The 33rd Annual Meeting of the German Association for Medical Documentation, Informatics and Statistics was combined with a Special Topic Conference of the European Federation for Medical Informatics and takes place at Hannover, F. R. of Germany, from September 26 to 29, 1988. It was planned and initililly prepared by the late Prof. P. L Reichertz, who headed the Hannover institute from 1969 to 1987. To commemorate his contribution to the development of medicine the conference was devoted to him "Peter Reichertz Memorial Conference on Expert Systems and Decision Support in Medicine" Since computers in the early Fifties were first applied to support medical reasoning, various phases of euphoria and resi~ation have . followed. Every new methodology which became technically possible was and will be applied to the old questlon of how to diagnose diseases more reliably. Artificial Intelligence is just one new approach to the old challenge. Over the years some· authors have been very optimistic and put forward opinions which motivated the common press to coin the phrase 'Dr. med. computer'. Papers printed under this heading rebuffed the majority of physiCians for many years. Today we know that medical decision making is a most complex buman performance. And 30 years of research on decision support have given us only limited insight into the underlying processes. Most of the principal methodological questions were already asked very early on.

This essential text provides a readable yet sophisticated overview of the basic concepts of information technologies as they apply in healthcare. Spanning areas as diverse as the electronic medical record, searching, protocols, and communications as well as the Internet, Enrico Coiera has succeeded in making this vast and complex area accessible and understandable to the non-specialist, while providing everything that students of medical informatics need to know to accompany their course.

Artificial Intelligence in Behavioral and Mental Health Care summarizes recent advances in artificial intelligence as it applies to mental health clinical practice. Each chapter provides a technical description of the advance, review of application in clinical practice, and empirical data on clinical efficacy. In addition, each chapter includes a discussion of practical issues in clinical settings, ethical considerations, and limitations of use. The book encompasses AI based advances in decision-making, in assessment and treatment, in providing education to clients, robot assisted task completion, and the use of AI for research and data gathering. This book will be of use to mental health practitioners interested in learning about, or incorporating AI advances into their practice and for researchers interested in a comprehensive review of these advances in one source. - Summarizes AI advances for use in mental health practice - Includes advances in AI based decision-making and consultation - Describes AI applications for assessment and treatment - Details AI advances in robots for clinical settings - Provides empirical data on clinical efficacy - Explores practical issues of use in clinical settings

This open access book comprehensively covers the fundamentals of clinical data science, focusing on data collection, modelling and clinical applications. Topics covered in the first section on data collection include: data sources, data at scale (big data), data stewardship (FAIR data) and related privacy concerns. Aspects of predictive modelling using techniques such as classification, regression or clustering, and prediction model validation will be covered in the second section. The third section covers aspects of (mobile) clinical decision support systems, operational excellence and value-based healthcare. Fundamentals of Clinical Data Science is an essential resource for healthcare professionals and IT consultants intending to develop and refine their skills in personalized medicine, using solutions based on large datasets from electronic health records or telemonitoring programmes. The book’s promise is “no math, no code”and will explain the topics in a style that is optimized for a healthcare audience.

This textbook is a logical continuation of Dr. Tan's first book, Healt h Management Information Systems. For graduate level and upper level u ndergraduate courses, it explains the use of health decision support s ystems throughout the health care industry, citing examples from hospi tals, managed care organizations and long term care facilities. This b ook includes learning objectives, case studies and review questions. A n Instructor's guide is also available.

Decision support systems (DSS) are widely touted for their effectiveness in aiding decision making, particularly across a wide and diverse range of industries including healthcare, business, and engineering applications. The concepts, principles, and theories of enhanced decision making are essential points of research as well as the exact methods, tools, and technologies being implemented in these industries. From both a standpoint of DSS interfaces, namely the design and development of these technologies, along with the implementations, including experiences and utilization of these tools, one can get a better sense of how exactly DSS has changed the face of decision making and management in multi-industry applications. Furthermore, the evaluation of the impact of these technologies is essential in moving forward in the future. The Research Anthology on Decision Support Systems and Decision Management in Healthcare, Business, and Engineering explores how decision support systems have been developed and implemented across diverse industries through perspectives on the technology, the utilizations of these tools, and from a decision management standpoint. The chapters will cover not only the interfaces, implementations, and functionality of these tools, but also the overall impacts they have had on the specific industries mentioned. This book also evaluates the effectiveness along with benefits and challenges of using DSS as well as the outlook for the future. This book is ideal for decision makers, IT consultants and specialists, software developers, design professionals, academicians, policymakers, researchers, professionals, and students interested in how DSS is being used in different industries.

This revised edition covers all aspects of public health informatics and discusses the creation and management of an information technology infrastructure that is essential in linking state and local organizations in their efforts to gather data for the surveillance and prevention. Public health officials will have to understand basic principles of information resource management in order to make the appropriate technology choices that will guide the future of their organizations. Public health continues to be at the forefront of modern medicine, given the importance of implementing a population-based health approach and to addressing chronic health conditions. This book provides informatics principles and examples of practice in a public health context. In doing so, it clarifies the ways in which newer information technologies will improve individual and community health status. This book's primary purpose is to consolidate key information and promote a strategic approach to information systems and development, making it a resource for use by faculty and students of public health, as well as the practicing public health professional. Chapter highlights include: The Governmental and Legislative Context of Informatics; Assessing the Value of Information Systems; Ethics, Information Technology, and Public Health; and Privacy, Confidentiality, and Security. Review questions are featured at the end of every chapter. Aside from its use for public health professionals, the book will be used by schools of public health, clinical and public health nurses and students, schools of social work, allied health, and environmental sciences.

Computer technology has impacted the practice of medicine in dramatic ways. Imaging techniques provide noninvasive tools which alter the diag nostic process. Sophisticated monitoring equipment presents new levels of detail for both patient management and research. In most of these high technology applications, the computer is embedded in the device; its presence is transparent to the user. There is also a growing number of applications in which the health care provider directly interacts with a computer. In many cases, these appli cations are limited to administrative functions, e.g., office practice man agement, location of hospital patients, appointments, and scheduling. Nevertheless, there also are instances of patient care functions such as results reporting, decision support, surveillance, and reminders. This series, Computers and Medicine, will focus upon the direct use of information systems as it relates to the medical community. After twenty-five years of experimentation and experience, there are many tested applications which can be implemented economically using the current generation of computers. Moreover, the falling cost of computers suggests that there will be even more extensive use in the near future. Yet there is a gap between current practice and the state-of-the-art.

In 1985 it was 20 years since Nobel Laureate Herbert A. Simon published: 'THE SHAPE OF AUTOMATION: For Men and Management'. This short but important and still topical book dwells on three subjects: - The Long-Range Economic Effects of Automation; - Will the Corporation be Managed by Machines? - The New Science of Management Decision. In contrast with George Orwell, who was a critic of contemporary political systems rather than a prophet, Simon portrays a far more rosy picture of our 'brave new world'. Simon's work breathes optimism. First, computer technology; looking back it is aoubtful whether even the professor expected the hardware development ~e have wittnessed. Secondly, our ability to 'tame the beast'; there is now not much reason for complacency and satisfaction. Offices and factories can by no means be called automated, at most semi-automated. Thirdly the organizational and social implications of these rapid technological developments; referring to what he then called: 'The Computer and the new decision making techniques ..• ' Concerning this last point, there is little need to emphasize that had been less practical application in organizations than the often impressive theoretical developments would lead one to believe. In Europe this situation is even more accute than in the USA and Japan. The ESPRIT programme of the ECC and many similar national programs intend to bridge the gap.