Document-Based Databases for Medical Information Systems and Crisis Management

Abstract

Both for healthcare and crisis management, the usage of Information Systems (IS) has become routine. In fact, they are unthinkable without sophisticated IT support. Virtually all IS rely on data storage. Despite the document-oriented nature of medical datasets, relational databases (RDBMS) prevail. The authors evaluate a document-based database to assess its feasibility for the domain of healthcare and crisis support. To foster the understanding of this technology, the authors present the background of form-originated data storage, introduce document-based databases, and describe a use case relying on document-based databases. Based on their findings, the authors generalize the results with a focus on crisis management. The authors investigated good indications that document-based databases such as CouchDB are well-suited for IS in medical contexts. They might be a feasible option for the future development of systems in various fields of healthcare, crisis response, and medical research.