Section 1f: Arden Syntax
Section 4: Rules and References
Arden Syntax v2.9 (Health Level Seven Arden Syntax for Medical Logic Systems, Version 2.9)
DESCRIPTION
The Arden Syntax is a formalism for representing procedural clinical knowledge in order to facilitate the sharing of computerized health knowledge bases among personnel, information systems and institutions. Knowledge bases encoded in the Arden Syntax are represented as a set of discrete modules. Each module, referred to as a Medical Logic Module (MLM), contains sufficient knowledge to make a single decision. Each MLM also contains management information to help maintain a knowledge base of MLMs and links to other sources of knowledge. Health personnel can create MLMs directly using this format, and the resulting MLMs can be used directly by an information system that conforms to this specification. Arden Syntax v2.9 improves on v2.8 with the addition of formal operators to support fuzzy logic as well as augmentation of Arden’s XML representation.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
Arden Syntax v2.9 (Health Level Seven Arden Syntax for Medical Logic Systems, Version 2.9) may also go by the following names or acronyms:
TARGETS
- Clinical and Public Health Laboratories
- Immunization Registries
- Quality Reporting Agencies
- Regulatory Agencies
- Standards Development Organizations (SDOs)
- Health Care IT Vendors
- Clinical Decision Support Systems Vendors
- Emergency Services Providers
- Healthcare Institutions (hospitals, long term care, home care, mental health)
BENEFITS
- Enables sharing of clinical decision support knowledge bases
- Provides a common representation for executable clinical logic
- Facilitates quality improvement
IMPLEMENTATIONS/CASE STUDIES
- Medexter Healthcare
- McKesson
- Siemens
- Allscripts
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 2.9 and was approved by ANSI in March, 2013. 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 v2.9 (Health Level Seven Arden Syntax for Medical Logic Systems, Version 2.9) |
(Download) (1.70 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) |
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Arden Syntax v2.8 (Health Level Seven Arden Syntax for Medical Logic Systems, Version 2.8) | (View Brief) |
(Download) (1.42 MB) |
TOPIC
- Decision Support
BALLOT TYPE
- Normative
STATUS DATE
2013-03-14RESPONSIBLE WORK GROUP
STAKEHOLDERS
- Clinical and Public Health Laboratories
- Clinical Decision Support Systems Vendors
- Emergency Services Providers
- Health Care IT Vendors
- Healthcare Institutions
- Immunization Registries
- Quality Reporting Agencies
- Standards Development Organizations (SDOs)
FAMILY
- Arden
CURRENT STATE
- Retired
REALM
- Universal