A Multidimensional Framework for Semantic Electronic Health Records in Oncology Domain

Electronic Health Record (EHR) is a valuable tool to store patients' history as well as to promote evidence-based best practices and advances in healthcare. However, these benefits are limited due to problems related to data quality, difficulties in information retrieval, and semantic interoperability issues. We present the BioFrame aiming to standardize and semantically annotate EHR forms. Our proposal is composed of a multi-dimensional conceptual model, an EHR specification process, and a catalog of software tools. We expect to contribute with a framework that enables the efficient real-life application of semantic technologies and EHR standards to healthcare software systems. A case study was carried out on the specification of pediatric oncology nutrition records in a specialized hospital. The results point to the feasibility of BioFrame, as well as limitations, improvements, and challenges regarding the increase of productivity in the specification process.