Process Support for Continuous, Distributed, Multi-party Healthcare Processes - Applying Workflow Modelling to an Anticoagulation Monitoring Protocol

摘要

Workflow management has been shown to be a promising approach to the support of a range of healthcare processes, with tools available for their formal specification, analysis and implementation. To further illustrate its relevance, we apply a workflow modelling approach to the specification and analysis of an anticoagulation monitoring protocol, illustrating a Petri Net-based solution using YAWL and Coloured Petri Nets. The selected scenario is representative of healthcare processes which have not been extensively considered for workflow solutions in the past - namely highly distributed, multi-party activities executing over an extended period of time. In presenting a workflow analysis for such a case, we identify challenges in supporting these types of primary and community care-based processes and identify possible areas in which workflow solutions could be extended to address their particular process requirements.