Interoperability in healthcare: a critical review of ontology approaches and tools for building prescription frameworks

Abstract

Efficient healthcare interoperability is pivotal for delivering high-quality patient care. This research article presents a critical review of ontology based approaches and tools in the development of ontology-based electronic prescriptions (e-prescription), with a focus on enhancing healthcare interoperability. The investigation encompasses two major domains: ontology overview and healthcare interoperability using semantic e-prescription. In the ontology overview, we scrutinize various aspects of ontology development, including the methodologies, languages, tools, and evaluation metrics adopted from literature. Notable comparisons between ontologies and databases are explored. Additionally, we delve into the challenges associated with ontology development and provide a comprehensive summary of methodologies, languages, tools, and evaluation approaches. Healthcare interoperability using semantic e-prescription undertakes a detailed review of e-prescription systems, emphasizing their critical role in healthcare interoperability. A thorough examination of frameworks facilitating semantic e-prescription is presented, offering a nuanced perspective on their contributions and limitations. The section concludes with a concise summary of the key findings from the e-prescription framework review. The article further addresses challenges in healthcare interoperability, including data standardization and system integration issues. To direct continuing research efforts that integrate cutting-edge technologies and interdisciplinary collaborations, future directions and emerging trends are outlined.