GRAPHICALLY-DRIVEN CREATION OF CLINICAL ADVICE PROGRAMS

THE PROJECT WILL DEVELOP AND TEST A TEMPLATE-DRIVEN GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE DESIGNED TO FACILITATE THE CREATION OF CLINICAL ADVICE-GIVING PROGRAMS BY CLINICIAN DOMAIN EXPERTS. THE INTERFACE WILL BE BUILT ON A MACINTOSH COMPUTER AND WILL BE INTEGRATED WITH THE EXISTING CLINICAL ADVISOR SHELL (CAS) DEVELOPED BY RESEARCHERS AT THE YALE CENTER FOR MEDICAL INFORMATICS. THE INTERFACE WILL ALLOW THE DOMAIN EXPERT TO DEVELOP A KNOWLEDGE BASE (KB) FOR INPUT TO CAS IN A STRUCTURED FASHION, WHERE HE IS GUIDED THROUGH EACH STEP BY GRAPHICAL MENUS FROM WHICH HE CAN SELECT DESIRED OPTIONS. WHEN THE DOMAIN EXPERT WANTS TO RUN THE PROGRAM, HE WILL CLICK ON A GRAPHICAL BUTTON AND THE KNOWLEDGE BASE WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY TRANSFORMED INTO A WORKING PROGRAM. THE DOMAIN EXPERT WILL THEN BE ABLE TO ENTER TEST CASES INTO THE ADVICE-GIVING PROGRAM AND TEST AND DEBUG IT IN OPERATION. ONCE THE INTERFACE IS DEVELOPED AND INTEGRATED WITH THE CAS, IT WILL BE TESTED BY ENTERING THE KNOWLEDGE BASE OF TWO WORKING ADVICE-GIVING PROGRAMS, COAG-ADVISOR AND OF HEPATITIS-ADVISOR, THROUGH THE INTERFACE. FINALLY, THE DOMAIN EXPERTS OF THOSE PROGRAMS WILL ASSIST IN THE PROCESS OF REFINING AND POLISHING THE INTERFACE.