CCTOS Common
: Agent
Version 8.1 /
- Objectives:
- Definition of the generic concept of Agent from a groupware point of
view.
- Centralized management of common properties related to agent,
particularly:
- Authetications
- Permission profiles
- Electronic signatures
- Summary:
- Derived from Item.
- Scope:
- Generic properties of the actors appearing in the context of
healtcare projects, typically:
- Healthcare professionals, doctors, nurse, secretaries,
technicians, ....
- Although an agent is usually a person or a group of persons,
it could also be an informatics procedure, maintained under the
responsibility of a person. Indeed an informatics process could
also be seen as agents.
- In principle also the patient himself or his representative,
since it should be possible to provide accesss to own medical
information.
- Groups of Agents:
- Management of groups of Agents having some common
properties and to be seen as one global Agent, without
knowing in advance who will be included in the group. For
example an emergency department seen as one entity,
regardless who was working at a given time.
- A team has an identification and a team leader, while the
persons inside the team may change over time. For example
where no other details are known, the director of an
hospital represent the whole hospital.
- An important type of agent is the current care team, i.e.
the group of agent in charge of the patient and having
his/her agreement. See below.
- Approaches:
- Maintenance of the properties of Agents, locally and/or in
synchronization with external data bases. Journal of
modifications, including Agent responsible of the
registration/modification.
- Authentication procedures:
- Most system need at least a password.
- Communication should always be encrypted.
- More advanced procedures based on a token.
- Maybe seeking information in an external LDAP.
- Authorization profile of the agent, i.e. what the Agent is
allowed to do.
- Management of delegations:
- Every responsible agent should always be identified on its
own. That said delegations of authorization profiles to other
Agents should be possible. For example delegation of some
tasks by a doctor to a secretary.
- Management of aliases :
- an Agent may have > 1 identifications, on condition it
must unambiguous.
- Declaration of probable links between Agents, waiting to be
validated a little later by a qualified authority, after
verification.
- Merge, and possible un-merge, of data belonging to the same
Agent.
- The same physical person could have > 1 role. This means to
be seen as several independent functional Agents linked to the same
physical person.
- Responsibility issues, electronic signature.
- ...