HL7 ontology and mobile agents for interoperability in heterogeneous medical information systems

Modern medical information management is a knowledge intensive activity requiring a high degree of interoperability across various health management entities. Ontology-based multi-agent systems provide a framework for interactions in a distributed medical systems environment without the limitations of a more traditional client server approach. In this paper, we describe electronic Medical Agent System (eMAGS) a multi-agent system with an ontology based on an accepted public health message standard, Health Level Seven (HL7), to facilitate the flow of patient information across a whole healthcare organisation.