DEVELOPMENT OF NEW AUTOMATIC INTERACTIONS DETECTION SOFTWARE

THE LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A NEW COMPUTER SOFTWARE PACKAGE TO PERFORM AUTOMATIC INTERACTIONS DETECTION (AID). THIS TECHNIQUE WAS THE CORNERSTONE OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MEDICARE PROGRAM'S DIAGNOSIS RELATED GROUPS AND HAS BEEN WIDELY USED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CASE MIX CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS AND OTHER RESEARCH. THE SOFTWARE WILL BE DESIGNED TO REMEDY THE MANY SHORTCOMINGS OF CURRENTLY AVAILABLE AID SOFTWARE. IT WILL INCORPORATE IMPORTANT NEW STATISTICAL METHODS AND VASTLY IMPROVE THE USER INTERFACE. BECAUSE IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT AID WILL BE EXTENSIVELY USED IN THE FUTURE, THIS SOFTWARE WILL SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCE THE USE OF AID BY HEALTH-CARE RESEARCHERS. PHASE I OF THE PROJECT WILL INVOLVE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS, RESULTING IN A DOCUMENT DESCRIBING THE SOFTWARE FROM THE USER'S AND THE PROGRAMMER'S POINTS OF VIEW. PHASE II EFFORTS WILL INVOLVE ACTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOFTWARE BASED UPON THE DESIGN DEVELOPED IN PHASE I.