3LGM2-Modeling to support management
of health information systems
Alfred Winter a,∗, Birgit Brigl a, Gert Funkat a, Anke Ha¨ ber b,
Oliver Hellera, Thomas Wendta
a Leipzig University, Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology, Haertelstr. 16-18, D-04107 Leipzig, Germany
b University of Applied Science Zwickau, Department of Informatics, Zwickau, Germany
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 22 December 2005
Received in revised form
10 May 2006
Accepted 18 July 2006
Keywords:
Hospital information systems
Health information systems
Information management
Systems integration
Organizational models
3LGM2
Information systems modeling
a b s t r a c t
Objective: Both regional health information systems (rHIS) and hospital information systems
(HIS) need systematic information management. Due to their complexity information
management needs a thorough description or model of the managed information system.
Methods: The three layer graph-based meta-model (3LGM2) and the 3LGM2 tool provide
means for effectively describing and modeling HIS by hospital functions, application systems
and physical data processing components. The 3LGM2 tool has been used to model
parts of the information system of the health care system of the German federal state Saxony
and of the Leipzig University Medical Centre.
Results: Experiences showed, that 3LGM2 is suitable for supporting information management
even in rHIS. We explain some benefits for information management in regional as well as
local settings.
Conclusions: Acceptance of the 3LGM2 depends strictly on its integration in management
structures on the institutional, regional, and even national or European level.
© 2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
The driving force for health care has recently been the trend
towards a better coordination of care. The focus has been
changed from isolated procedures in a single health care institution
(e.g. a hospital or a general practice) to the patientoriented
care process spreading over institutional boundaries.
Health care providers and health care professionals in a region
– and in many cases even worldwide – have to cooperate in
order to achieve better health for the patient [1–4].
An institution’s system for communicating and processing
information, i.e. its information system (IS), is that sociotechnical
subsystem of the institution which presents infor-
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +49 341 97 16107; fax: +49 341 97 16109.
E-mail address: alfred.winter@imise.uni-leipzig.de (A. Winter).
URL: http://www.3lgm2.de.
mation at the right time, in the right place to the right people
[5,6]. Consequently, the heterogeneity of the institution
is reflected by its information system. This holds especially
for a hospital’s information system (HIS). It has to be actively
designed and constructed like (a complex of) building(s) out of
different and usually heterogeneous bricks and components.
Widening the scope to the health care region and the necessity
for regional cooperation of health care professionals and
institutions, we have to claim for the respective cooperation
of institutional information systems, e.g. hospital information
systems or practitioner’s information systems. They shall
form again an information system, i.e. the regional health
information system (rHIS). Since the complexity of an rHIS is
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