Section 1f: Arden Syntax
Section 4: Rules and References
Arden Syntax v2.8 (Health Level Seven Arden Syntax for Medical Logic Systems, Version 2.8)
DESCRIPTION
The HL7 International Arden Syntax for Medical Logic Systems is an ANSI-approved American National Standard language for encoding procedural medical knowledge and representing and sharing that knowledge among personnel, information systems and institutions. The Arden Syntax assists clinicians, other health care workers and patients to make better decisions through alerts and other information interventions based on logic encoded into health knowledge bases consisting of medical logic modules (MLMs), each of which contains sufficient knowledge to make a single decision. With an appropriate computer program (known as an event monitor), MLMs run automatically, generating advice where and when it is needed. For example, an MLM can warn clinicians when a patient develops new or worsening kidney failure. Arden Syntax is an open standard for representing clinical knowledge, to be used by individual clinicians, institutions and vendors to develop clinical rules (rules that directly affect patient care) using a standard format and language. It is also suited for writing business rules that directly interface with clinical data.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
Arden Syntax v2.8 (Health Level Seven Arden Syntax for Medical Logic Systems, Version 2.8) may also go by the following names or acronyms:
TARGETS
- Organizations that require or develop systems that automatically assist physicians and other clinicians with electronic decisions and alerts
- Clinical Decision Support systems vendors
- Healthcare Institutions (hospitals, long term care, home care, mental health)
- Health knowledge bases that can be represented using the Arden Syntax include contradiction alerts, management suggestions, data interpretations, treatment protocols, and diagnosis scores
BENEFITS
- Allows for distributed clinical rules development among institutions
- Allows for sharing of clinical rules development costs among institutions
- Allows for improved dissemination of clinical knowledge
IMPLEMENTATIONS/CASE STUDIES
Commercial vendors:
- Allscripts (previously Eclipsys)
- McKesson
- Medexter
- Siemens Medical Systems
- Regenstrief Institute
DEVELOPMENT BACKGROUND
The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) previously adopted what is now Arden Syntax for Medical Logic Systems as document E 1460, under subcommittee E31.15 Health Knowledge Representation. Adopted by ASTM in 1992, this became Arden Syntax Version 1.0. Beginning in the summer of 1998, sponsorship of this standard was moved to Health Level Seven (HL7). The Arden Syntax Work Group of HL7 oversees maintenance of the standard. Arden Syntax Version 2.0 was formally adopted by HL7 and ANSI in August, 1999—the first version under HL7 sponsorship. Version 2.1 of the standard was formally endorsed by HL7 and ANSI during 2002. Following continuing refinement informed by real-world experience using it in clinical decision support systems, the Arden Syntax standard is now at Version 2.8 and was approved by ANSI in March, 2012. It is available in the bookstore area of the HL7 website: http://www.HL7.org. The Arden Syntax internal programming model is based on declarative logic derived from a multitude of sources (including PASCAL, LISP, APL, PL/1 and HCOM). The fundamental unit of executable knowledge is the Medical Logic Module (MLM). Triggering of individual MLMs is a hybrid of direct calling (similar to a RPC) and a production rule model.
RELATED DOCUMENTS
Arden Syntax v2.8 (Health Level Seven Arden Syntax for Medical Logic Systems, Version 2.8) |
(Download) (1.42 MB) |
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Arden Syntax v2.0 | (View Brief) |
(Download) (621 KB) |
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Arden Syntax v2.1 | (View Brief) |
(Download) (1.11 MB) |
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Arden Syntax v2.1 - Pocket Guide | (View Brief) | ||
Arden Syntax v2.5 | (View Brief) |
(Download) (1.23 MB) |
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Arden Syntax V2.6 | (View Brief) |
(Download) (1.14 MB) |
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Arden Syntax V2.7 | (View Brief) |
(Download) (1.17 MB) |
BALLOT TYPES
- Normative
STATUS DATE
2012-03-13RESPONSIBLE WORK GROUP
PRODUCT TYPES
- ANSI-approved
- Encoding Syntax
STAKEHOLDERS
- Clinical Decision Support Systems Vendors
- Healthcare Institutions
FAMILY
- Arden
CURRENT STATE
- Retired
REALM
- Universal