Towards Best Practice in the Archetype Development Process

The Archetype Development Process (ADP) is a technique where clinicians participate in order to define the structure of composite clinical concepts as they are used in an EHR system and the relationships between them.  This process involves many actors with different backgrounds who collaborate to achieve a consensus in the definition of these clinical concepts. This dissertation aims to evaluate current initiatives based on archetypes and proposes actions to promote best practice in the Archetype Development Process.

This research proposes the Continuous Improvement Cycle as a process for quality management in the ADP. This is an iterative process composed by four stages (Plan-Do-Check-Act) to achieve the continuous refinement of the development process. Organisations plan their governance, organisational setting and archetype requirements. After they create, adapt and adopt archetypes to satisfy their needs for communication and check if these archetypes satisfy the Archetype Quality Criteria (AQC).  The Act stage provides improvements based on continuous research in ADP methodologies.