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

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.

Computer-based systems that enable management to interrogate the computer on an ad hoc basis for various kinds of information in the organization, which predict the effect of potential decisions.

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

Computer programs based on knowledge developed from consultation with experts on a problem, and the processing and/or formalizing of this knowledge using these programs in such a manner that the problems may be solved.

Adjunctive computer programs in providing drug treatment to patients.

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

Information systems, usually computer-assisted, that enable providers to initiate medical procedures, prescribe medications, etc. These systems support medical decision-making and error-reduction during patient care.

Computer-based systems for input, storage, display, retrieval, and printing of information contained in a patient's medical record.

Computer systems utilized as adjuncts in the treatment of disease.

Systems used to prompt or aid the memory. The systems can be computerized reminders, color coding, telephone calls, or devices such as letters and postcards.

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.

The attitude and behavior associated with an individual using the computer.

The use of COMPUTER COMMUNICATION NETWORKS to store and transmit medical PRESCRIPTIONS.

The portion of an interactive computer program that issues messages to and receives commands from a user.

Collections of facts, assumptions, beliefs, and heuristics that are used in combination with databases to achieve desired results, such as a diagnosis, an interpretation, or a solution to a problem (From McGraw Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed).

Systems that provide all or most of the items necessary for maintaining life and health. Provisions are made for the supplying of oxygen, food, water, temperature and pressure control, disposition of carbon dioxide and body waste. The milieu may be a spacecraft, a submarine, or the surface of the moon. In medical care, usually under hospital conditions, LIFE SUPPORT CARE is available. (From Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary)

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.

Media that facilitate transportability of pertinent information concerning patient's illness across varied providers and geographic locations. Some versions include direct linkages to online consumer health information that is relevant to the health conditions and treatments related to a specific patient.

Laboratory and other services provided to patients at the bedside. These include diagnostic and laboratory testing using automated information entry.

The procedures involved in combining separately developed modules, components, or subsystems so that they work together as a complete system. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)

Specifications and instructions applied to the software.

Directions or principles presenting current or future rules of policy for assisting health care practitioners in patient care decisions regarding diagnosis, therapy, or related clinical circumstances. The guidelines may be developed by government agencies at any level, institutions, professional societies, governing boards, or by the convening of expert panels. The guidelines form a basis for the evaluation of all aspects of health care and delivery.

Overall systems, traditional or automated, to provide medication to patients in hospitals. Elements of the system are: handling the physician's order, transcription of the order by nurse and/or pharmacist, filling the medication order, transfer to the nursing unit, and administration to the patient.

Description of pattern of recurrent functions or procedures frequently found in organizational processes, such as notification, decision, and action.

A type of MICROCOMPUTER, sometimes called a personal digital assistant, that is very small and portable and fitting in a hand. They are convenient to use in clinical and other field situations for quick data management. They usually require docking with MICROCOMPUTERS for updates.

Information systems, usually computer-assisted, designed to store, manipulate, and retrieve information for planning, organizing, directing, and controlling administrative activities associated with the provision and utilization of ambulatory care services and facilities.

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

Errors in prescribing, dispensing, or administering medication with the result that the patient fails to receive the correct drug or the indicated proper drug dosage.

Integrated, computer-assisted systems designed to store, manipulate, and retrieve information concerned with the administrative and clinical aspects of providing medical services within the hospital.

Systems composed of a computer or computers, peripheral equipment, such as disks, printers, and terminals, and telecommunications capabilities.

Formularies concerned with pharmaceuticals prescribed in hospitals.

Specific languages used to prepare computer programs.

A technetium diagnostic aid used in renal function determination.

A republic consisting of an island group in Melanesia, in the southwest Pacific Ocean. Its capital is Port-Vila. It was called New Hebrides until 1980. It was discovered in 1606 by the Portuguese, forgotten for 160 years, then visited by Bougainville in 1768 and Captain Cook in 1774. It was under joint British and French administration from 1906 until it became independent in 1980 under the name of Vanuatu. The name is native, meaning our land. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p833 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p570)

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

A loose confederation of computer communication networks around the world. The networks that make up the Internet are connected through several backbone networks. The Internet grew out of the US Government ARPAnet project and was designed to facilitate information exchange.

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

The reduction or regulation of the population of noxious, destructive, or dangerous plants, insects, or other animals. This includes control of plants that serve as habitats or food sources for animal pests.

Conformity in fulfilling or following official, recognized, or institutional requirements, guidelines, recommendations, protocols, pathways, or other standards.

Devices for simulating the activities of the liver. They often consist of a hybrid between both biological and artificial materials.

Information systems, usually computer-assisted, designed to store, manipulate, and retrieve information for planning, organizing, directing, and controlling administrative activities associated with the provision and utilization of clinical pharmacy services.

Patterns of practice related to diagnosis and treatment as especially influenced by cost of the service requested and provided.

Overall systems, traditional or automated, to provide medication to patients.

Delivery of nursing services via remote telecommunications.

Individuals licensed to practice medicine.

Computerized compilations of information units (text, sound, graphics, and/or video) interconnected by logical nonlinear linkages that enable users to follow optimal paths through the material and also the systems used to create and display this information. (From Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors, 1994)

Organized activities related to the storage, location, search, and retrieval of information.

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.

Graphic tracing over a time period of radioactivity measured externally over the kidneys following intravenous injection of a radionuclide which is taken up and excreted by the kidneys.

The field of information science concerned with the analysis and dissemination of medical data through the application of computers to various aspects of health care and medicine.

Computer processing of a language with rules that reflect and describe current usage rather than prescribed usage.

A specified list of terms with a fixed and unalterable meaning, and from which a selection is made when CATALOGING; ABSTRACTING AND INDEXING; or searching BOOKS; JOURNALS AS TOPIC; and other documents. The control is intended to avoid the scattering of related subjects under different headings (SUBJECT HEADINGS). The list may be altered or extended only by the publisher or issuing agency. (From Harrod's Librarians' Glossary, 7th ed, p163)

Integrated set of files, procedures, and equipment for the storage, manipulation, and retrieval of information.

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.

The broad dissemination of new ideas, procedures, techniques, materials, and devices and the degree to which these are accepted and used.

Care which provides integrated, accessible health care services by clinicians who are accountable for addressing a large majority of personal health care needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community. (JAMA 1995;273(3):192)

Directions written for the obtaining and use of DRUGS.

Studies determining the effectiveness or value of processes, personnel, and equipment, or the material on conducting such studies. For drugs and devices, CLINICAL TRIALS AS TOPIC; DRUG EVALUATION; and DRUG EVALUATION, PRECLINICAL are available.

Approximate, quantitative reasoning that is concerned with the linguistic ambiguity which exists in natural or synthetic language. At its core are variables such as good, bad, and young as well as modifiers such as more, less, and very. These ordinary terms represent fuzzy sets in a particular problem. Fuzzy logic plays a key role in many medical expert systems.

Professional medical personnel approved to provide care to patients in a hospital.

Attitudes of personnel toward their patients, other professionals, toward the medical care system, etc.

Organized collections of computer records, standardized in format and content, that are stored in any of a variety of computer-readable modes. They are the basic sets of data from which computer-readable files are created. (from ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science, 1983)

Personnel who provide nursing service to patients in a hospital.

An approach of practicing medicine with the goal to improve and evaluate patient care. It requires the judicious integration of best research evidence with the patient's values to make decisions about medical care. This method is to help physicians make proper diagnosis, devise best testing plan, choose best treatment and methods of disease prevention, as well as develop guidelines for large groups of patients with the same disease. (from JAMA 296 (9), 2006)

The leveraging of collective wisdom within an organization as a catalyst to increase responsiveness and innovation.

A medical specialty concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the internal organ systems of adults.

Incorrect diagnoses after clinical examination or technical diagnostic procedures.

A broad approach to appropriate coordination of the entire disease treatment process that often involves shifting away from more expensive inpatient and acute care to areas such as preventive medicine, patient counseling and education, and outpatient care. This concept includes implications of appropriate versus inappropriate therapy on the overall cost and clinical outcome of a particular disease. (From Hosp Pharm 1995 Jul;30(7):596)

Hospitals maintained by a university for the teaching of medical students, postgraduate training programs, and clinical research.

Small-scale tests of methods and procedures to be used on a larger scale if the pilot study demonstrates that these methods and procedures can work.

Precise and detailed plans for the study of a medical or biomedical problem and/or plans for a regimen of therapy.

The terms, expressions, designations, or symbols used in a particular science, discipline, or specialized subject area.

The interaction of two or more persons or organizations directed toward a common goal which is mutually beneficial. An act or instance of working or acting together for a common purpose or benefit, i.e., joint action. (From Random House Dictionary Unabridged, 2d ed)

Systems that provide for the maintenance of life in an isolated living chamber through reutilization of the material available, in particular, by means of a cycle wherein exhaled carbon dioxide, urine, and other waste matter are converted chemically or by photosynthesis into oxygen, water, and food. (NASA Thesaurus, 1988)

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 continuous measurement of physiological processes, blood pressure, heart rate, renal output, reflexes, respiration, etc., in a patient or experimental animal; includes pharmacologic monitoring, the measurement of administered drugs or their metabolites in the blood, tissues, or urine.

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.

Care given to patients by nursing service personnel.

The capability to perform acceptably those duties directly related to patient care.

The qualitative or quantitative estimation of the likelihood of adverse effects that may result from exposure to specified health hazards or from the absence of beneficial influences. (Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 1988)

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.

Predetermined sets of questions used to collect data - clinical data, social status, occupational group, etc. The term is often applied to a self-completed survey instrument.

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.

Studies to determine the advantages or disadvantages, practicability, or capability of accomplishing a projected plan, study, or project.

Hospital units providing continuous surveillance and care to acutely ill patients.

Programs of training in medicine and medical specialties offered by hospitals for graduates of medicine to meet the requirements established by accrediting authorities.

The process by which decisions are made in an institution or other organization.

Works about clinical trials that involve at least one test treatment and one control treatment, concurrent enrollment and follow-up of the test- and control-treated groups, and in which the treatments to be administered are selected by a random process, such as the use of a random-numbers table.

Infection of the lung often accompanied by inflammation.

Systematic gathering of data for a particular purpose from various sources, including questionnaires, interviews, observation, existing records, and electronic devices. The process is usually preliminary to statistical analysis of the data.

Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons.

A plan for collecting and utilizing data so that desired information can be obtained with sufficient precision or so that an hypothesis can be tested properly.

The visual display of data in a man-machine system. An example is when data is called from the computer and transmitted to a CATHODE RAY TUBE DISPLAY or LIQUID CRYSTAL display.

A system for verifying and maintaining a desired level of quality in a product or process by careful planning, use of proper equipment, continued inspection, and corrective action as required. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

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)

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.

Apparatus that provides mechanical circulatory support during open-heart surgery, by passing the heart to facilitate surgery on the organ. The basic function of the machine is to oxygenate the body's venous supply of blood and then pump it back into the arterial system. The machine also provides intracardiac suction, filtration, and temperature control. Some of the more important components of these machines include pumps, oxygenators, temperature regulators, and filters. (UMDNS, 1999)

A system containing any combination of computers, computer terminals, printers, audio or visual display devices, or telephones interconnected by telecommunications equipment or cables: used to transmit or receive information. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

Patient involvement in the decision-making process in matters pertaining to health.

Substances that reduce the growth or reproduction of BACTERIA.

Data processing largely performed by automatic means.