Basic Concepts and Terms

Abstract A common terminology is needed when dealing with information systems. Health information systems, as socio-technical subsystems of a healthcare setting, compriss data, information, and knowledge processes as well as the associated actors. They support information and knowledge logistics. When dealing with health information systems and their architecture, we distinguish between concepts such as entities and entity types, computer-based and non-computer-based application components supporting functions, and physical data processing systems. Electronic health records (EHR) are parts of health information systems that collect patient health data from different health care settings. A patient record is the collection of a patient’s health data from a certain facility. Management of health information systems includes planning, directing, and monitoring tasks. The three-layer graph-based metamodel (3LGM 2 ) is a metamodel that supports the management of health information systems. It describes the components of health information system architectures and their relationships among each other at three layers. It consists of the domain layer to describe functions and entity types, the logical tool layer to describe application components, and the physical tool layer to describe physical tools, as well as the inter-layer relationships between the three layers.