Annotation Meta-Model for Collaboration among Health Professionals

Collaboration among Health Professionals (HPs) is a cornerstone of high-quality medical care. Its success depends not only on the availability of clinical information but also on the effectiveness of information exchange. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) have become the central medium for storing and sharing patient data, yet current systems rarely capture the dynamics of professional interactions. This limitation reduces the potential of EHRs to fully support collaborative decision making and coordinated care. To address this gap, we propose an annotation-based approach aimed at enhancing collaboration within EHR environments. Our contribution is threefold. First, we define methods to structure interactions by explicitly capturing who communicates what and when, thereby organizing the flow of exchanged information. Second, we introduce semantic enrichment techniques that add contextual and meaningful interpretation to annotations. Third, we design a meta-annotation model, grounded in a Knowledge-Based System (KBS), that formally represents collaborative exchanges and ensures consistency. A software prototype operationalizes these concepts, providing a practical tool to support annotation creation and management. By bridging raw information with structured, semantically rich collaboration, our approach enhances workflows, strengthens decision-making, and ultimately improves healthcare delivery.