Taxonomy Matrix White Paper

8/13/2019 Taxonomy Matrix White Paper

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Using a Taxonomy Matrix as a Communications InstrumentVersion 1.01

April 14, 2000

K ENNETH S. R UBIN

Overview

Models are produced in a context, for a purpose, and with o !ecti"es. # consu$er ofthese wor% products is li%el& to find contextual infor$ation is rarel& captured within the$odels the$sel"es, $a%in' it difficult to deter$ine where these products can est(address pro!ect(le"el needs or re)uire$ents.

To cope with this deficienc&, a taxono$& $atrix can ser"e as co$$unications "ehicle.In this capacit& it allows a etter understandin' the interrelationships of these $odels,

their rele"ant context, and their appropriate application as artifacts to support s&ste$de"elop$ent acti"ities.

The taxono$& $atrix descri ed in this paper is the result of se"eral $onths of anal&sisfocused on sol"in' an instance(pro le$ *related to reconcilin' se"eral $odelin'co$ponents produced for a particular de"elop$ent effort+. The $atrix pro"ides the$eans necessar& to oth understand and address "ar&in' le"els of a straction, context,and intention. Its application resol"ed what had een $onths of intellectual de ate.

Audience


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perspecti"e of the sa$e area of interest. B& separatin' concerns, the& collecti"el& pro"idean effecti"e $eans of co$$unicatin' a co$plex en"iron$ent.

In addition to the readth(wise parsin' offered & the differin' "iewpoints, the $atrix pro"ides a depth(oriented ele$ent identif&in' contexts that supple$ent each other. Thesecontexts include the business functional context, the service context, and theimplementation context. 7urther$ore these contexts $irror wor%(products that resultfro$ the "arious aspects of s&ste$ anal&sis and desi'n. The result is a $ulti(di$ensional"iew of an interest area that allows for a $ore detailed understandin' of how co$ponent

parts fit to'ether.

The $atrix is not intended to e a solution. Towards that end, howe"er, it $a%es possi lethe identification of colla oration opportunities, hi'hli'hts conflictin' efforts, and relatesdependencies within acti"ities and products. Resultin' is the a ilit& to etter understanda co$plex en"iron$ent space.

Background

The U.S. 8o"ern$ent had needed to esta lish a reference infor$ation $odel as a part ofa lar'e healthcare pro!ect0 the 8o"ern$ent 9o$puter( ased 2atient Record *892R+ : .This $odelin' acti"it& was underta%en with two pri$ar& $issions. The first was toensure that the 892R $odelin' acti"it& did not produce a parochial $odel, as se"eral$odels of this t&pe exist and ha"e not to(date successfull& addressed interopera ilit&across $ultiple lar'e care or'ani ations. Second was the approach to le"era'e to the

$axi$u$ extent possi le existin' standards and expertise throu'h close colla orationwith esta lished Standards 1e"elop$ent /r'ani ations and4or products.

Throu'h this approach, $odels fro$ the followin' sources were exa$ined and


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Based on pro!ect critical(path dependencies, the first phase 892R $odels had to produce

fine('rained results and e co$pleted in a "er& short * : $onth+ ti$efra$e. 8i"en thisconstraint, a otto$(up $odelin' approach was ta%en. The pro!ect tea$ chose to conductits $odelin' acti"it& within the RM(/12 Infor$ation Aiewpoint, as their pri$ar& tas%was to define the infor$ation re)uire$ents of the 7ra$ewor%. The hope was that the useof the RM(/12 *and the Infor$ation "iewpoint focus in particular+ would facilitateinte'ration of the disparate partitions upon co$pletion of the $odelin' phase.

Chat e$er'ed were fi"e partition(le"el $odels, each in the RM(/12 infor$ation"iewpoint that would not inte'rate. Se"eral efforts to understand and descri e thedisparities a$on' the partitions were atte$pted. In particular, each partition wasexa$ined to "alidate that it was, in fact, in the RM(/12 Infor$ation Aiewpoint.Si$ilarl&, anal&sis re'ardin' the 'ranularit&4a straction of each partition was conductedas part of the efforts to reconcile, &ieldin' in fruitless results. The 'roup was at a loss toexplain the situation.

#fter so$e effort, it was disco"ered the disparit& across the -partitions was contextuall& ased and not a straction( ased. #lthou'h "alidated as part of the RM(/12 Infor$ationAiewpoint, the 'roup ca$e to understand that the partition(le"el artifacts were notconsistent in their o !ecti"es and4or contextual 'roundin'. #s an instance exa$ple,consider -de$o'raphics . Cithin this space were produced two $odelin' artifacts0 oneidentif&in' the trait set of interest for the 892R, the other docu$entin' how an& ar itrar&trait set could e used as the asis for uni)ue identification. In other words, one $odelwas definin' the infor$ation content, the other descri in' %e& aspects of uni)ue

identification.7indin' this cause howe"er too% an unanticipated nu$ er of discussions with input fro$$odelin' tea$ $e$ ers, RM(/12 experts, and others.


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This docu$entation descri ed in detail the artifacts ein' produced with the intention of$ini$i in' 'aps etween deli"er& and expectation.

The $atrix alone is not capa le *and is not intended+ to sol"e reconciliation pro le$s etween artifacts at different le"els and with differin' contexts. Instead, the $atrix$erel& ser"es as a "ehicle for focusin' discussion and attention on the co$plexinterrelationships of a lar'e, distri uted s&ste$ de"elop$ent en"iron$ent.

Composition of the Matrix

The pre"iousl& introduced $atrix is a two(di$ensional representation containin' the RM(/12 "iewpoints across the colu$ns and three -contexts down the rows. #lthou'h riefdescriptions of the RM(/12 "iewpoints are pro"ided within the $atrix, the authoritati"ereference to these is the IS/ wor% itself.

The -contexts that appear on the $atrix are $erel& those that ha"e pro"en the$sel"es to e useful in identif&in' and differentiatin' pro le$ spaces. The $atrix is not intended to e nor$ati"e, so speciali ations or extensions should e added as(needed to address pro!ect(specific concerns. The default contexts on the $atrix include0

Business unctional Context 0 1escri es the usiness do$ain. This context has twosu (co$ponents0 Granular *fine('rained+ and Abstract . The Granular section isintended specif& the detailed content to e addressed, i$ple$ented, or carried & thes&ste$. The Abstract section defines artifacts capa le of transportin' or representin' that

detailed content *such as infor$ation -containers +. Cithin this a stract context wouldinclude concepts such as $etadata, te$plates, and4or archet&pes of infor$ation.

!er"ice Context 0 1escri es the core capa ilities re)uired to support the usiness


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separatin' concepts that are often inter$in'led in software de"elop$ent acti"ities.Thou'h RM(/12 pro"ides perhaps the $ost 'enerall&(applica le and est startin'(point

for this approach, the Taxono$& Matrix itself is not contin'ent upon the RM(/12. Infact so$e $atrix users ha"e alread& speciali ed the colu$ns to address $ore pro!ect(specific concerns, replacin' RM(/12 as their choice classification "ehicle.

RM-ODP Overview

The IS/ Reference Model for /pen 1istri uted 2rocessin' *RM(/12+ pro"ides afra$ewor% for the standardi ation *and description+ of distri uted, hetero'eneous s&ste$swithin and across or'ani ations. The RM(/12 pro"ides the - i' picture necessar& toor'ani e these pieces of a co$plex distri uted s&ste$ into a coherent whole. 5

Cithin the context of 892R, RM(/12 pro"ides the funda$ental se$antics re)uired tosuccessfull& articulate the co$ponents of this co$plex fra$ewor% en"iron$ent. RM(/12 and its co$ponents offer the tools re)uired to identif& and define oth there)uire$ents of and interactions of co$plex s&ste$s.

The RM(/12 defines within it a series of "iewpoints identif&in' different perspecti"esand4or aspects of s&ste$ de"elop$ent. Cithin this standard are defined the followin' *asdescri ed & Ra&$ond+0

Enterprise Aiewpoint0 focused on purpose, scope and policies for the s&ste$F pro$otin' an understandin' of the usiness en"iron$ent and its influences upon the

distri uted s&ste$.

Infor$ation Aiewpoint0 focused on the se$antics of the infor$ation and theinfor$ation processin' perfor$edF essentiall& the articulation of the usiness rules


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Since these contexts arenot intended to enor$ati"e, so$e thou'htshould e 'i"en indefinin' the est wa& tocusto$i e to $eet tar'etedo !ecti"es.

Technolo'& Aiewpoint0 focused on the choice of technolo'& to e e$plo&ed withinthat s&ste$. This is a description of the i$ple$entation of the s&ste$ and testin'

re)uire$ents.

Ta%en collecti"el&, the RM(/12 standard pro"ides a co$prehensi"e collection of perspecti"es to descri e a co$plex s&ste$. This $a%es it an appropriate delineation forthe $atrix pre$ise as a tool to pro"ide for the separation of concerns.

sing the Matrix

# $atrix $a& e used to address $ost interest areas.7or each 'i"en pro le$ space a $atrix would einstantiated. 8enerall& spea%in', a pro le$ spaceshould ha"e the co$plexit& of a -pro!ect or lar'erfor this acti"it& to e fruitful, thou'h there isnothin' conceptuall& restrictin' its use withins$aller scopes.

Cithin the identified pro le$ space, particular attention and consideration $ust e 'i"ento the default Contexts presented within the te$plate "ersion of the $atrix. Since thesecontexts are not intended to e nor$ati"e, so$e thou'ht should e 'i"en in definin' the

est wa& to custo$i e to $eet tar'eted o !ecti"es. The& often achie"e 'reater "alue when-tailored, so departures to contexts that $a%e sense within a pro le$ space areencoura'ed. 7or exa$ple, this $a& $ean the addition of new context, su (t&pin' of

existin' contexts, or re$o"al of contexts that are inappropriate.

It is not necessar& to full& populate the $atrix. Identif&in' a cell as -out of scope isentirel& appropriate. If co$pletin' such a cell adds no further "alue it is est a"oided.


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7i'ures : and < elow represent two exa$ples of the $atrix. The first is an -instanceexa$ple of the $atrix as applied to 'lo al healthcare $odels. The second is the

-reference "ersion containin' definitions of each of the cells as relatin' to the IS/ RM(/12 and the identified -contexts .

Who is sing !t"

Cithin the past few $onths se"eral 'roups and or'ani ations ha"e applied the taxono$&$atrix to their indi"idual pro le$ spaces. This has een done with "ar&in' le"els ofdepth and with different intentions. Chile it is still earl&, the initial experiences ha"e

een hi'hl& successful. #dditionall&, as word of this techni)ue has spread additional'roups ha"e expressed interest in explorin' the use of the $atrix. The followin' ta lelists these acti"ities0

8roup #pplication892R 9o$$unications and scopin' "ehicle to assist in definin' wor% products

and deli"era les/M8 9/RB#$ed -Road$ap to de$onstrate how 9/RB#$ed ser"ices and interface

specifications interrelate with healthcare infor$ation $odelsAeterans Health #d$inistration -9rosswal% effort to understand the interrelationships of healthcare

$odels a"aila le an approach to relate separate concerns in $odelin'acti"ities

8ood Electronic Health RecordInitiati"e *8EHR+

H>? 8o"ern$ent Special Interest

8roupH>? 9o$ponent( ased Messa'in'

8roupUK National Health Ser"ice

#pplication of the $atrix is under consideration for applica ilit&.


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contextual asis, etter decisions can e $ade ased upon articulated o !ecti"es, allowin'for interdependencies to e identified, exa$ined, and explored.

Thou'h the taxono$& $atrix approach does not proscri e direct solutions for sol"in'co$plex pro le$s encountered in s&ste$s de"elop$ent, it does pro"ide a $eans to a

etter understandin' of the pro le$0 an interi$, essential step towards successfulde"elop$ent.

Bi$#iograph%

8o"ern$ent 9o$puter( ased 2atient Record 2ro!ect 1ocu$entation *http044www.'cpr.'o" +

International Standards /r'ani ation Reference Model for /pen 1istri uted 2rocessin'*http044www.iso.ch056664RM(/12 +

-Reference Model of /pen 1istri uted 2rocessin'0 Introduction, Ra&$ond, Kerr&,9entre for Infor$ation Technolo'& Research, Undated, Uni"ersit& of Gueensland.

Unified Software 1e"elop$ent 2rocessF Booch, 8., Ru$ au'h, ., aco son, I.F #ddison(Cesle&, 3LLL.

Business Specifications, Kilo", HF 2rentice Hall, 3LL5.
http://www.gcpr.gov/http://www.iso.ch:8000/RM-ODPhttp://www.gcpr.gov/http://www.iso.ch:8000/RM-ODP


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The author would li%e to ac%nowled'e and 'i"e special than%s to the followin' indi"iduals for their su stantialcontri ution to this wor%0 1ou' 7elton *UniMed+, Hai$ Kilo" *8enesis 1e"elop$ent 9orporation+, i$ 1e$etriades*AH# IT #rchitecture /ffice+, To$ Beale *1eep Thou'ht Infor$atics+, >t. 9ol. anet Martino *U.S. #ir 7orce,

Militar& Health S&ste$+, /M8 s 9/RB#$ed 1o$ain Tas% 7orce, the A# IT #rchitecture /ffice, and the entire892R Reference Modelin' Tea$.

The opinions expressed herein are solel& those of the author and do not necessaril& reflect the opinions of the 892R2ro!ect, the Aeterans Health #d$inistration, or Electronic 1ata S&ste$s.

$%e &or' represente( in t%is &%ite)paper &as fun(e( as part of mo(eling activities &it%in t%e *!+! GovernmentComputer)base( Patient Recor( Pro ect an( t%e -eterans .ealt% A(ministration /nformation $ec%nolog Arc%itecture1ffice!

9o$$ents can e directed to %en.ru in ac$.or' and are welco$ed.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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#ealt$care !tan%ar%s &oa%map Matrix "2.0-ie&point 'nterprise Tec$nology In(ormation Computational 'ngineering

3 e s c r i p t i o n ormali e( scope, business

purpose, policies, impacts of t%e s stem! /nclu(es t%e roles pla e(,activities un(er)ta'en, an( polic

statements about t%e s stem!

C%oices of specific .6, +6,constraints to assure compliance &it%ot%er vie&points7 i(entification ofconformance points, implicit orexplicit, resulting from tec%nicalc%oices

efines t%e information an(relations%ips, information semantics,an( information processingre8uirements of t%e s stem! /nclu(es

static, ( namic, an( invariant sc%emas!

+tructures, concepts, interactionrules, for t%e specification 9

functional (ecomposition into ob ects! /nclu(es bin(ings, interface specifications, environment contractbe%avior, an( transparencies!

$%e expression of t%e &a:ob ect; inter)action is ac%ieve(an( t%e resources nee(e( to (o

so< primaril t%e support of t%einteractions bet&eencomputational ob ects!

B u s i n e s s

u n c t

i o n a l

C o n

t e x t

1

) r a n u

l a r

* c o n

t e n

t + :

Identification of thoseco$ponents of thehealthcare do$aini$pactin' infor$ationinterchan'e andinteropera ilit&

Not proscri ed so as to e a leto support a $ultiplicit& oftechnolo'ies and paradi'$s.

(7#M(1(H>? RIM(H>? US#M(9anadian Health 1ata Model(#ustralian NHIM(2/M#(UK NHS HcM

(H>? Use 9ases(9/SM/S Model(7#M(#

Modelin' 7or$ali ationsUM>, US12 products

A + s t r a c t

* ( o r m

, -

Representation of hi'hl&('ranular co$ponents

capa le of encapsulatin',transportin', and4orrepresentin' the content ofinfor$ation $odels

Should e suita le for a "ariet&of technolo'ies0 in particular

$essa'e(oriented $iddlewareand distri uted o !ecttechnolo'ies.

(H>? 2R# Meta$odel(9EN T9(:;3 EH9R 2R#

(892R 2R# Model(H>? 9linical Te$plate Mdls(8EHR #rchet&pes

IS/ 333?L 9o$pliantMetadata

(H>? 9linical Te$plates(H>? M> 2R#

! e r " i c e

C o n

t e x t

4

9o$$on ser"icesSupportin' the Reference1o$ain Specification.

Technolo'ical paradi'$ inwhich the ser"ices are to ei$ple$ented *e.'., $essa'es,distri uted o !ects, etc.+

(9/RB#$ed Info Models(99/C Standard(8EHR / !ect Model

(8EHR / !ect Model(9/RB#$ed *Si'natures,$andator&4optionalre)uire$ents+

Nor$ati"e Interface1efinitions *I1>+

I m p

l e m e n

t a t i o n

& s u

$ t % p e a s n e e

d e d ' Re)uire$ents, scope, and

o !ecti"es of ani$ple$entation.

Technolo'& instances on whichthe i$ple$entation is to e

ased *e.'., 9/TS products, platfor$, etc.+

>o'ical 1ata ase 1esi'nH>? RMIMs

Ser"ice 1esi'n Specifications*e.'., 9/RB#$ed ser"ices+AH# 1ata Re'istr& 1esi'nH>? M17

8EHR KernelH>? :.x $essa'esH>?


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C o n

t e x t

.

+pace R=)1 P -ie&points

; Cor% products de"eloped with the intention of uildin' i$ple$enta le s&ste$s. 1raws fro$ other contexts as scoped to address re)uire$ents for a tar'eted i$ple$entation Ken Rubin, April 2000


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Taxonomy &e(erence Matrix "2.0-ie&point 'nterprise Tec$nology In(ormation Computational 'ngineering

/

e s c r

i p t i

o n

ormali ation of t%e business purpose, scope, policies,impacts of t%e s stem! /nclu(est%e roles pla e( b , activitiesun(er)ta'en b , an( polic

statements about t%e s stem>inclu(ing relevant contracts?!

Articulation of t%e c%oices of specific %ar(&are, soft&areconstraints assuringcompliance &it% t%e ot%ervie&points7 i(entification ofconformance points implicitor explicit as a result of t%etec%nolog c%oices!

efines t%e information an(relations%ips, information

semantics, an( information processing re8uirements of t%e s stem! /nclu(es static,( namic, an( invariant sc%emas!

+tructures, concepts,interaction rules, for t%e

specification@ functional(ecomposition into ob ects!

/nclu(es bin(ings, interface specification, transparencies,an( environment contractbe%avior!

$%e expression of t%e &a:ob ect; interaction isac%ieve( an( t%eresources nee(e( to (o

so< primaril t%e supportof t%e in(ivi(ualinteractions bet&eencomputational ob ects!

B u s i n e s s

u n c t

i o n a l

C o n

t e x t

) r a n u

l a r * C o n

t e n

t , 1escri es purpose, scope, polic&, etc., particularl& or'.issues.

Since the scope of thedo$ain context is pri$aril&content definition, there areno technolo'& "iewpointconstraints.

Infor$ation defined &, re)uiredof, or identified in the enterprise"iew. Includes entities, states,se$antics, relations, etc.

Ter$inolo'& to include conceptfor$ation, definition, s&ste$

1o$ain tri''ers, relationships,use cases pertainin' to thehealthcare usiness do$ain.

Cor% products in for$alnotation *UM>, /9>,#SN3, etc.+, for$al$odels, dia'ra$s, text.

Ter$inolo'& includin'ter$ O s&$ olspecification, ter$(concept assi'n$ent

A + s t r a c t * o r m

,Re)uire$ents of therepresentation for$at*e"identialit&, currenc&, etc.+

*1raw fro$ 2R# definition,onl& $ore 'enerali ed+

*#rchet&pe definin' therepresentation $eta$odelP+

Meta$odel of infor$ationcontent and its representation*e.'., 2R#, ter$inolo'ical$odelin', etc.+

Ter$inolo'& Cor% ( ter$ specification( s&$ ol specification( ter$(concept assi'n$ent( Metadata Re'istries

9ontrolled Aoca ulariesand codesets, lexicons,etc.F clinical te$plates

! e r " i c e

C o n

t e x t 9o$$on ser"ices Supportin'

the Reference 1o$ainSpecification.

Technolo'ical paradi'$ inwhich the ser"ices are to ei$ple$ented *e.'.,

distri uted o !ects, $essa'es,etc.+

Ser"ice definition, list,infor$ation re)uire$ents and

para$eters. #%in to

9/RB#$ed ser"ices info$odels.

Specifications at a low le"el ofdetail hi'hli'htin' interaction

etween the ser"ices or

su s&ste$s.

Means & which toforward interests to S1/saddressin' interopera ilit&

ser"ices.

I m p

l e m e n

t a t i o n

B s u

t & p e a s n e e

d e

d Q

Re)uire$ents, scope, ando !ecti"es of thei$ple$entation

2aradi'$ and 9/TSinfrastructure en"iron$ent*e.'., /RB, $essa'in'standard H>? :.x, etc.+

2roducts supportin' theinstantiation of the Ref. 1o$ainRepresentation.

2roducts supportin' theReference 1o$ain andSer"ice contexts as scoped &s&ste$ acti"ities.

S&ste$ products, e.'.executa les, trainin'

+pace +cope R=)1 P -ie&points

Ken Rubin, April 2000

Taxonomy Matrix White Paper

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