A graphic device used in decision analysis, series of decision options are represented as branches (hierarchical).

Woody, usually tall, perennial higher plants (Angiosperms, Gymnosperms, and some Pterophyta) having usually a main stem and numerous branches.

Mathematical or statistical procedures used as aids in making a decision. They are frequently used in medical decision-making.

The process of making a selective intellectual judgment when presented with several complex alternatives consisting of several variables, and usually defining a course of action or an idea.

Theory and development of COMPUTER SYSTEMS which perform tasks that normally require human intelligence. Such tasks may include speech recognition, LEARNING; VISUAL PERCEPTION; MATHEMATICAL COMPUTING; reasoning, PROBLEM SOLVING, DECISION-MAKING, and translation of language.

A procedure consisting of a sequence of algebraic formulas and/or logical steps to calculate or determine a given task.

A method of comparing the cost of a program with its expected benefits in dollars (or other currency). The benefit-to-cost ratio is a measure of total return expected per unit of money spent. This analysis generally excludes consideration of factors that are not measured ultimately in economic terms. Cost effectiveness compares alternative ways to achieve a specific set of results.

Use of an interactive computer system designed to assist the physician or other health professional in choosing between certain relationships or variables for the purpose of making a diagnostic or therapeutic decision.

A computer architecture, implementable in either hardware or software, modeled after biological neural networks. Like the biological system in which the processing capability is a result of the interconnection strengths between arrays of nonlinear processing nodes, computerized neural networks, often called perceptrons or multilayer connectionist models, consist of neuron-like units. A homogeneous group of units makes up a layer. These networks are good at pattern recognition. They are adaptive, performing tasks by example, and thus are better for decision-making than are linear learning machines or cluster analysis. They do not require explicit programming.

Computer-based information systems used to integrate clinical and patient information and provide support for decision-making in patient care.

Use of sophisticated analysis tools to sort through, organize, examine, and combine large sets of information.

Statistical models of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, as well as of financial considerations. For the application of statistics to the testing and quantifying of economic theories MODELS, ECONOMETRIC is available.

Penetrating and nonpenetrating traumatic injuries to an extracranial or intracranial blood vessel that supplies the brain. This includes the CAROTID ARTERIES; VERTEBRAL ARTERIES; MENINGEAL ARTERIES; CEREBRAL ARTERIES; veins, and venous sinuses.

Binary classification measures to assess test results. Sensitivity or recall rate is the proportion of true positives. Specificity is the probability of correctly determining the absence of a condition. (From Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)

The statistical reproducibility of measurements (often in a clinical context), including the testing of instrumentation or techniques to obtain reproducible results. The concept includes reproducibility of physiological measurements, which may be used to develop rules to assess probability or prognosis, or response to a stimulus; reproducibility of occurrence of a condition; and reproducibility of experimental results.

Learning algorithms which are a set of related supervised computer learning methods that analyze data and recognize patterns, and used for classification and regression analysis.

Application of computer programs designed to assist the physician in solving a diagnostic problem.

Shortened forms of written words or phrases used for brevity.

A measurement index derived from a modification of standard life-table procedures and designed to take account of the quality as well as the duration of survival. This index can be used in assessing the outcome of health care procedures or services. (BIOETHICS Thesaurus, 1994)

A field of biology concerned with the development of techniques for the collection and manipulation of biological data, and the use of such data to make biological discoveries or predictions. This field encompasses all computational methods and theories for solving biological problems including manipulation of models and datasets.

In INFORMATION RETRIEVAL, machine-sensing or identification of visible patterns (shapes, forms, and configurations). (Harrod's Librarians' Glossary, 7th ed)

A theorem in probability theory named for Thomas Bayes (1702-1761). In epidemiology, it is used to obtain the probability of disease in a group of people with some characteristic on the basis of the overall rate of that disease and of the likelihood of that characteristic in healthy and diseased individuals. The most familiar application is in clinical decision analysis where it is used for estimating the probability of a particular diagnosis given the appearance of some symptoms or test result.

Theoretical representations that simulate the behavior or activity of systems, processes, or phenomena. They include the use of mathematical equations, computers, and other electronic equipment.

Computer-based representation of physical systems and phenomena such as chemical processes.

Degeneration of white matter adjacent to the CEREBRAL VENTRICLES following cerebral hypoxia or BRAIN ISCHEMIA in neonates. The condition primarily affects white matter in the perfusion zone between superficial and deep branches of the MIDDLE CEREBRAL ARTERY. Clinical manifestations include VISION DISORDERS; CEREBRAL PALSY; PARAPLEGIA; SEIZURES; and cognitive disorders. (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, p1021; Joynt, Clinical Neurology, 1997, Ch4, pp30-1)

A graphic means for assessing the ability of a screening test to discriminate between healthy and diseased persons; may also be used in other studies, e.g., distinguishing stimuli responses as to a faint stimuli or nonstimuli.

A theoretical technique utilizing a group of related constructs to describe or prescribe how individuals or groups of people choose a course of action when faced with several alternatives and a variable amount of knowledge about the determinants of the outcomes of those alternatives.

Sequential operating programs and data which instruct the functioning of a digital computer.

The study of chance processes or the relative frequency characterizing a chance process.

Extensive collections, reputedly complete, of facts and data garnered from material of a specialized subject area and made available for analysis and application. The collection can be automated by various contemporary methods for retrieval. The concept should be differentiated from DATABASES, BIBLIOGRAPHIC which is restricted to collections of bibliographic references.

The prices a hospital sets for its services. HOSPITAL COSTS (the direct and indirect expenses incurred by the hospital in providing the services) are one factor in the determination of hospital charges. Other factors may include, for example, profits, competition, and the necessity of recouping the costs of uncompensated care.

The relationships of groups of organisms as reflected by their genetic makeup.

The systematic arrangement of entities in any field into categories classes based on common characteristics such as properties, morphology, subject matter, etc.

A process that includes the determination of AMINO ACID SEQUENCE of a protein (or peptide, oligopeptide or peptide fragment) and the information analysis of the sequence.

Statistical formulations or analyses which, when applied to data and found to fit the data, are then used to verify the assumptions and parameters used in the analysis. Examples of statistical models are the linear model, binomial model, polynomial model, two-parameter model, etc.