Information contextualization in decision support modules for adverse drug event prevention.

This paper presents an analysis of hospitals' organization and Hospital Information Systems' features which can contribute in contextualization of Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) for Adverse Drug Event (ADE) prevention. We identified four categories of contextualization: ENVIRONMENT, TASKS, USERS and TEMPORAL ASPECTS. Based on this analysis, we studied the technical possibilities at the architectural level to determine which component(s) of a standalone knowledge platform could technically handle contextualization. The results impact three types of components of this platform: (1) a CDSS providing decision support based on ADE signals mined in large data repositories; (2) a Connectivity Platform providing transformation and routing services (enabling any application to connect to the CDSS); (3) three prototype applications for accessing the decision support services realized within an industrial Computerized Physician Order Entry, an industrial Electronic Health Record and in an independent Web prototype, respectively. In each of the above components we present the dimension(s) of contextualization that has/have been determined to cope with and the design followed in the implementation phase.