Ambient intelligence via multiagent systems in the medical arena

Hospitals are complex work environments where people and information are distributed, thus demanding considerable coordination and communication among the professionals that work in such settings. Not only are they technology rich environments, but their workers experience a high level of mobility, resulting in information infrastructures with artifacts distributed throughout the premises. On the other hand, Hospital Information Systems that provide access to electronic patient records are a step in the direction of providing accurate and timely information to hospital staff in support of adequate decision-making. This has motivated the introduction of computing technology in hospitals based on designs which respond to their particular conditions and demands. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to present GENsis, an Agency for Integration, Archive and Diffusion of Medical Information, that configures a new form of Intelligence, the Ambient Intelligence one, that can be seen as a new paradigm in problem solving, once it empowers people through a digital environment that is aware of the users' context, and is sensitive and reactive to their needs. GENsis is like a symbiont, with a close association with core applications, namely the Picture Archive Communication System, the Radiological Information System and the Electronic Medical Record Information System, that are built upon pro-active agents that communicate through message passing.