Customizing Work Processes for Organization Models

Models of work processes and of organizations’ activities are an important part of workflow systems and simulations. However, acquiring and maintaining these models can be difficult. To assist the acquisition and maintenance of organizational models, we have developed a set of knowledge-acquisition tools suitable for use in the domain of medical organizations. In modeling medical organization processes, three areas of expertise must be brought together. Expertise in medical care, organizational structure, and modeling is necessary to accurately describe the process of medical care delivery for simulation or workflow management. We propose a method of modeling work processes that uses the Protégé suite of tools to generate organizationspecific work process descriptions. We have created a set of Protégé knowledge-acquisition tools customized for medical, organization, and modeling experts, and have used a prototype system to create detailed, site-specific process descriptions. We believe this methodology will improve acquisition of an organizational model, and make it easier to maintain an accurate model in the face of changes in medical process or organizational structure.