Open AccessThe TRANSFoRm project: Experience and lessons learned regarding functional and interoperability requirements to support primary care
Author(s) -
Ethier JeanFrançois,
McGilchrist Mark,
Barton Adrien,
Cloutier AnneMarie,
Curcin Vasa,
Delaney Brendan C.,
Burgun Anita
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
learning health systems
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.501
H-Index - 9
ISSN - 2379-6146
DOI - 10.1002/lrh2.10037
Subject(s) - interoperability , context (archaeology) , relevance (law) , health informatics , mediation , computer science , knowledge management , health care , decision support system , informatics , clinical decision support system , data science , data mining , engineering , paleontology , electrical engineering , political science , law , economics , biology , economic growth , operating system
The current model of medical knowledge production, transfer, and application suffers from serious shortcomings. Learning health systems (LHS) have recently emerged as a potential solution—systems in which health information generated from patients is continuously analyzed to improve knowledge that will be transferred to patient care. Method Various approaches of data integration already exist and could be considered for the implementation of a LHS. We discuss what are the possible informatics approaches to address the functional requirements of LHS, in the specific context of primary care, and present the experience and lessons learned from the TRANSFoRm project. Result Implemented in 4 countries around 5 systems, TRANSFoRm is based on a local‐as‐view data mediation approach integrating the structural and terminological models in the same framework. It clearly demonstrated that it has the potential to address the requirements for a LHS in primary care, by dealing with data fragmented across multiple points of service. Also, it has the potential to support the generation of hypotheses from the context of clinical care, retrospective and prospective research, and decision support systems that improve the relevance of medical decisions. Conclusion The LHS approach embodies a shift from an institution‐centered to a patient‐centered perspective in knowledge production and transfer and can address important challenges in the primary care setting.