Reference Modelling in Health Care - State of the Art and Proposal for the Construction of a Reference Model

Abstract

The quality of medical services gains increasing importance in the consumer perception. Up to 2003, the outpatient physicians had sole responsibility for the implementation of a quality management system. To standardise the utilisation of such systems, the legislature decided on the mandatory implementation of a quality management system (QMS) by 2009. However, the introduction was slow due to very time consuming and costly processes. Knowledge about the own processes is an essential part of QMS. Process models are the common tool to document them, as well as being effective instruments to manage organisational structures. To make the design process of such models more effective, reference models are built to foster the reuse of common and best practice solutions in similar cases. This paper aims to apply the theoretical knowledge of reference modelling in the context of the ambulatory sector. It presents the empirically based construction of a reference model. Therefore structured interviews were carried out with physicians of various disciplines.