Comparing concepts for electronic health record architectures.

Keeping all relevant information directly or indirectly related to patient's care, electronic health records (EHR) systems are supposed to be kernel application for any kind of health information systems. For facilitating shared care, managed care, or disease management, such EHR systems have to be scalable, portable, distributed, and interoperable which has to be enabled by a proper architecture supporting informational and functional needs as well. Advanced EHR architectures are based on object-oriented or component-oriented paradigms and use modern tooling to design, specify, implement and maintain EHR solutions. They reflect not only medical information but also underlying concepts and integrate an extended vocabulary. The most advanced EHR architecture approaches CEN ENV 13606, G-CPR, HL7 RIM and derived models, and finally the Australian GEHR project are shortly characterised. For comparing the solutions, the ISO RM - ODP, the Generic Component Model and the CORBA 3 methodology have been used. The HARP methodology for enhancing the current harmonisation of openEHR is shortly discussed.