, delays diagnose and contributes to increased operating costs.

What are the current approaches?
     Current approaches to tackling the challenges of interoperability in healthcare systems combine technological advances, the adoption of international standards and the implementation of innovative solutions. Standards such as Health Level Seven (HL7) and Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) play a crucial role in enabling the exchange of data between heterogeneous systems, promoting the integration of information from different sources and ensuring consistency in communication processes.

     Application Programming Interfaces have established themselves as essential tools for integrating platforms quickly, securely and efficiently, reducing the need for significant modifications to existing systems and guaranteeing reliable and agile communication.

     Semantic interoperability, in turn, is guaranteed by ontologies and standardized vocabularies, such as the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terminology, which guarantees a uniform interpretation of data between different systems, minimizing ambiguities and errors, promoting a more precise and reliable exchange of information.

     In addition, multi-agent systems are emerging as a highly promising approach. These systems use intelligent, distributed agents that operate cooperatively, enabling the dynamic integration of data from multiple sources. They optimize the exchange of information in real time, automate the coordination of complex tasks and significantly improve efficiency by reducing failures and delays in data integration. These advances not only address the technical challenges of interoperability, but also offer solutions that are scalable, adaptable and aligned with the growing demands of the future of digital health.

What does innovation consist of? How is the impact of this study assessed?
     The innovation of this study consisted of developing an advanced module for the AIDA platform, which combines multi-agent system technologies with interoperability standards such as HL7 and DICOM, enabling the efficient integration of heterogeneous healthcare systems. This module introduces innovative features such as real-time monitoring and control of agents, preventing operational failures and optimizing resource management. Scalability and autonomy are facilitated by the ability to add new agents as needed, while the web-based interface improves usability by offering intuitive tools for scheduling, analyzing and monitoring agent activities. An additional highlight is the integration of a system based on the Modified Early Warning Score model, which monitors agents to predict failures and send preventative alerts, guaranteeing workflow stability. Advanced tracking and auditing tools further strengthen the solution’s security, privacy and regulatory compliance.

     The impact of this study was assessed through its practical implementation at the Centro Hospitalar do Porto, where the performance of the module developed for the AIDA platform was analyzed based on operational and efficient metrics. The evaluation included analyzing the use of computing resources, such as the Central Processing Unit (CPU) and Random Access Memory (RAM), as well as the performance of the agents in terms of execution times, frequency of failures and impact on the operational flow.

What are the main results? What is the future of this approach?
     The results of this study showed that the module integrated into the AIDA platform provided significant advances in interoperability in healthcare systems when it was implemented at the Centro Hospitalar do Porto. The module enabled real-time monitoring of agents’ activities, guaranteeing operational stability and preventing failures. In addition, it optimized the hospital workflow by scheduling and managing tasks efficiently, as evidenced by the consistent performance of agent 609, which operated flawlessly for six consecutive days while ensuring interoperability with the nursing system. The module’s architecture stood out for its scalability and flexibility, adapting to new demands without compromising its functionality. Comparisons made before and after implementation indicated significant gains in the efficiency of computing resources, with greater CPU and RAM availability, while the web interface introduced dynamic graphics and analytical tools that facilitated real-time management and decision-making.

     The future of this approach involves the introduction of migration systems and automatic resource balancing, allowing for the dynamic reallocation of agents and optimization of the infrastructure. New analytical tools are also planned for more detailed monitoring of agent performance, improving operational management. In addition, AIDA scalable architecture will allow it to be applied in other sectors, such as banking and insurance, extending its impact beyond healthcare. Continuous improvements to security protocols will guarantee privacy and regulatory compliance, consolidating it as a versatile, robust and efficient solution for interoperability in a variety of contexts.

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Home / Publications / Publication

troca de informações de saúde e interoperabilidade

Publication type: Article Summary
Original title: The next generation of interoperability agents in healthcare
Article publication date: September 2014
Source: Repositório da Universidade do Minho
Authors: Luciana Cardoso, Fernando Marins, Filipe Portela, Manuel Santos, António Abelha & José Machado

What is the goal, target audience, and areas of digital health it addresses?
     The study aims to develop and implement a solution to monitor and control the agents of the Agency for Integration, Diffusion and Archive of Medical Information (AIDA) platform, ensuring interoperability between heterogeneous systems and improving the quality of services in healthcare institutions. It is aimed at institutions seeking to integrate clinical and administrative systems, digital health professionals involved in managing interoperable solutions and hospital managers focussed on the efficiency and quality of services. The study covers areas of digital health such as interoperability, multi-agent systems, monitoring and health data management.

What is the context?
     The growing use of electronic health records, digital diagnostic systems and remote monitoring technologies has led to a significant increase in the volume and complexity of health data. This increase intensifies the need for continuous, secure and accurate exchange of clinical, administrative and laboratory information, which is essential for effective clinical decisions and the optimization of workflows in healthcare institutions. To meet these challenges, the AIDA platform was developed as an advanced interoperability solution, designed to integrate heterogeneous systems and guarantee efficient and reliable data exchange.

     Despite this, achieving full interoperability remains a significant challenge. Among the main obstacles are the lack of universal standardization, which makes it difficult to integrate data from different sources, and the inherent complexity of semantic interoperability, which aims to ensure consistent interpretation of data between different systems. Furthermore, financial and technological limitations, as well as stringent privacy and data security requirements, represent considerable additional barriers. Overcoming these difficulties requires substantial efforts, as the lack of interoperability directly jeopardizes the quality of care, delays diagnose and contributes to increased operating costs.

What are the current approaches?
     Current approaches to tackling the challenges of interoperability in healthcare systems combine technological advances, the adoption of international standards and the implementation of innovative solutions. Standards such as Health Level Seven (HL7) and Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) play a crucial role in enabling the exchange of data between heterogeneous systems, promoting the integration of information from different sources and ensuring consistency in communication processes.

     Application Programming Interfaces have established themselves as essential tools for integrating platforms quickly, securely and efficiently, reducing the need for significant modifications to existing systems and guaranteeing reliable and agile communication.

     Semantic interoperability, in turn, is guaranteed by ontologies and standardized vocabularies, such as the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terminology, which guarantees a uniform interpretation of data between different systems, minimizing ambiguities and errors, promoting a more precise and reliable exchange of information.

     In addition, multi-agent systems are emerging as a highly promising approach. These systems use intelligent, distributed agents that operate cooperatively, enabling the dynamic integration of data from multiple sources. They optimize the exchange of information in real time, automate the coordination of complex tasks and significantly improve efficiency by reducing failures and delays in data integration. These advances not only address the technical challenges of interoperability, but also offer solutions that are scalable, adaptable and aligned with the growing demands of the future of digital health.

What does innovation consist of? How is the impact of this study assessed?
     The innovation of this study consisted of developing an advanced module for the AIDA platform, which combines multi-agent system technologies with interoperability standards such as HL7 and DICOM, enabling the efficient integration of heterogeneous healthcare systems. This module introduces innovative features such as real-time monitoring and control of agents, preventing operational failures and optimizing resource management. Scalability and autonomy are facilitated by the ability to add new agents as needed, while the web-based interface improves usability by offering intuitive tools for scheduling, analyzing and monitoring agent activities. An additional highlight is the integration of a system based on the Modified Early Warning Score model, which monitors agents to predict failures and send preventative alerts, guaranteeing workflow stability. Advanced tracking and auditing tools further strengthen the solution’s security, privacy and regulatory compliance.

     The impact of this study was assessed through its practical implementation at the Centro Hospitalar do Porto, where the performance of the module developed for the AIDA platform was analyzed based on operational and efficient metrics. The evaluation included analyzing the use of computing resources, such as the Central Processing Unit (CPU) and Random Access Memory (RAM), as well as the performance of the agents in terms of execution times, frequency of failures and impact on the operational flow.

What are the main results? What is the future of this approach?
     The results of this study showed that the module integrated into the AIDA platform provided significant advances in interoperability in healthcare systems when it was implemented at the Centro Hospitalar do Porto. The module enabled real-time monitoring of agents’ activities, guaranteeing operational stability and preventing failures. In addition, it optimized the hospital workflow by scheduling and managing tasks efficiently, as evidenced by the consistent performance of agent 609, which operated flawlessly for six consecutive days while ensuring interoperability with the nursing system. The module’s architecture stood out for its scalability and flexibility, adapting to new demands without compromising its functionality. Comparisons made before and after implementation indicated significant gains in the efficiency of computing resources, with greater CPU and RAM availability, while the web interface introduced dynamic graphics and analytical tools that facilitated real-time management and decision-making.

     The future of this approach involves the introduction of migration systems and automatic resource balancing, allowing for the dynamic reallocation of agents and optimization of the infrastructure. New analytical tools are also planned for more detailed monitoring of agent performance, improving operational management. In addition, AIDA scalable architecture will allow it to be applied in other sectors, such as banking and insurance, extending its impact beyond healthcare. Continuous improvements to security protocols will guarantee privacy and regulatory compliance, consolidating it as a versatile, robust and efficient solution for interoperability in a variety of contexts.

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