Inter-workflow support

Processes concerning the diagnosis and treatment of patients can be characterized as weakly-connected interacting light-weight workflows coping with different levels of granularity. Moreover, for each individual patient a doctor proceeds in a step-by-step way deciding about the next steps to be taken. Classical workflow notations fall short in supporting these patient processes as they primarily support monolithic processes in which it is assumed that a workflow process can be modeled by specifying the life-cycle of a single case in isolation. In this paper, we present an extension of the Proclets framework which allows for dividing complex entangled processes into simple fragments. Additionally, increased emphasis is placed on interaction related aspects such that fragment instances for individual patients can cooperate in any desired way. Finally, we describe an architecture in which inter-workflow support facilities can be added to existing WfMSs.