Workflow-based approach towards distributed health care applications [ECG application]

The provision of telemedicine services involves integration of information, human-machine and health care technologies. As different modalities of patient care require applications running on heterogeneous computing environment, distributed health care applications are a major issue in telemedicine. A distributed application integrates resources located at distant places through networking, These resources include diagnostic instruments, medical expertise, hospital care and other related administrative services in health care applications. A workflow based methodology for development and implementation of distributed health care applications is presented. The workflow methodology involves process modeling, workflow design and implementation, and system evaluation. Using the specific example of a distributed telecardiology application, issues related to workflow management are reviewed and a design methodology to develop a distributed telecardiology system is proposed. The ECG process includes; data acquisition; encoding, transmission and storage; pattern recognition and feature extraction; and diagnostic classification. The key identified elements of the workflow implementation are; the point of need user; the assessor in the online diagnostic center; ECG knowledge repositories; online specialist and the further care center. As illustrated through the telecardiology case study, the proposed methodology can be effectively used as a guideline to develop distributed health care applications in other telecare areas