Modular Architecture of Value-Added Applications for German Healthcare Telematics

Value-added applications of the German healthcare telematics aim at patient orientation as well as quality and efficiency improvements in the healthcare sector. Telematics services can be utilized in many ways, e.g., to guarantee security standards and interoperability. The electronic health card is merely one example. The design science oriented article presents the development and evaluation of a software architecture for value-added applications. In order to achieve better user acceptance, the architectural requirements were derived directly from the caregivers. The architecture is illustrated and evaluated by the example of electronic referral management. Typical functional units of medical processes are modeled in seven layers. The instantiation shows a structured application with high security standards which enables interoperability between heterogeneous existing systems and extensive control by physicians' cooperatives. The architecture offers, for the first time in German healthcare, the opportunity to safely and reliably specify and develop a variety of value-added applications which can be provided via the telematics infrastructure.