= アーキタイプとテンプレートに関するよくある質問 = [[TOC]] このページは、[http://www.openehr.org/FAQs/t_archetypes_FAQ.htm Archetypes and Templates FAQ]の翻訳です。正確な内容については原文を参照してください。 == アーキタイプ(Archetype)って何ですか? == アーキタイプは再利用可能なドメインコンセプトの形式モデルです。形式のコンセプトはThomas Bealeの[http://www.deepthought.com.au/it/archetypes.html 論文]に詳細が記述されたものが元になっています。アコンピュータで利用するためにアーキタイプがアプローチしている重要な特徴は、情報モデルをドメインモデルから完全に分離していることです(ソフトウェアのオブジェクトモデルとデータベーススキーマのモデルのような感じです)。いくつかのソフトウェア工学の手法とは異なり,ドメインコンセプトは別の層のクラスモデルにより単純に表現されるのではなく、制約のある言語で記述されたドメインコンセプトによるライブラリで表現されます。 An archetype is a re-usable, formal model of a domain concept. The formal concept was originally described in detail in a paper by Thomas Beale. The key feature of the archetype approach to computing is a complete separation of information models (such as object models of software, models of database schemas) from domain models. Unlike some software engineering methods, the domain concepts are not simply represented by another layer of a class model, but by a library of domain concepts, authored in a constraint language. アーキタイプにはいくつかの重要な目的があります。 Archetypes have a number of key purposes: * 臨床家といった特定のドメインの専門家に情報システムのデータ構造を規定するための諸定義を作成させることができる * GUIやバッチ処理などによる実行時のデータ検証を提供することができる。 * データに対する知的な問い合わせの基本となることができる。 * they allow domain experts such as clinicians to create the definitions which will define the data structuring in their information systems * they provide runtime validation of data input via GUI or any batch process * they provide a basis for intelligent querying of data. アーキタイプの原則に関する簡単な文書は[http://svn.openehr.org/specification/TRUNK/publishing/architecture/am/archetype_principles.pdf ここ](90k PDF)にある。 A short document on archetype principles is here (90k PDF). 医療においてコンセプトは以下あげられた事を含むアーキタイプによってモデル化することができる。 In health, concepts that can be modelled using archetypes include things like: * 体重測定 * 血圧 * 微生物学的検査結果 * 退院サマリ * 処方箋 * 診断 * weight measurement * blood pressure * microbiology results * discharge referral * prescription * diagnosis その他多数ある。ユーザーから見ると、医療情報システムで扱われているデータの種類である。アーキタイプはそれぞれADLの文法([http://svn.openehr.org/specification/TRUNK/publishing/architecture/am/adl.pdf ADL 1.3言語仕様];[http://svn.openehr.org/specification/TRUNK/publishing/architecture/am/adl2.pdf ADL 2.0言語仕様]を用いてテキストファイルに記述されている。臨床に関するコンセプトは上記のようなものであり,ADLで記述されたものは[http://svn.openehr.org/knowledge/archetypes/dev/index.html ここ]にある。オーストラリアで臨床的に記述されたアーキタイプ一式は[http://oceaninformatics.biz/archetypes/ ここ]にある。これらは多数の臨床の専門家を集めて,RACGPにより資金援助を受けたプロジェクトを進める間に作られたものである。 and many others. From the user's point of view, these are the kinds of data which occur in health information systems. Each archetype is authored as a text file, using the ADL syntax (ADL 1.3 language specification; ADL 2.0 language specification). Examples of clinical concepts like the above, authored in ADL can be found here. A clinically authored set of archetypes from Australia can be found here. These were created during an RACGP-funded project involving numerous clinical professionals. == What about existing data? == There are two kinds of archetypes the community needs: * 'designed' archetypes, which clinicians design from scratch. There are many examples in Australia, and a growing library in Europe. These kind of archetypes are based on what we have called the "Domain Base Concept Model" (presentation about this). This sounds complicated, but in fact it just means "the UML model of invariant concepts in the domain, on which archetypes can be safely based". Currently this is the openEHR Reference Model, since it is the openEHR community doing most of this work at the moment. But in the future, we hope that this model will be adopted by others for this purpose, possibly with some additions, simplifications and so on. For example, the Danish Board of Health might want to propose some G-EPJ concepts should go in there. But note: this model is not meant to be large at all; our experience is that the openEHR model of Observation and Evaluation is about right for all archetypes so far developed as observations and diagnoses etc. We are redeveloping the Instruction Entry subtype in openEHR, which will provide a very powerful basis for archetypes for medication, interventions, orders etc. * 'legacy' archetypes. These are archetypes which are designed to mimic legacy data, which itself does not follow any ontologica design - typically is is flat, or else tree-like. This could be data from a hospital database, HL7v2 messages etc. The GENERIC_ENTRY type will be added to the openEHR Reference Model to provide a basis for legacy archetypes (technical specification of GENERIC_ENTRY type). Data processing in an openEHR-enabled context can now be done as follows: * export or convert data from original source, e.g. RDBMS, HL7v2 messages to an intermediate XML or comma-separated value format * import this data into an openEHR system, as instances of GENERIC_ENTRY, according to archetypes based on 13606 * convert the data to a form based on desired archetypes, and openEHR ENTRY subtypes, i.e. OBSERVATION, ACTION, EVALUATION, INSTRUCTION. This conversion can be done based on the use of "archetype interfaces", i.e. definitions of the interfaces of archetypes, regardless of their internal structures. Data can also be easily accepted into such a system in the form of EN13606 Extracts, and output in the form of EN13606 Extracts. A simple presentation shows this graphically. == Do archetypes replace terminology? == Not at all. Archetypes are designed to provide systematic interface with terminologies. They are, in themselves, terminology-neutral, because there is no (and probably will never be) single terminology or ontology which describes the whole of medicine in the myriad points of view needed in clinical information systems. For a discussion of the problems with terminology, see the ADL specification (section: The Problem of Terminology). ADL is designed to have bindings to terminologies, and any given archetype can include bindings to more than one. A binding is the set of mappings from archetype local term and constraint codes to terminology codes and query expressions respectively. See this archetype for an example (scroll to the ontology section). == What is the difference between archetypes and ontologies? == An easy way to think about archetypes and ontologies is based on undertanding what they say. Archetypes model information, while ontologies model reality. For example an archetype for "systemic arterial blood pressure measurement" is a model of what information should be captured for this kind of measurement - usually systolic and diastolic pressure, plus (optionally) patient state (position, exersion level) and instrument or other protocol information. In contrast, an ontology would describe in more or less detail what blood pressure is. This archetype tutorial (PPT) provides a detailed example on slide 12. If in your philosophical view of the world, "information" is part of "reality" (and this is the strictly correct way to understand the world), then archetypes themselves constitute an ontology, whose subject matter happens to be information. Other "ontologies", as one tends to use the word today, have as their subject matter "reality" (other than information). == What is ADL? == Archetype Definition Language, or ADL, is a formal language for expressing archetypes, and can be categorised as a knowledge description language. It provides a formal, abstract syntax for describing constraints on any domain entity whose data is described by an information model (e.g. expressed in UML/OCL). The syntax is congruent with Frame Logic (PDF of original paper by Michael Kifer) queries. It is primarily useful when very generic information models are used for representing all data in a system, for example, where the logical concepts Patient, Doctor and Hospital might all be represented using the class Party, Address, and related generic classes. Archetypes are then used to constrain the valid structures of instances of these generic classes to represent the desired domain concepts. In this way future-proof information systems can be built - relatively simple information models and database schemas can be defined, and archetypes supply the specific modelling, completely outside the software. The official specification of ADL 1.3 is available here (640k PDF). The ADL 2.0 specification is here. == How can I see what ADL archetypes already exist? == The openEHR knowledge repository can be viewed at this page. It is constantly being added to and will probably be databased in the near future. It contains a few test archetypes based on the HL7 RIM, CEN GPICs as well as openEHR archetypes. A clinically authored set of archetypes from Australia can be found here. An archetype mindmap is visible here. Is ADL a Standard? ADL is an open specification of openEHR. ADL has been adopted by CEN TC/251, the European standards agency Health Telematics Committee for use in its revised EN 13606 Electronic Health Record standard. It was being considered by HL7, the US health information standards organisation as a basis for its templates specification, but they now seem to have gone their own way [early 2005]. == What about the problem of multiple authors, versions, replication....? == It is important to understand the big picture of archetypes and templates. For archetypes to really work, there does need to be some large scale organisation, in order to allow sharing and quality control. The following is one model of how archetypes should be used "in-the-large": 1. identify the need: e.g. "we need an archetype to describe the care plan in a discharge summary" 1. determine if there are already archetypes for this purpose: logon to an archetype library and interrogate it. Study the archetypes which already exist and determine if they can be used, or else specialised for your purpose 1. if you need to build a new archetype, you will most likely have professional colleagues (perhaps international) with whom you should discuss the problem and consider the design 1. to actually create an archetype will require an editor; archetypes will be saved in an interoperable format, e.g. ADL 1. when a draft archetype has reached a point where you want to share it, you will upload it to the archetype library 1. changes to the archetype will occur with version control and audit trailing, just like in document authoring systems 1. at some point, your organisation will propose the archetype to a body capable of doing certification - i.e. quality assurance 1. archetypes certified for use can be injected into an online network of archetype servers, making them available to archetype-enabled systems 1. systems using archetypes, such as EHRs will retrieve the archetypes they need from a local archetype server, and may well convert them to a locally efficient form 1. at runtime, locally defined templates will cause archetypes to be invoked and put into action, performing their main job, i.e. data structuring and validation. As can be seen, it is not simply a matter of editing an archetype and putting it into your hospital information system! A draft document describing some features of an "archetype system" with the above features is available here. == How do I develop a new archetype? == There is a user-friendly clinician's tool for doing this being tested now, which contains the openEHR ADL reference parser. If you are feeling adventurous, you can write a new archetype by hand using a normal text editor and checking it using the ADL reference parser workbench tool, available here (there is an ADL mode for gvim available here). How do I develop Software which Processes Archetypes? The Archetype Object Model provides a standardised object model of archetypes which can be used as the basis of software. Most likely you will want to capitalise on the work already done in various languages. See the implementation project pages (home page, then "projects" button). == Who else has used an archetype-like approach'? == Undoubtedly there are systems which have used something similar to archetypes in the past. Systems which use the formal principles described in the archetype paper or a formal equivalent include: * The anti-coagulation EHR system developed by CHIME, UCL, and in production at Whittington Hopsital, Archway, London. This system's architecture is based on the Synapses project, and uses a reference model based on CEN ENV 13606:2000, and an "Object Dictionary" of structures akin to the "legacy archetypes" described above. * Various GeHR projects in Australia, funded by the RACGP GPCG (General Practice Computing Group). * The HealthConnect diabetic shared care EHR system being built in Brisbane, Australia by the DSTC. This is based on the openEHR reference model and ADL. * The Systematic Software Engineering (SSE) EHR system in production in Aarhus County in Denmark. This is a significant system, built using its own reference model and archetype 'language'. It has an archetype editor, and all information in the system is archetyped. It was designed independently of the openEHR archetype approach; however, there have been discussions between people working on openEHR and SSE regarding potential use of ADL and other public specifications. openEHR is also likely to benefit from the experience gained by SSE and the system's users. == Who is using the openEHR 'archetype' approach'? == Various projects around the world now use archetypes for clinical modelling, including: * The Australian Archetypes project (2005), funded by the RACGP GPCG. See here for archetypes. * Most projects on the openEHR projects page. == What is a template? == In openEHR, a "template" is a locally produced constraint specification which specifies which archetypes go together in a screen form or message specification. A template states the following kinds of things: * which archetypes are "chained" together in the composition * removes optional parts of archetypes not needed in the context of use * selects the language and terminologies to be used from among those available in the archetypes * further constrains existing constraints in the archetypes. Templates are expressed in the dADL syntax from ADL. Tools are being developed by openEHR to manipulate templates. == How do archetypes relate to HL7 v3? == HL7 has a special interest group (SIG) for templates, which is the HL7 word for archetype (approximately). Currently HL7 does not differentiate between the notions of archetype and template as defined in openEHR. HL7's main need appears to be for a templating method for RIM-based objects; apparently it will use something called MIF, an HL7-specific formalism designed to represent HL7 models. In fact, ADL archetypes can be written against any UML model, and it would be possible to write archetypes directly against the HL7v3 RIM (Reference Information Model), and also the CDA specification (using a UML expression derived from its XML-schema). This is the HL7v3 Lab Obs RMIM from ballot 5 as an ADL archetype (raw ADL form here). HL7 has chosen not to follow this path. == How do archetypes relate to CEN prEN 13606? == CEN TC/251 has adopted the openEHR archetype model and ADL as the means of expressing archetypes to be used in conjunction with EHR data sent as CEN EN13606 (revised) EHR Extracts; these specifications are snapshotted in the revised EN13606 part 2. Archetypes created directly based on the EN13606 part 1 model fall into the category of legacy archetypes as defined above. Papers about archetypes and templates There are various papers about archetypes available: * A new paper on archetypes - Archetypes: Constraint-based Domain Models for Future-proof Information Systems. Thomas Beale, 2002, prepared for OOPSLA 2002 - Haim Kilov's workshop on Behavioural Semantics ( PDF 171kb, 17pp) * The original paper - Archetypes - An Interoperable Knowledge Methodology for Future-proof Information Systems.Thomas Beale 2000. (PDF 700 kb, 80pp) * A paper comparing Archetypes and Templates: Templates and Archetypes: how do we know what we are talking about? Sam Heard et al. February 2003. (PDF 94KB) * A paper for standardisation: A Shared Archetype Language: A Position Paper for HL7, CEN TC 251, openEHR and other organisations. Thomas Beale, Sam Heard. Jan 2003 ( Word 155KB)