PathwAI Systems in Healthcare – a Framework for Coupling AI and Pathway-based Health Information Systems

Abstract

Pathway-based Health Information Systems (HIS) enable planning, execution and improvement of standardized care processes. Adaptive behavior and learning effects are taken to a new level by advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Yet, design support to unlock synergies from coupling pathway-based HIS with AI is lacking. This Umbrella Review identifies applied purposes of AI in healthcare, describes the relation to pathway-based HIS, and derives a PathwAI Framework as design support for future research and development activities. Previous findings already provide a large base of approaches to realize personalized care pathways and improve coordination and business operations. Furthermore, potentials for designing learning health systems at micro, meso, and macro levels are formulated, but there is still greater opportunity for future research and design. Pathway-based HIS in this context can not only provide interpretable and interoperable data input, but can be conceptual as well as operational receivers of artificially generated knowledge.