| Abstract | The issues and implementation of a clinical event monitor are described. An event monitor generates messages for providers, patients, and organizations based on clinical events and patient data. For example, an order for a medication might trigger a generation of a warning about a drug interaction. A model based on the active database literature has as its main components an event (which triggers a rule to fire), a condition (which tests whether an action ought to be performed), and an action (often the generation of a message). The details of implementing such an event monitor are described, using as an example the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center clinical event monitor, which is based on the Arden Syntax for Medical Logic Modules. |