Document Type Definition (DTD) for a GEM document

An XML Document Type Definition (DTD)  models the names of allowable elements and attributes in the document, the content of each element, and the structure of the document (e.g., the order of elements and the frequency at which each element may appear). The DTD allows a GEM document to be validated.

Since clinical practice guidelines are not developed around a rigid representation model, there is a great degree of variation in the content of guidelines.  Therefore, a major consideration in developing this DTD was to allow flexibility and comprehensiveness of the XML document at the cost of some redundancy.

Some other considerations in the creation of this DTD have been:

The GEM Document Type Definition was balloted as an international standard for the representation of practice guidelines in XML format and has become ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) standard E2210-02. Work continues within the HL7 organization to secure adoption of the GEM standard. Click here to view the DTD in this window.