Model-based Assessment of Data Availability in Health Information Systems

Objectives: To introduce a formal definition of data availability as a contribution to trustworthiness of health information systems and to automatically detect respective weaknesses and propose solutions. Method. Specifying an ontology, based on enterprise functions and application systems of (health) information systems and closely linked to the Three-Layer Graph-Based Meta Model (302). Deriving appropriate measures and algorithms. Results: A formal definition for data availability is introduced and elucidated by an example. This concept is used e.g. to disclose missing communication links and to suggest solutions. Conclusions: Data availability is a necessary but not sufficient condition for trustworthiness of health information systems. If information management has a thorough description of the information system at its disposal, e.g. by using 302, the calculation of data availability does not need further efforts.