Research Herwig Mannaert

Abstract

iCAREdata is a state-of-the-art research database processing routine clinical data of out-of-hours (OOH) patient contacts at general practice cooperatives (GPCs) (huisartsenwachtposten), pharmacies and emergency departments (EDs). The database contains data starting from 2015 until to date. Dataflows are secured by encryption of the social security numbers of the patients by eHealth as a trusted third party (TTP), as well as the RIZIV numbers of the physicians. At no point in the flow, personal data can be matched to clinical data. In de final database, pseudonymised personal data enable the linkage of different patient contacts to the same person, offering the opportunity to describe patient trajectories in the OOH care services; e. g. Person X consults a general practitioner at the GPC on Saturday morning, goes to the pharmacie to collect the prescribed medicines in the afternoon of the same day and finally shows up during the night on Sunday morning at 2am at the emergency department. To realise this data flow and linkage, thorough knowledge about the use and implementation of eHealth services is crucial, besides an up-to-date experience in standardisation and classification systems currently used in medical research datasets. A large network of health care services and health care workers is being part of and has to be fully involved with this project. This is only realised by implementing full transparency about the content of the dataset, how the flow is set up, and for what kind of research the data are used and by who. Researchers as well as data-supplying stakeholders stress the importance of upscaling the datasets by expanding with all GPCs in Flanders (at this moment 38 out of 44 GPCs deliver data on a daily basis) as well as adding extra EDs and pharmacies. Researchers suggest to add routine data of daytime general practices. This is necessary in the long term to be able to follow the entire flow of patients. Also the link with patient contacts in telephone- or selftriage, callcentres for urgent medical care (HC112), and follow-up contacts in general practice or hospitals complete the patient trajectories at different sites. iCAREdata has strong links with newly developed tools in referral to and cooperation with welfare services. This is a unique link between medical care and wellbeing which is in scope to be developed during the upcoming years. Besides research opportunities, iCAREdata also offers the opportunity to add up to a data driven policy on the micro, meso and macro level of health care and welfare services organisation, which was a crucial issue during Covid-19 pandemic. In addition several scientific research topics make the database worthwhile to maintain: evaluation of drug prescriptions by physicians in several contexts (antibiotics, opioids, …), use of health care services, epidemiologic topics like surveillance of infectious diseases, gaps in the offer of health and welfare services, waiting lists…iCAREdata has an experienced team of computer scientists developing modular software based on Normalized Systems Theory (NST). These modular software structures enable the introduction of additional data providers in a fast and reliable way. Thanks to financial resources, iCAREdata will further develop, validate and finalize the link with the emergency services and pharmacies. This enables us to set up valuable use cases to acquire users and (paying) customers. The funding will also be used to further develop the public dashboard and the user dashboards.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Philips Hilde
• Co-promoter: De Loof Hans
• Co-promoter: Mannaert Herwig
• Co-promoter: Verelst Jan
• Co-promoter: Verhoeven Veronique

Research team(s)

• Primary and interdisciplinary care Antwerp (ELIZA)

Project website

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project centers around developing an alternative to the established but outdated paradigm of document management. In recent research, an innovative modular approach to document management was established that enables the design of content-agnostic and evolvable documents. This new approach imagines documents as multidimensional and ever-changing entities instead of mere static representation of their analogue predecessors. The approach is based on theoretical insights of modularity and Normalized Systems (NS) theory. Based on case study research, this project establishes a clear definition of the market for evolvable documents. Furthermore, pilot applications are developed in collaboration with organizations to determine the obstacles, requirements, advantages and economic incentives for evolvable document solutions. Based on these outcomes, commercial solutions will be built in follow-up project(s).

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Mannaert Herwig
• Co-promoter: Verelst Jan

Research team(s)

• Management Information Systems (MIS)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Contemporary organizations are operating in a hypercompetitive environment, in which they are faced with challenges such as increasing complexity and increasing change in many or all of their aspects. Current methodologies for the development of information systems supporting these organizations are clearly unable to deal with these levels of changing complexity. Normalized Systems (NS) theory proposes a theoretical framework that explains why current modular structures in information systems are intrinsically limited in terms of evolvability, as well as how modular structures can be built without these limitations, thus exhibiting evolvable modularity. The strategic goal of this project is to develop a contribution to how evolvable modularity as a theoretical framework can support business processes and enterprise architectures and its supporting ICT systems.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Mannaert Herwig
• Fellow: De Bruyn Peter

Research team(s)

• Management Information Systems (MIS)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The project investigates the application and development of intercative testing and scenario based exercise sessions using information and communication technology in general and Java as a programming language

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Mannaert Herwig
• Co-promoter: Stulens Herwig

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

• Research Project